Emphasis Preaching Journal

In 1848 Italy became a unified country. Previously Italy was composed of what were called Papal States; they had been under the control of the pope but were disbanded. This of course caused the Roman Catholic church to lose a significant amount of land and investments. In the reorganization of the Italian country, the pope was left with a tiny domain, a few square blocks around the papal palace in Rome known as the Vatican. Confined to this space, the Catholic hierarchy considered themselves prisoners.