He then turned his focus for the next five years to the renewal of the Lateran Treaty on its fiftieth anniversary, and his diplomatic skills allowed him to sign a revised treaty that reflected the rapid secularisation of Italy since the 1960s.
The County of Werdenfels (German: Grafschaft Werdenfels) in the present-day Werdenfelser Land in South Germany was a county that enjoyed imperial immediacy that belonged to the Bishopric of Freising from the late 13th century until the secularisation of the Bishopric in 1803.
He pursued his interest in the rise of secularisation and secular culture, attending seminars by the sociologist of religion and anthropologist Peter Clarke, studying at the Las Casas Institute and taking classes at Blackfriars.
From 1142 until the secularisation in 1803, the village was subject to Heggbach Abbey, after which it was transferred into the ownership of the counts of Plettenberg und Bassenheim who in turn sold it on to the Hungarian counts Esterhazy.
The Prince-Bishopric of Freising (German: Hochstift Freising) was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1294 until its secularisation in the early years of the 19th century.
Until the 1803 secularisation of Bavaria, Steingaden belonged to the Steingaden Abbey, established in 1147 by Welf VI, Margrave of Tuscany and Duke of Spoleto, and third son of Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria.