VATICAN CITY — Italy and the Vatican Monday signed an accord that immediately ends Roman Catholicism`s position as Italy`s state religion, giving parents the right to decide whether their children should get religious education in state schools.
Prime Minister Bettino Craxi and Vatican Secretary of State Agostino Casaroli signed the concordat during a brief ceremony in Casaroli`s study.
The new agreement replaces the Lateran Pacts of 1929 in which the late dictator Benito Mussolini granted the church many lucrative concessions in the hope of winning support for his Fascist regime.
The key changes end Catholicism`s position as the ``sole religion of the Italian state,`` give parents the right to choose whether their children will receive religious eduation in state schools and radically revamp the manner in which Italy`s more than 30,000 priests are to be paid.
And, as of Jan. 1, 1990, priests`s salaries will be paid entirely by the church, instead of by the state, and funded by tax-deductible contributions from church members and supporters.
Italian marriage laws also are affected by the agreement, with all church annulments now subject to final approval by Italian appeal courts. The church also must make sure all church marriages are registered with the state.
Despite the formal atmosphere surrounding Monday`s signing ceremony, Craxi and Casaroli joked that the signing was becoming something of a ritual.
Monday marked the third and final time that the two men signed the accord. They signed the original agreement on Feb. 18, 1984, and signed a more detailed version covering church property, taxation and priests` salaries on Nov. 11, 1984.
In Monday`s ceremony, they signed the ratification documents for the accords which the Vatican and Italian government had approved earlier.
Later, Craxi paid a visit to Pope John Paul II, who praised the new agreement.
