Editing Victor Emmanuel III (section)

===Lateran Treaty===
Victor Emmanuel was anti-clerical, being greatly embittered by the refusal of the Catholic Church to recognize Rome as the capital of Italy, but he realized that as long as the Catholic Church remained opposed to the Italian state, that many Italians would continue to regard the Italian state as illegitimate and that a treaty with the Vatican was necessary.{{Sfn | Mack Smith | 1989 | p = 267}}  However, when Orlando attempted to open negotiations with the Vatican in 1919, he was blocked by the king who was furious at the way in which the Catholic Church had maintained pro-Austrian neutrality during World War I.{{Sfn | Mack Smith | 1989 | p = 267}}  Aside from championing the authenticity of the [[Shroud of Turin]], which belonged to the House of Savoy, the king had little interest in religion.{{Sfn | Mack Smith | 1989 | p = 267}}  In private Victor Emmanuel regarded the Catholic Church with a jaundiced eye, making remarks about senior clerics as being greedy, cynical and oversexed hypocrites who took advantage of the devout faith of ordinary Italians.{{Sfn | Mack Smith | 1989 | p = 267}}

In 1926, the king allowed Mussolini to do what he prevented Orlando from doing in 1919, giving permission to open negotiations with the Vatican to end the "Roman Question".{{Sfn |Mack Smith | 1989 | p = 267}}  In 1929, Mussolini, on behalf of the King, signed the [[Lateran Treaty]]. The treaty was one of the three agreements made that year between the [[Kingdom of Italy]] and the [[Holy See]]. On 7 June 1929, the Lateran Treaty was ratified and the "[[Roman Question]]" was settled.