MondayVatican » MondayVatican – Italian Church » Italy, is a modern Kulturkampf taking place?

Italy, is a modern Kulturkampf taking place?

Andrea Gagliarducci — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 06:58:42 +0000

«Catholics are not even allowed to think». This thought does not come from the corridors of the Vatican Secretariat of State. There is a whole world made up of Catholics that are not – and that do not intend to be – part of the Vatican Hierarchy. This world is inspired by Christian values and aims to put into action the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church. At the same time, this world is not directly inspired by political, ecclesiastical or any other kind lobbies. It is a hidden world. No surprise that, when this world come to a light, its aims are mispresented.

Can it be definied a Modern Kulturkampf? During the second half of the 19^th Century, right after the First Vatican Council, the German Chancellor Otto von Bismark launched a struggle against the Catholic Church. He failed. But this struggle still echoes in German society. A couple of years ago, when a referendum about the teaching of religion at school had been promoted, some observer talked about a renewed kulturkampf.

It seems evident to many Vatican insiders that there is still a struggle against the Christian thought, and recently two cases seemed to have once more proved it: the disinformation campaign against Timo Soini, the Finnish nationalist party leader, and the disinformation about the new Hungarian Constitution, that begins claiming at the Catholic roots of the country. If then one would make a more in depth analysis of Western Parliaments composition, he would notice the lack of influence of the Catholic parties.

Italy is not an exception. After the disappear of the Democrazia Cristiana (Christian Democracy), Catholics politicians had been scattered in several (and different) political parties. Usually, it is thought that Catholics are closer to Berlusconi administration, and affiliated to the center right. But there are Catholics among the Italian center-left parties, too. Their voice is always hidden. Catholics’ spokesmen had become exponent of Christian laissez-faire liberalism or devout atheistic (this is how atheistic that speak considering the thought of the Church had been labeled).

The last 29th of June, a dinner took place at the Istituto Salesiano del Sacro Cuore di Gesù in Rome (a Salesian institute). Catholic politicians, young people, member of ecclesiastical movement sat at the same table to talk about the education of a new generation of Catholics politically and socially committed, and about what could be the space for this new generation in the Italian parties. This dinner has been interpreted as the signal of a opposition between the Vatican Secretariat of State and Italian Episcopal Conference. Isn’t it true that Cardinal Bertone wanted – and still wants – to be himself the leader of the Italian Church «in regard to relations with political institutions»?
When on March 25, 2007, Bagnasco took office as president of the CEI, it was Bertone who wrote as much to him in black and white, in a public letter. Bertone hadn’t even notified the pope about the letter.

Many wrote – and thought – that 29th of June meeting was intended to put the basis for a new Catholic party. It had been called the Cosa Bianca, the White Thing, a name that remembers the colour of Christian Democracy. The aim was to promote «a new thing», rooted in the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church. There had been only a «political» question: wheter if the scatter of Catholic politicians in several parties is something positive, or if Catholics need to find some political unity. There is no aim to break up Catholic world. The contrast between Italian Episcopal Conference and the Secretariat of State was not part of that meeting.

In fact, cardinal Bertone did not take part to the 29th of June dinner. There were both center-right and center-left Italian Catholic politicians (Beppe Pisanu, Paola Binetti, Giuseppe Fioroni, Lorenzo Cesa, Rocco Buttiglione, Savino Pezzotta), exponents of ecclesiastical movements (Sant’Egidio, Focolarini, Rinnovamento nello Spirito, Agesci, Azione Cattolica, Acli), the chaplain of the Chamber of Deputies mons. Lorenzo Leuzzi. There were also teachers and young people. And in that occasion the conference about the Catholics in Europe had been launched.

The way to the conference was quick and intense. There had been other meetings before, during the ones Catholics of different belongings and politicians agreed on the importance to give birth to a movement of action and reflection, moving from the appeal of the Pope for a new wave of Catholic politicians. This was sufficient to let a part of Italian Catholic and political world tremble. Italian newspapers published endorsement to criticize the meeting . Articles outlining the invasive and strong blessing of the Secretariat of State on the meetings had been written down. And there were a certain discontent in Italian Episcopal Conference. «There is no ending for intellectual misery. Today, thinking together to educate a new generation of Catholic politicians has become a cultural crime, or lese-majesty», monsignor Mario Toso, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, says.

There had obviously some discontent among the participants to the meeting, especially when it had been clarified that there was no intention to endorse a new Catholic party. Italian Episcopal Conference, on the other hand, fears to lose the privileged relationships with the political world. Their project risks to fail.

What is the project? «The problem – an insider source of Vatican Curia says – is not to discontent the politician bishops are linked to. The 8 per mille mechanism is too profitable for Catholic Church. But it is a system that tends to ‘blackmail’ the Church». According to Otto per mille mechanism, a part of the taxes paid by every Italian taxpayer is devolved to either the Catholic Church or some other organisation -State included. However, if no other specific group is selected as an Otto per mille beneficiary, the money is automatically re-distributed into the several organisations -according to proportionality.

So, the line is not to stamp the friends politician’s feet, and maybe thank for the Advance Directive Bill or – much better – for the cancellation of the tax it had imposed on those ecclesiastical properties which are not worship sites. The tax had been issued as part of a recent law regarding ‘fiscal federalism’, but also because Bruxelles was starting to investigate the matter. However, shortly before the Permanent Council of Italian Episcopal Conferecence of the last March (the meeting that a sort of ‘little Paliament of bishops’ holds twice a year), the exemption re-appeared. And, in return, the episcopal hit-out the opposition was waiting for never arrived.

In this way, the Church lack in prophecy. Benedict XVI appeal for a new wave of Catholic politicians is based on the need to educate a generation rooted in the Social Doctrine of the Church. Bishops and priests must educate in the parrish. Christifideles laity are called to put into action the principles. «The Christifideles laity – the Pope said – in particular, cannot be solely passive beneficiaries but are the protagonists of the Church’s social doctrine at the vital moment of its implementation. They are also valuable collaborators of the pastors in its formulation, thanks to the experience they have acquired in the field and to their own specific skills».

Holy See, the Italian affair

Andrea Gagliarducci — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 08:22:51 +0000

The Holy See has always had a special relationship with Italy. First of all, the Pope lives in Rome. Second, it has a detailed agreement with the Italian Government -partly regarding also those ecclesiastic properties in Piedmont that were confiscated 150 years ago after the Italian Unification.

Third, Italian politicians hold a substantial influence inside the Vatican walls -and, of course, the Italian State returns the favour. That is to say, that if you aim at being or being considered as a ‘somebody’ in Italy, support from the Catholic Church is pivotal, when not mandatory. -Courtesy of the heritage of the prestige once held by the Catholic Church.

However, it is a matter of fact that whenever something ‘typically Italian’ happens, everyone’s in search for declarations from the Holy See. As if it were up to the Holy See to ‘license’ this or that Italian politician, or to vote or veto Italian laws. As if the reactions from the high ranks of the Catholic Church were pivotal. For the Catholic believer, in fact, the main point of reference is actually always him: the parish priest. It is the parish priest who knows his own flock, who teaches and talks about the meaning of sin, who has to be able to value those who attend his church. Moreover, declarations from the Church are often sought after just to bring to light the total separation between the world of the institutional Church and the world of parishes. Divergences are nonetheless obvious, as on one side you have a centralised government while on the other one you have a general moral sense. The former does not act according to moral consciousness, but to diplomacy. The latter is alive. The former is the re-assuring face of the Church, the latter is its beating heart.

For the Holy See, however, the risk is that of depending too much on Italy and the Italian State. It’s paradoxical if we think that the Church had established a temporal State just to keep itself free from national powers and all the faults that follow the creation of a State: competition for power, lack of spirituality, corruption (just to name a few). It is sufficient to have a look at the relationships of the Holy See with the sphere of Italian politics to see how the latter has -subtly, almost tiptoeing- imposed itself as major influencer for the former. And nevertheless, these contacts seem to be impossible to disregard for the political side of the Catholic Church.

In this scenario, a key figure is Mr. Giulio Tremonti, current Minister of Economy and Finance – considered by many as the possible next Prime Minister. His cross-class support is said to be so widespread to reach even the highest floor of the Apostolic Palace. Pope Benedict, in fact, holds him in high esteem; so much that last summer he invited Mr. Tremonti for lunch in his abode in Castel Gandolfo. Apparently, their contacts started in 2006 during the papal holiday in Lorenzago di Cadore. They were introduced by the former President of the Venetian Region Mr. Giancarlo Galan -even though Mr. Tremonti doesn’t need any external references. His relationship with the Holy See, in fact, is now consolidated. It was Mr. Tremonti to engineer, in 1984, the introduction for the Otto per mille mechanism, according to which a part of the taxes paid by every Italian taxpayer is devolved to either the Catholic Church or some other organisation -State included. However, if no other specific group is selected as an Otto per mille beneficiary, the money is automatically re-distributed into the several organisations -according to proportionality.

However, in a recent interview Cardinal Attilio Nicora, president of APSA (Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See) and of the Authority for Financial Information (the institution controlling the Vatican accounts), criticised this mechanism for binding the Catholic Church to the Italian state. And for binding the Vatican entourage to Mr. Tremonti, who, in the meantime, has extended his influence even further. In a difficult moment for the Italian government, while the Minister had to deal with financial matters and the Stability and Growth Pact, Mr. Tremonti attended one of the seminars of the Ior regularly held with investors from the Congregations. The seminar was -obviously- private, even though highly publicised. Not surprisingly, the president of the IOR Mr. Ettore Gotti Tedeschi is the ethical consultant for the Italian Minister and their partnership is well consolidated.

In the middle of the so-called ‘Ruby-gate’ -the sexual scandal that allegedly involved the Italian Prime Minister- the Italian government happened to cancel the tax it had imposed on those ecclesiastical properties which are not worship sites. The tax had been issued as part of a recent law regarding ‘fiscal federalism’, but also because Bruxelles was starting to investigate the matter. However, shortly before the Permanent Council of Italian Episcopal Conferecen (the meeting that a sort of ‘little Paliament of bishops’ holds twice a year), the exemption re-appeared. And, in return, the episcopal hit-out the opposition was waiting for never arrived.

It’s these things that make the institutional Catholic Church so attached to Italian politics -maybe even too much. In the meantime, there’s a Church outside Italy, and outside Europe, that is cracking up. And, as an example, the recent establishment of the Pontifical Council for the promotion of the New Evangelisation is a proof of the tangibility of the problem. According to an observer very close to the Vatican, «The Catholic Church now exists in Italy only. Anywhere else in Europe it has practically disappeared».

Holy See and Italy, is there something new on?

Andrea Gagliarducci — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 09:12:16 +0000

Every year, the 18th of February, a ceremony is given in the Italian Embassy to the Holy See to commemorate the agreements between Italy and Holy See (Patti Lateranensi, 11^th of February 1929; and the revision of Patti Lateranensi, 18^th of February 1984). The protocol of the ceremony is very strict. First step, a meeting between Italian delegation (Prime Minister, his subsecretary and the Minister for Foreign Affairs) and Vatican delegation (the Secretary of State, his substitute and the Secretary for the Relations with the States). Second step, Italian delegation enriches with the President of Republic and the presidents of Chamber of Deputies and Senate, and Vatican one with the President of the Italian Episcopal Conference. Last step, the ceremony itself, with various members of the Church and the Italian Parliament.

The attention is focused on the possible meeting between the cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of State, and Mr. Silvio Berlusconi, Italian Prime Minister. Mr. Berlusconi is involved in a sex-scandal and a judge ordered Italian Prime Minister to stand trial on charges of paying for sex with an underage girl and for abuse of office.

Will cardinal Bertone be embarrassed for the scandal? Or the relationships will be kind and interested as usual?

Diplomatic relationship, indeed, cannot be touched from political contingencies. Neverthless the «moral question», Holy See will look forward. There are several things to talk about with Italian government. And the Secretary of Benedict XVI, mons. Georg Gaenswein – in a lectio magistralis at University for Foreigners of Perugia – seemed to let understand that it is now the time for another revision of the Agreement between Italy and Holy See.

I write about it in this article on Il Tempo (in Italian)

Incontro Cav-Bertone

Insieme celebrano i Patti Lateranensi. Vaticano: rapporti cordiali con il premier. La Chiesa attenta alla legge sul biotestamento.

Berlusconi e Bertone si incontrano. Non da soli, e non privatamente. Il presidente del Consiglio e il Segretario di Stato Vaticano avranno modo di incontrarsi oggi all’ambasciata presso la Santa Sede, alle consuete celebrazioni dei Patti Lateranensi del 1929 e dell’accordo di revisione del Concordato del 1984. Un incontro istituzionale, scandito dal protocollo: prima una bilaterale tra le due delegazioni (Berlusconi, Letta e Frattini per l’Italia, Bertone, il sostituto Filoni e Dominique Mamberti, segretario dei Rapporti con gli Stati Esteri per il Vaticano); quindi un incontro più allargato, in cui intervengono le prime tre cariche dello Stato (il presidente Napolitano e i presidenti di Camera e Senato, Fini e Schifani) e Angelo Bagnasco, presidente della Conferenza episcopale italiana, insieme con altri ministri, e presidenti dei gruppi parlamentari, infine, la cerimonia vera e propria, cui partecipa un nutrito gruppo di invitati, tra parlamentari e membri del mondo ecclesiale. Oltretevere specificano che non ci saranno incontri. Che nessun faccia a faccia tra Bertone e Berlusconi è previsto. Ma è semplice protocollo. Certo, ci sarà occasione di parlare a quattrocchi durante la cerimonia vera e propria. Incontri perlopiù informali, non ufficiali. «Si tratta comunque – afferma un funzionario vaticano – di un gesto necessitato e non voluto».

Sarà un momento per discutere in modo equilibrato circa il rapporto intergovernativo. Le relazioni tra Italia e Santa Sede fanno parte delle normali relazioni istituzionali che intercorrono tra due Stati. Relazioni istituzionali che prescindono dalla cronaca politica, e guardano piuttosto a prospettive più larghe. «In fondo – ragionano sempre da Oltretevere – se il cardinal Gasparri si fosse lasciato trascinare da quella che era la realtà italiana dell’epoca, non ci sarebbe mai stato un Concordato nel 1929. Ed è bene ricordare che gli accordi si fanno soprattutto con le persone di cui non ci si fida». Insomma, se imbarazzo c’è per il caso Ruby e il rinvio a giudizio del presidente del Consiglio, non riguarda comunque i rapporti istituzionali.

La volontà è quella di fare il punto della situazione, come si fa ad un compleanno, quando si guarda indietro a ciò che è stato fatto e ciò che ancora c’è da fare. E i temi sul tavolo sono moltissimi: la legge sul fine vita (presto in discussione in Parlamento), i sovvenzionamenti per le scuole paritarie, il quoziente familiare. Addirittura – ma è solo un rumor – l’ipotesi di una nuova revisione del Concordato, accreditata anche dalla Lectio Magistralis che monsignor Georg Gaenswein, segretario personale del Papa, ha tenuto martedì all’Università per Stranieri di Perugia, che gli ha conferito una laurea honoris causa. Gaenswein ha spiegato di aver «solo messo in fila le possibilità». Ma si tratta senza dubbio di un testo meditato, che lancia un segnale preciso. Su questi temi si gioca il rapporto tra Italia e Santa Sede. Che va oltre la contingenza politica.

Italy and Holy See, state-of-the-art of a relationship

Andrea Gagliarducci — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:50:18 +0000

On 11^th of February 1929, an historic treaty was signed between the Italian Government and the Vatican re-establishing the political power and diplomatic standing of the Catholic Church, which had been lost when Italy seized Rome, the last of Papal States, on September 20th, 1870.

Every year, on February the 11^th, Osservatore Romano publishes a leading article about the relationships about Italy and Holy See. This year, this article was two times more important: because it is the 150^th anniversary of unification of Italy and because of the scandals that are “stirring” Italian Prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Osservatore Romano underlined the role of Catholics in unifying Italy and claimed the Concordat as a tool to preserve religious freedom.

Holy See and Italian politicians have a strong dialogue about several issues: a law currently circulating the Italian Parliament which would ban all euthanasia in the country, taxes (real estates of the Church have been exempted to pay taxes even when they’re not dedicated to worship, as I pointed out in this article on Il Tempo, in Italian), the federalist reform, which Italian Bishops are very interested about.

Here follows an article I wrote today for La Sicilia (in Italian).

Questione educativa, etica e libertà religiosa le tre piste del dialogo

Stato Italiano e Chiesa Cattolica, l’anniversario dei Patti Lateranensi

Si chiama «11 febbraio» l’editoriale – rigorosamente non firmato – che l’Osservatore Romano pubblica ogni anno in occasione dell’anniversario dei Patti Lateranensi. È un editoriale importante: leggerlo è come tastare il polso dei rapporti tra Stato italiano e Chiesa cattolica. È ancora più importante in questo periodo, mentre i giornali si riempiono di nuove rivelazioni sulle feste a casa del premier Silvio Berlusconi. Per diverso tempo, fino al Consiglio Permanente dei vescovi italiani, è stata richiesta dai media una presa di posizione forte da parte della Chiesa. Dopo le parole del cardinal Bagnasco al Consiglio Permanente, e la relazione del segretario della Cei Mariano Crociata alla fine del «parlamentino» dei vescovi sembrano aver in qualche modo acquietato le richieste dei media nei confronti della Chiesa.

Che, tra l’altro, non ha mai affondato il colpo contro Silvio Berlusconi, limitandosi a parlare di sobrietà e morale pubblica. A tutti è sembrato evidente che ci si rivolgesse al premier. Ma i vescovi hanno puntato il dito su un clima generale, che riguarda anche Berlusconi.

Non ci si poteva aspettare qualcosa di diverso dall’editoriale dell’Osservatore Romano di oggi. Un anniversario reso ancora più importante da un’altra ricorrenza: il centocinquantesimo dell’Unità d’Italia. Il cardinal Bertone, segretario di Stato, ha presenziato alla cerimonia dell’anniversario della presa di Porta Pia. E un convegno del Progetto Culturale della Cei è stato dedicato, appunto, all’Unità d’Italia e al ruolo dei cattolici nella formazione dell’unità. Un ruolo rivendicato anche dall’Osservatore Romano. Lo fa ricordando un’immagine ottocentesca in cui si vedevano Vittorio Emanuele II e Papa Pio IX a braccetto. Come a dire che l’unità d’Italia era possibile anche grazie ai cattolici, che rappresentavano un collante sociale fortissimo in tutti gli Stati d’Italia.

Ci vollero i Patti Lateranensi per pacificare i rapporti tra Stato Italiano e Santa Sede. Fu – scrive l’Osservatore Romano – la «conciliazione» fra le due «istituzioni» ma non nel «corpo sociale, dove fede e cittadinanza non erano in conflitto»; anzi, «l’orientamento religioso delle masse assicurò al nuovo Stato il collante, sicuro e forte, delle diversità che il processo di unificazione era chiamato a superare».

Eppure, c’è una nota che non deve sfuggire nell’articolo di fondo del giornale del Papa. Che ricorda i Patti del Laterano e l’Accordo di Villa Madama del 1984 (la revisione del Concordato), definisce che questi vennero a porsi come «strumenti positivi di tutela e promozione della libertà religiosa, quale diritto individuale, collettivo e istituzionale», ma allo stesso tempo sottolinea «l’esigenza di un pieno e fattivo rispetto nella lettera e nello spirito delle disposizioni poste da tali accordi, da parte di tutti coloro che sono chiamati a dare loro applicazione».

Sono molte le questioni sullo sfondo della libertà religiosa, tema fondamentale a livello internazionale (il Papa ha dedicato alla libertà religiosa la giornata mondiale della pace), ma che deve essere vissuto anche nella vita quotidiana di ogni Stato. Italia e Santa Sede dialogano su più punti: c’è la questione delle scuole paritarie, per le quali la Chiesa chiede parità di accesso alle scuole pubbliche; c’è la questione del crocifisso, in cui l’Italia si trova tra gli otto paesi europei che hanno appoggiato il Vaticano nel ricorso al Consiglio d’Europa; c’è anche la questione della libertà di coscienza sui temi etici, molto vivo in un momento in cui sta per essere discusso in Parlamento il disegno di legge sul fine vita. Il confronto tra Chiesa e Italia parte da qui.

le tre piste del dialogo tra Italia e Santa Sede – La Sicilia 11.02.2011