5 SEPTEMBER 1931, Page 3

The Vatican and the Quirinal We are glad to record

a settlement of the unhappy dispute between the Vatican and the Italian Government, which was so strangely allowed to become public. An agreement over the constitution of the Azione Cattolica is signed. How it will work is not yet clear—the clubs are to be strictly diocesan bodies with no anti-fascist directors. They are to have no athletic or sporting side, which must be aimed by the Government against their popularity. But as they can indulge in " occupations of a recreative or an educational nature with a religious purpose " it seems possible that they will serve the purposes desired by the Vatican.

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