Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Biships interfering in the political process in Italy
Yay!
Jun. 13 (CWNews.com) - Nearly 3 out of 4 eligible Italian voters declined to participate in a nationwide referendum on June 12 and 13, according to early unofficial results. Because of the low voter turnout, the referendum results will not be legally binding, and the Italian bishops appear to have scored a significant political victory.
The referendum was the result of a campaign to overturn restrictive aspects of Italy's "Law #40," which was passed in 2004 to regulate the practice of in vitro fertilization. The Italian bishops-- with the support of Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news)-- had encouraged Catholic voters to abstain from the vote.
The bishops argued that Law #40 is seriously flawed, allowing practices which the Church regards as gravely wrong. However, the referendum questions would have abolished restrictions on the practice, allowing still more abuses. Since the Italian constitution requires 50 percent of all registered voters to cast ballots in order to make a referendum valid, the bishops reasoned that by their abstentions, Italian Catholics could ensure the failure of the referendum campaign without giving their support to the existing law.
The Italian constitution allows a referendum for the full or partial repeal of new legislation, if opponents of the law can collect the signatures of 500,000 voters on a petition. After the parliamentary approval of Law #40 last year, opponents amassed 4 million signatures on a repeal petition. And on January 13, the country's constitutional court called for the national vote.
But late in the afternoon of June 13, as the two-day voting process came to an end, unofficial returns from the Italian interior ministry showed that 25.9 percent of the eligible voters had cast ballots.
Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the vicar for the Rome diocese and president of the Italian bishops' conference, had led the campaign for a boycott of the referendum. In a May 7 address, as the Italian bishops opened a meeting, he made it clear that he hoped all Italian Catholics would abstain from the vote. Cardinals Dionigi Tettamanzi of Milan and Angelo Scola of Venice made similar appeals to voters, as did the president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Archbishop Elio Sgreccia. Pope Benedict indicated his support for the strategy during a May 30 talk to the Italian bishops. The results of the June 12-13 referendum differ markedly from those of previous national votes in which the Italian Catholic hierarchy and the Holy See were involved. In May 1974, the Italian hierarchy and Pope Paul VI supported a referendum effort to overturn a new law allowing divorce, but 59 percent of the Italian voters chose to keep the law on the books. In May 1981, a similar move to overturn a law allowing abortion was defeated, with 68 percent of the voters choosing to support legal abortion despite the energetic efforts of Pope John Paul II (bio - news).
Jun. 13 (CWNews.com) - Nearly 3 out of 4 eligible Italian voters declined to participate in a nationwide referendum on June 12 and 13, according to early unofficial results. Because of the low voter turnout, the referendum results will not be legally binding, and the Italian bishops appear to have scored a significant political victory.
The referendum was the result of a campaign to overturn restrictive aspects of Italy's "Law #40," which was passed in 2004 to regulate the practice of in vitro fertilization. The Italian bishops-- with the support of Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news)-- had encouraged Catholic voters to abstain from the vote.
The bishops argued that Law #40 is seriously flawed, allowing practices which the Church regards as gravely wrong. However, the referendum questions would have abolished restrictions on the practice, allowing still more abuses. Since the Italian constitution requires 50 percent of all registered voters to cast ballots in order to make a referendum valid, the bishops reasoned that by their abstentions, Italian Catholics could ensure the failure of the referendum campaign without giving their support to the existing law.
The Italian constitution allows a referendum for the full or partial repeal of new legislation, if opponents of the law can collect the signatures of 500,000 voters on a petition. After the parliamentary approval of Law #40 last year, opponents amassed 4 million signatures on a repeal petition. And on January 13, the country's constitutional court called for the national vote.
But late in the afternoon of June 13, as the two-day voting process came to an end, unofficial returns from the Italian interior ministry showed that 25.9 percent of the eligible voters had cast ballots.
Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the vicar for the Rome diocese and president of the Italian bishops' conference, had led the campaign for a boycott of the referendum. In a May 7 address, as the Italian bishops opened a meeting, he made it clear that he hoped all Italian Catholics would abstain from the vote. Cardinals Dionigi Tettamanzi of Milan and Angelo Scola of Venice made similar appeals to voters, as did the president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Archbishop Elio Sgreccia. Pope Benedict indicated his support for the strategy during a May 30 talk to the Italian bishops. The results of the June 12-13 referendum differ markedly from those of previous national votes in which the Italian Catholic hierarchy and the Holy See were involved. In May 1974, the Italian hierarchy and Pope Paul VI supported a referendum effort to overturn a new law allowing divorce, but 59 percent of the Italian voters chose to keep the law on the books. In May 1981, a similar move to overturn a law allowing abortion was defeated, with 68 percent of the voters choosing to support legal abortion despite the energetic efforts of Pope John Paul II (bio - news).
