Sorry for boring you with history but I'm a history major so it's what I do best...
The Papal States are an interesting topic today as many people are unaware of the fact that such a thing ever existed. The Catholic Church actually used to hold almost the entire central region of Italy and even had a standing army. The Church, which is supposed to an institution to serve God almighty, once controlled vast amounts of territory and consequently, it played a huge part in European Politics. The Papal States were conquered and absorbed into Italy during the late 1800’s as part of the Italian Unification. The Pope and his successors for nearly 100 years thereafter refused to leave the Vatican in protest and even threatened the Italians with excommunication if they participated in the elections of the new Italian government. Today the church’s political influence is a mere shadow of its former self, but be careful. Every now and then they try to exercise political power to their own ends… abortion anyone?
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