The Covenance

The Covenance

Pope Pius XII, through Monsignor Doménico Tardini, agreed with the then president of the Dominican Republic, General Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, to sign the Concordat, which agreed that:

ARTICLE I
The Apostolic, Roman Catholic Religion continues to be the religion of the Dominican Nation and will enjoy the rights and prerogatives therein, in accordance with Divine Law and Canonical Law.

ARTICLE II
1.-The Dominican State recognizes of the international juridical personality of the Holy See and of the State of the Vatican City.
2.-To traditionally maintain friendly relations between the Holy See and the Dominican State, the Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the Holy See and a Papal envoy in the Ciudad Trujillo will continue to be accredited in the respective locations.  This will be the dean of the Diplomatic Corps, in common law terms.

ARTICLE III
1.- The Dominican state recognizes, to the Catholic Church, the character of perfect society and guarantees the free and full exercise of its spiritual power and of its jurisdiction, as well as the free and public exercise of worship.
2.- In particular, the Holy See will, without impediment, promulgate and publish in the Dominican Republic any disposition of the Church regarding the government and will communicate with the prelates, the clerics and the faithful of the Country, in the same way as in the Holy See.

They will enjoy the same faculties of the Ordinary and other ecclesiastical Authorities in reference to its clerics and faithful.

Note: Reproduction of the first three articles of the Resolution No. 3874, of the National Congress, that approved the Concordato and the Protocolo Final signed between the Dominican Republic and the Holy See.

Source: Official gazette. Year LXXV. Ciudad Trujillo, July 21, 1954. No. 7720