Divinity Atlas

Sacred Correspondences
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US Department of State, Background Note: Holy See (Archived)

US Department of State, archived background note, read 2026-08-16

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This archived US Department of State background note summarizes the bilateral relationship between the United States and the Holy See: the 1797 to 1870 consular relationship with the Papal States, the long gap that followed, and the establishment of full diplomatic relations on 10 January 1984 under President Reagan. It documents an embassy and a nunciature exchanged between the two but no concordat or bilateral treaty, consistent with the First Amendment's bar on an establishment of religion, which forecloses the kind of church-state instrument a concordat is.

Facts
Citation
Author
United States Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs
Publisher
US Department of State
URL
https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3819.htm
Source Type
Government report
Assessment
Reliability Tier
1
The United States' own State Department publishes this background note on its bilateral relationship with the Holy See, including the January 1984 establishment of full diplomatic relations. It is the US government's own record of its own diplomatic posture, the strongest available form for a fact about whether a formal instrument like a concordat exists between the two, hence the top tier.
Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

This source names Holy See directly: "between the United States and the Holy See: the 1797 to 1870 consular relationship with the Papal States, the long gap that followed, and the establishment of full diplomatic relations on 10 January..."

Source US Department of State, Background Note: Holy See (Archived)United States Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs

This source names Papal States directly: "to 1870 consular relationship with the Papal States, the long gap that followed, and the establishment of full diplomatic relations on 10 January 1984 under President Reagan."

Source US Department of State, Background Note: Holy See (Archived)United States Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs
Claims Backed By This Source (10 claims)

This source backs 10 claims across the atlas. As facts: 7 well-attested. As cited relationships: 2 holds. Plus 1 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.

Disposition By Topic

  • Sources, 8 claims: 6 well-attested, 2 holds.
  • Countries, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.
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