Almost immediately after the signing of the Treaty, relations between Mussolini and the Church soured again. Mussolini "referred to Catholicism as, in origin, a minor sect that had spread beyond Palestine only because grafted onto the organization of the Roman empire."[11] After the concordat, "he confiscated more issues of Catholic newspapers in the next three months than in the previous seven years."[11] Mussolini reportedly came close to being excommunicated from the Catholic Church around this time.[11]