MONACO. — Apart from the State of Vatican City, this is the smallest state in the world.
It consists of a narrow coastal strip on the Ligurian Riviera di Ponente, between the Roia and Varo rivers, 11 km from the Franco-Italian border, with an area of 1.58 km² and a population of 19,242 (in 1946).
Almost the entire population lives in a single urban center made up of the towns of Monte Carlo, La Condamine, and Monaco. The latter is the seat of government. Noted for its exceptionally mild climate, the region is a center of intense international hotel industry. Monaco is a hereditary constitutional principality.
I. HISTORY
The “portus Herculis Monocci” was founded, probably in Ligurian territory, by Phocaean colonists who had emigrated from Massilia (Marseille) and was later occupied by the Romans. Hecataeus of Miletus mentions it as early as the 6th century B.C.; Strabo and Servius refer to the sanctuary that stood on the hill in honor of Hercules Monoecus (or Solitary), so called because its cult was not connected with that of Astarte. Its port, “sub Herculeo sacratus numine,” exposed to southwesterly winds, was too small and unsuitable for accommodating numerous or large ships, so that it soon declined once the city of Forum Iulii (Fréjus) was founded with its port. On the hill above Monaco (La Turbie), Augustus built the great Via Iulia Augusta, and there he erected the Tropaeum Alpium in commemoration of his victories over the Alpine peoples. In the early Middle Ages, Monaco was subjected to raids by the Saracens and was granted as a fief to the Republic of Genoa by Emperor Henry VI in 1191.During the struggles between the Ghibellines and the Guelphs, the Guelph Grimaldi family succeeded in taking possession of Monaco in 1297, and after alternating fortunes, during which they were also dispossessed, their sovereignty was finally recognized successively by the Dukes of Savoy, the popes, and the emperors. Monaco was under Spanish protection until 1641, when Prince Honoré II expelled the Spanish garrison in a coup, aligned himself closely with the French, and accepted their protection. During the French Revolution, in 1793, Monaco was annexed to France, but in 1814 the Grimaldis, with Honoré IV, returned to power. The Congress of Vienna established that the protectorate over the Principality belonged to the Kingdom of Sardinia. The Principality again formed strong ties with France (in 1860), which, by a treaty of 1919, guaranteed its independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.
II. DIOCESE OF MONACO
The Diocese of Monaco comprises 4 parishes, served by 20 diocesan priests, 15 religious, 6 male religious communities, and 9 female religious communities (Ann. Pont., 1951, p. 274).The earliest Christian memory of the diocese is the Benedictine priory of St. Devota at St-Pontes, erected in 1075 (Cottineau, II, col. 1876). The church of St. Mary dates from 1078, and that of St. Donatus is slightly later. Until 1868, Monaco belonged to the Diocese of Nice. On April 30, 1868, Pope Pius IX erected in Monaco the abbazia nullius of SS. Nicholas and Benedict. Pope Leo XIII established the Diocese of Monaco on March 15, 1887, assigning it the same civil boundaries as the Principality and making it immediately subject to the Holy See. The first bishop was Msgr. Charles François Bonaventura Theuret (1887-1901). The cathedral is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception. The old Ducal Palace contains frescoes by Annibale Carracci and Orazio Ferrari. In 1910, an oceanographic museum was founded in Monaco.
III. LEGAL STATUS OF THE CHURCH
The legal status of the Church in the Principality of Monaco is regulated by the bull Quemadmodum of Leo XIII, issued on March 15, 1886.The document, which is essentially a convention between the Supreme Pontiff and the sovereign prince of Monaco, intended to regulate the organization of the Monegasque diocese erected by the same bull, was put into execution the following year (September 28 by the Principality, October 10 by the Holy See).
a with the same bull, was put into execution the following year (September 28 by the Principality, October 10 by the Holy See).
The diocese, which is immediately subject to the Holy See, comprises the entire territory of the Principality, previously withdrawn from the spiritual jurisdiction of the Bishop of Nice and erected into an abbazia nullius by Pius IX in 1868. Legal personality is recognized not only to the diocese but also to all ecclesiastical institutions and religious institutes, present and future. The state assumes responsibility for all expenses related to worship. The Holy See grants the Prince an extensive right of patronage: presentation to the Holy See of a list of persons for the appointment of the bishop, appointment of all canons except one, and of all parish priests and vicars except those of the church of St. Charles in Monte Carlo, which is entrusted in perpetuity to the Congregation of the Clerics Regular of the Mother of God. The bishop naturally retains canonical provision and the right to refuse appointment for the unworthy. On October 4, 1934, a sovereign ordinance was published regulating the right to pensions for priests holding an office or performing a function remunerated by the state.
Nevertheless, the institution of divorce exists in the Principality of Monaco, regulated by ordinances of July 3, 1907, and June 11, 1919.
The Principality of Monaco maintains diplomatic relations with the Holy See, represented there by a minister plenipotentiary. Ippolito Rotoli