Posted by Eugene Volokh:
Come Now, Is This *Really* About "International Law"?
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_03_15-2009_03_21.shtml#1237326492
From [1]Zenit (a [2]Catholic news service):
The proposal of a member of the social networking Web site Facebook
suggesting that the Vatican should exchange its treasures for food
in Africa is an impossibility due to international law, says
Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes.
The president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum said this Friday
to ZENIT at a press conference Friday in which he commented on the
online petition titled "Exchange the Vatican�s Treasures for Food
for Africa. Do You Want to Sign a Petition?"
The cardinal noted that, apart from the ideological aspect of the
proposal, the Pope cannot consider it because he is prevented from
doing so by international law....
Alberto Juesas Escudero of Spain launched the initiative, which now
has more than 40,000 supporters. Escudero claims "it is a shameful
to see the Vatican�s riches and then watch the news."
He explained that what motivated him to issue this invitation was
that he believes the Vatican "does not admit its errors. [...] It
does not preach by example. Jesus was born in a cave and lived in
poverty."
The youth concluded: "The Vatican is a disgrace! The Catholic
religion is a disgrace!"
In answer to ZENIT�s questions, Cardinal Cordes ... explained, "I
had looked into [the status of the Vatican�s holdings] and found
out that the Church cannot do what it wants with the works of art
that are in the Vatican."
In reality, he said, the Church "has the duty to conserve the works
of art in the name of the Italian state." He affirmed, "It cannot
sell them." ...
As [3]Religion Clause (Prof. Howard Friedman) points out, the [4]1929
Treaty between Italy and the Vatican provides, "The artistic and
scientific treasures existing within the Vatican City and the Lateran
Palace shall remain open to scholars and visitors, although the Holy
See shall be free to regulate the admission of the public thereto."
The Vatican therefore indeed might not be free to sell off the
paintings without violating its obligations to Italy.
But if the Vatican really wanted to sell the paintings and still
comply with its obligations, it could just ask Italy to amend the
treaty; nothing says such bilateral treaties are unamendable or even
extremely hard to amend. And if Italy says no, then it could blame
Italy. Or it could just say that it doesn't want to sell the
treasures, in my view a perfectly defensible position. But appealing
to "international law," as if it were some sort of unchangeable
command that strongly constrains the Vatican here, strikes me as
something of a smoke screen.
(Whether the reference to "international law" was made by the
Cardinal, or added by Zenit, "[5]a non-profit international news
agency, made up of a team of professionals and volunteers who are
convinced of the extraordinary richness of the Catholic Church's
message, particularly its social doctrine, ... [and who see] this
message as a light for understanding today's world," I can't say for
sure, since Zenit doesn't link to the text of Cordes's comments.)
References
1. http://www.zenit.org/article-25379?l=english
2. http://zenit.org/page-010801?l=english#item0
3.
http://religionclause.blogspot.com/2009/03/cardinal-says-international-law.html
4. http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/treaty.htm
5. http://zenit.org/page-010801?l=english#item0
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