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158 Law & Just. - Christian L. Rev. 30 (2007)
Legal Perspectives and Religious Perspectives of Religious Rights under International Law in the Vatican Concordats (1963-2004)

handle is hein.journals/ljusclr158 and id is 32 raw text is: LEGAL PERSPECTIVES AND RELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVES OF RELIGIOUS RIGHTS UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW IN THE VATICAN CONCORDATS (1963-2004) PETER PETKOFF 'Se vogliamo che tutto rimanga com'6 bisogna che tutto cambi' (If we want everything to stay the same everything must change.) Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. II Gattopardo Introduction The Vatican concordats signed after Vatican I1 represent a radical change in the legal, political and theological discourse of the Catholic church in relation to the international political community as well as in relation to those countries which are party to a concordat. They also form a distinctive religious perspective on public international law. They present the view that the system of public international law is a tool with which to negotiate mutual terms between international actors and to prevent tensions when there has been a breach of such terms. They see the human rights system as something which protects religious rights but does not necessarily define the substance of these rights. Finally, they demonstrate the importance of a coherent theological justification for co-operation with the political community as a basis for the success of such cooperation. While acknowledging that the reality of a church, which has a coherent system of canon law and which is also a sovereign subject of international law, is unique, the present text proposes that the study of the concordats in the context of international law could be used as a starting (rather than defining) point for exploring ways in which the religious perspective could be relevant for understanding the dynamics of the religious rights' discourse under international law. Theologically, the post-conciliar concordats offer an Augustinian perspective on society, which sees society as being on the move and marked by imperfection, and this perspective marks a departure from the traditional notion of societas perfecta. Politically, they signal a new process of collaboration with the political community and social solidarity with various sections of society. Legally, being international legal treaties, the concordats fully engaged the Catholic church with the rights

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