The Concordat of 1928 was signed between the Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

n government and the Vatican

Holy See

The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...

 on 5 May 1928. The concordant was registered in League of Nations Treaty Series on 3 August 1928.

Terms of the agreement

In Article 1 the Colombian government undertook to facilitate the continued operation of Catholic

Catholic

The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

 Mission

Mission (Christian)

Christian missionary activities often involve sending individuals and groups , to foreign countries and to places in their own homeland. This has frequently involved not only evangelization , but also humanitarian work, especially among the poor and disadvantaged...

s in Colombia.

Article 2 specified the Ecclesiastical district

Ecclesiastical Province

An ecclesiastical province is a large jurisdiction of religious government, so named by analogy with a secular province, existing in certain hierarchical Christian churches, especially in the Catholic Church and Orthodox Churches and in the Anglican Communion...

s in Colombia.

Article 3 provided for an appendix to the agreement to specify the boundaries of the Ecclesiastical districts.

Article 4 provided for the establishment of stations on the borders with Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

, Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

 and Ecuador

Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

.

Article 5 provided for government financial support of missions sent to the Native American tribes in Colombia

Indigenous peoples in Colombia

The indigenous peoples in Colombia comprise a large number of distinct ethnic groups who inhabited the country's present territory prior to its discovery by Europeans around 1500.-Origins:...

.

Articles 6-8 specified the funds to be allocated to maintain the missions.

Article 9 placed the Catholic school system under the supervision of the missions.

In article 10 the Colombian government undertook to provide the missions with the land needed for their operation.

Article 11 obliged heads of missions to submit to the Papal Nuncio

Nuncio

Nuncio is an ecclesiastical diplomatic title, derived from the ancient Latin word, Nuntius, meaning "envoy." This article addresses this title as well as derived similar titles, all within the structure of the Roman Catholic Church...

annual reports about their finances, and these reports must be delivered both to the Vatican and the Colombian government.

In article 12 the Colombian government undertook not to appoint in the areas where Native American tribes resided any local officials hostile to the Catholic church.

Article 13 obliged heads of mission to use their influence on Native American converts to promote government development plans on their lands.

Article 14 granted to mission officials the same legal status as other clergy.

Article 15 obliged heads of missions to appoint legal representatives to deal with legal matters.

Article 16 stipulated that the agreement shall remain in force for 25 years.