On June 6, 2006, in a document titled “Family and human procreation,” the Pontifical Council for the Family asserted its strong commitment to the traditional family and its opposition to gay couples, whose attempts to obtain legal recognition would produce, according to the paper, the “eclipse of God” in modern society. The Council, a Vatican institution, condemned the proposal to put homosexual and heterosexual couples on the same level, arguing that “unusual couples” should not be allowed to obtain the same rights granted to “usual” ones, because only a “form of love between a man and a woman” should be considered as the foundation of the human family.
The June 6 document claimed that the PACS—a form of civil union allowing gay couples to gain legal recognition and some of the rights of marriage—represented a danger for the values of a Christian society. Although the document also spoke out against in-vitro fertilization, contraception, and feminism, the discussion of same-sex marriage was central. Following proposals of many Italian politicians to allow certain rights to gay couples—notably after the 2006 elections ushered in a progressive coalition—the Vatican has launched repeated attacks on the gay community.
Many secular politicians and institutions, including the activist group Arcigay, have responded by arguing that the Vatican, being a sovereign state on its own territory, has no right to enter the Italian political debate because Italy too is a sovereign country. These groups contend that no interference should be allowed by one sovereign state into the domestic affairs of another.
The problem with Italy is that this very interference takes place all the time because of a legalized concession made by the Italian government to the Vatican through a written pact back in1929. This agreement, called the Lateran Treaties, was adopted by Mussolini and never cancelled; it was only revised in 1984. By signing the Lateran Treaties, the Vatican formally accepted the existence of the Italian government but was given the right to play an important advisory role in Italian affairs. One result is that the Vatican successfully blocked all efforts at divorce reform in Italy until 1974. Another is that the teaching of “Catholic Religion” remained a mandatory subject in public schools until the 1980’s, when the Italian Supreme Court struck down this law.
Following the Vatican allegations, the Italian gay community pointed out that Church leaders were fixating on gay issues while largely ignoring such social problems as civic violence, child abuse, war, and poverty. Franco Grillini, a member of Parliament and former leader of Arcigay, characterized the Vatican paper as “disproportionate, incoherent and ridiculous.” The June 6 document, he said, “assails with unusual violence homosexual couples’ rights.” Arcigay has noted that most Western parliaments have enacted legislation to recognize the rights of same-sex couples, including the UK, France, Germany, the Lowlands, Scandinavia, Spain, Canada, and even some U.S. states.
Stefano Bucaioni, provincial secretary of Arcigay for the city of Perugia, affirmed in an interview that, while the Italian proposal for PACS remains a small step compared with most European countries, it nevertheless “represents the least for a modern, civil and lay country such as Italy should be.” But Vatican influence on Italian politics is such that it’s hard to reach a consensus. Here we have not only conservative parties, which exist elsewhere in Europe, but also religious caucuses that act as political parties, something that is typically Italian. The combination of these two forces gives the Vatican a virtual veto power over social legislation that they don’t like.
The result is that even though the PACS are already an attempt at finding a compromise—a modest measure that gives gay couples only some of the benefits of marriage—they are constantly being rejected, because many Italian politicians still refuse to give even partial recognition to gay couples. Consequently, parliamentary discussions of the matter have been paralyzed for a long time. Right after the announcement, on September 27, that the Italian Parliament would start to discuss the issue of “gay couples” beginning in November, the Pope intervened again and declared that PACS should not be allowed because they’re a threat against “natural families.”
The present Parliament, elected on April 8, 2006, is led by a progressive majority that had presented a written program promising the adoption of legislation to protect gay couples’ rights, but the most conservative elements in the majority, heavily influenced by the Church, seem willing to buck their party’s position and follow their “personal” convictions as laid down by the Vatican. And since their Parliamentary majority is slim, these legislators’ defection to the conservative side may be the decisive factor in blocking a discussion of this issue in Parliament.
Antonio Fabrizio is a writer and activist who lives in Perugia, Italy.
