ROME – Earlier this month, an AI-generated video went viral, purportedly showing Vatican potentates gathered around an altar and worshiping Satan. While this is clearly false, it nonetheless remains a historical fact that the Vatican actually owes a debt to Lucifer for preserving an agreement with Italy that is still at the heart of its sovereignty and sovereignty today. wealth.

After the end of World War II, Italy had to make important decisions. The first question, in June 1946, was the choice between remaining a monarchy under the Savoy dynasty or becoming a democratic republic. The republic won, and a constituent assembly began drafting a new constitution that would serve as the basis for the democratic elections of 1948.

One of the controversial issues in the constitution negotiations naturally concerned the relationship between the new republic and the Vatican.

From the Vatican’s perspective, the issue had been settled forever by the Lateran Pacts of 1929, in which the Vatican recognized the new Italian state and, in return, Italy recognized the Vatican’s sovereignty and paid a lump sum of more than $1. billions in today’s money for the loss of the Papal States. Although the agreement was made with Mussolini’s fascist regime, the Vatican viewed it as a legally binding international treaty that could not be changed unilaterally by either party.

The Christian Democrats, who made up the largest party in the assembly, supported the Vatican position, but initially opposed it was the socialists and communists, who together made up 40 percent of the assembly, almost enough to block approval if they could. take off a few more votes. They wanted church-state relations to be governed by a new treaty, which could give the government a chance to reach a better agreement.

Just when the differences between the two factions seemed almost insurmountable, a member of the Assembly from a minority party, who still had monarchical sympathies, came forward to propose a compromise: the constitution could indeed recognize the Lateran Pacts as the basis of Church and State. relations, but could also add the caveat that future changes agreed to by both parties would not require constitutional amendments. In this way, the Vatican got what it wanted, but at the same time the door was open to future renegotiations.

At this stipulation, the Italian Communist Party abandoned its opposition and article 7 of the constitution was adopted: “The State and the Catholic Church are independent and sovereign, each in its own domain. Their relations are governed by the Lateran Pacts. Amendments to these compacts which are accepted by both parties will not require the constitutional amendment procedure.

Who is the legislator who negotiated the compromise? His name was Roberto Lucifero. It’s true, ladies and gentlemen: Lucifer actually saved church-state relations in Italy!

To be clear, Robert Lucifero was not some sort of Satan-worshipping anarchist. A lawyer by training, he had been a member of the Chamber of Deputies under the Kingdom of Italy and was a fervent conservative. During the war, he joined a monarchical division of the partisan resistance against the fascists and the German occupation. In 1944, he was captured by the SS and sent to the Regino Coeli prison in Rome, where he was freed by American troops. He later became a prominent journalist and legislator, before joining the National Monarchical Party.

Historically, the Lucifers in Italy are a distinguished noble family originating from the Calabria region of southern Italy, with roots dating back to ancient times. Over the centuries, there have been Lucifers in politics (including ten mayors of their hometown of Crotone in Calabria), as well as soldiers, artists, intellectuals, business leaders and, inevitably for an Italian family , a good number of priests. and bishops.

Even today, if you visit Crotone, you will find the episcopal coat of arms of Bishop Antonio Lucifero, who led the church there from 1508 until his death in 1521, above the entrance to the episcopal residence. (Lucifero financed the expansion of the cathedral and residence.) If you head to the city’s St. Joseph Church, you’ll find the “Lucifer Chapel,” named in honor of another member of the family who was a patron. of the parish.

Originally, the family name probably derives from pre-Christian culture, when “Lucifer” (literally in Latin, “bringer of light”) was associated with the planet Venus, also known as the “morning star” because visible at dawn. As such, the Romans had a minor god named “Lucifer” identified with the morning star. Because the same planet is also visible in the evening, the Romans also called it Vespero, hence the term “vespers” for evening prayer.

There is even a Saint Lucifer who was a 4th century bishop in Cagliari, on the island of Sardinia, who defended orthodoxy against the Arian heresy. Although there is no reason to believe that he came from the same family, it should nevertheless be noted that to this day one can attend mass at the Church of Saint Lucifer in Cagliari, located on the Saint-Lucifer road.

Lucifer only became a name for the devil with the Latin Vulgate version of the Bible in the fourth century, by which time Lucifer as a surname was already in common use in Italy, without necessarily negative connotations. As late as the 1950s, there was a brand of pencils called “Lucifer” marketed to Italian schoolchildren by the company Lyra Italia, part of a whole series of writing instruments named after various astrological figures.

Nevertheless, it cannot help but seem ironic that it was Lucifer – although “a” Lucifer, not “the” Lucifer – who intervened at a critical moment to preserve the interests of the Church in the country where physically finds its seat.

Most, no doubt, will view this as simply an amusing historical anecdote. Some cynics might be tempted to see this as a cosmic confirmation that when the Church pursues its own institutional interests, including wealth and power, it is making a deal with the devil.

Regardless, the facts are clear: historically speaking, the Vatican owes Lucifer one thing.

(In turn, I owe this information to Antonio Preziosi’s wonderful new book Segreta Line, “Secret Line”, about relations between Church and State in Italy since the birth of the republic. I hope to do a full review soon.)