Background: Popes in their secular role ruled much of the Italian peninsula, including Rome, for more than a thousand years, until 1870. Disputes between a series of popes and Italy were resolved in 1929 by three Lateran Treaties, which established the independent state of Vatican City out of the former Papal States and granted Roman Catholicism special status in Italy. In 1984, a concordat between the Vatican and Italy modified certain of the earlier treaty provisions, including the primacy of Roman Catholicism as the Italian state religion. Present concerns of the Holy See include the failing health of Pope John Paul II, who turns 80 on 20 May 2000, interreligious dialogue and reconciliation, and the adjustment of church doctrine in an era of rapid change. About 1 billion people worldwide profess the Catholic faith.