Giorgia Meloni, leader of the Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy) holds a “Thank You Italy” sign during a press conference at the party electoral headquarters on Sept. 25, 2022 in Rome. / Photo by Antonio Masiello/Getty Images
Rome, Italy, Sep 29, 2022 / 11:00 am (CNA).
The victory of Giorgia Meloni and her “Fratelli d’Italia” (Brothers of Italy) party in Italy’s recent election made global headlines.
Meloni won with a platform that supports traditional families, national identity, and the country’s Christian roots. In a speech earlier this year, she said “no to the LGBT lobby, yes to sexual identity, no to gender ideology.”
As the leader of a party that originates from a postwar movement born from the ashes of fascism, Meloni can neither be called a post-fascist nor simply a far-right leader.
Her international position is Atlanticist, and she has supported Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, congratulating him on his election.
On European issues, Meloni is critical of how Europe runs the risk of imposing policies on nation-states, but she is not against the principle of a European Union.
In short, the reality of Meloni’s politics is much more nuanced than it may seem at first glance. This explains why Catholic hierarchies in Italy have shown a degree of openness toward the politician following her electoral victory.
Italian political background
Italy’s history plays an essential role in understanding this reality. After fascism, the Italian state was reconstituted with a powerful Catholic party, the Christian Democrats, which for decades was the undisputed leader in the elections.
Catholics had been among the first opponents of fascism.
The Italian Constitution was inspired by a group of Catholics who, in 1943, already toward the end of the war, had gathered in the monastery of Camaldoli in Tuscany to define the principles for a post-fascist state.
In the early 1990s, a widespread corruption scandal in Italian politics called Tangentopoli wiped out traditional parties, including the Christian Democrats.
New parties arose, and members of the Christian Democrats joined these or were part of varying political formations.
The current Italian Democratic Party, considered center-left, is made up of former members of the Christian Democrats as well as members of the old left parties.
The secretary, Enrico Letta, had a background with the Christian Democrats. Similarly, parties considered to be center-right in Italy, such as Berlusconi’s Forza Italia, include among their ranks heirs of the Christian Democrats but also former socialists and former members of the Italian Liberal Party, traditionally secular and in some respects even anti-clerical.
The Italian Church had initially supported the so-called center party, which was the first direct heir of the Christian Democrats. Soon, however, the policy of the Italian bishops became not to support political formations but rather the values and themes promoted within the various parties — no longer, therefore, a Catholic party, but Catholics in politics.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Cardinal Camillo Ruini was the Italian Bishops’ Conference president. In the face of tremendous parliamentary battles, Ruini coined the expression “nonnegotiable values.”
By nonnegotiable values, he first meant the importance of life at a time when political actions promoted euthanasia, in-vitro-fertilization, and even abortion as a matter of personal conscience.
After the bishops’ conference presidency of Ruini and that of Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, the question of nonnegotiable values has become more nuanced.
With Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, who became president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference in 2014, the Church in Italy has aimed more at a concrete look at the issues of poverty and the economy, arguably losing sight, somewhat, of the values platform.
It was a strategic choice dictated by the fact that Catholics in politics were increasingly marginalized and that the social doctrine of the Church took less and less space in the formation of the new ruling class. There were attempts to create new platforms of Catholic culture in the early 2010s. These were sidelined by an economic-institutional emergency that had led to economist Mario Monti leading the government.
To all this, it must be added that the culture in Italy has been strongly forged by leftist thinking. It should be remembered that Italy had the largest Communist Party beyond the Iron Curtain after the war.
The Communist Party strongly developed an anti-fascist resistance narrative. Yet, the communist partisans were also authors of heinous murders and systematic elimination of priests — for instance, the recently beatified seminarian Rolando Rivi.
The Catholic platform in Italy
The historical context explains how Catholic thought in Italy was forged, especially in the years following the Second Vatican Council. Then, Catholicism in Italy fluctuated between the need for identity and the narrative of a rupture, which wanted a Church more committed to social issues and less to the centers of power.
A case in point: The latest bill against homophobia, which could have introduced gender classes in schools, was strongly supported by the Italian Democratic Party, led by the former Christian Democrat Letta.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the Catholic vote in Italy has rewarded Giorgia Meloni. Lacking a political party of reference, the Catholic center looked to the party that most corresponded to specific values.
Meloni’s voters are likely people who attended Family Day events held in Italy in 2007 and 2016 to oppose two bills on the civil unions.
The organizer of the most recent Family Day, Massimo Gandolfini, said in 2019: “We recognize that Brothers of Italy and Giorgia Meloni are pursuing a policy to the advantage of the family, for the defense of life from conception to natural death, and the educational freedom of parents.”
On the other hand, Meloni has been met with skepticism and concerns over leading a party with a fascist legacy.
Much attention was paid to her meeting with Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship. But there were other talks with Vatican figures. Rumors also speak of contact with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state.
Added to this is a meeting with Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference. In an interview with the Italian bishops’ newspaper Avvenire on Sept. 28, Zuppi made it clear that he knew Meloni well. He also described the Church in Italy as committed to collaborating with all parties.
To fully understand the context, it is worth remembering that Zuppi is an exponent of Sant’Egidio, a movement closer to the demands of the center-left than the center-right.
The Italian bishops’ position
In general, the Italian bishops do not endorse any particular political candidate, keep a low profile, and only issue statements regarding the bishops’ conference president or possibly the secretary of state.
Meloni also kept a low profile. Compared with others, her campaign did not exploit religious faith. While setting what is generally considered a conservative tone, Meloni’s rhetoric was political, not religious.
The president of the “Fratelli” is described by those who know her as someone “who considers herself part of the Church, very respectful of Pope Francis even when perhaps she does not understand or share certain [aspects] of his statements or acts.”
She was also present at the Communion and Liberation Meeting in Rimini, which takes place every August, and spoke about Catholic social teaching.
Brothers of Italy and the Italian Church
Cardinal Ruini, whose voice still carries weight, said in an interview with Corriere Della Sera on Sept. 28, “intellectuals are on the left, but the real country is on the right.” He acknowledged the reality of Meloni’s role and her party’s election.
In doing so, Ruini pointed out that the Catholic world in Italy has been closer to the so-called center-left rather than the center-right. In Italy, as elsewhere, there is a perception of a deep rift between those who stand up for nonnegotiable values and those who instead support a more pragmatic approach to dealing with contemporary challenges. But this is a perception, and reality is more nuanced.
Perhaps now is the time for a nuanced reconciliation of opposites for the Italian Catholic world. Giorgia Meloni is not a Catholic politician. The values she espouses, however, also won over the Catholic electorate. This is a reality to be ignored at peril.
[…]
We read: “The Vatican warned: ‘It would not be permissible to introduce new official structures or doctrines in dioceses before an agreement had been reached at the level of the universal Church…’.”
Permissible? An Agreement? Proceduralism over content; this is a secular game plan…
Before we know it, we’ll be notified in the footnotes that truth is constructed rather than discovered, and that even the Council of Nicaea was only a synodal/consensus sort of thingy, rather than a recollection of what the Church has lived and believed from the beginning in the incarnate Christ. Arius was not “synthesized” (synodal jargon!) into the top-level package; he was rejected.
Can’t see the kind of clarity demonstrated at Nicaea ever coming under Cardinal Hollerich–grand-poobah relator for the 2023 Synod on Synodality–who through the media has already joined with Germania’s Marx and Batzing in calling for the deconstruction of human sexual morality as clearly articulated in the Catechism.
Instead of the Trinity, the triumvirate. What a joke.
Attacks against the church are common in any era. The church stands against all unrighteousness and those who espouse ungodly paths do infiltrate the church in order to destroy their critics.
It appears that Papa is reluctant to stamp out heresy. Some will argue that he sows the seeds of disunity and wishes a church to be a soup kitchen and hostel.
Jesus Christ is our spiritual food and drink. To those who would steal away the essence of the church, let them be excommunicated as a warning to all.
Thank you for steadfast love of truth and proclaiming Christ crucified.
Since this matter has become as serious as stated [most would agree], would not the more effective response to the German Synodal Way be for the pontiff to call an ecumenical council of world bishops, the pontiff in attendance, and required attendance by all German bishops with a set agenda of the issues? If some bishops remain obstinate they may be penalized, if necessary a new German bishops conference and president to replace the former.
That’s a great idea of how to proceed if we had the episcopate of 40 years ago. Currently, I not only don’t trust Francis, but after watching how many of the Cardinals swayed in tune to the trash music of the “Youth Synod” several years ago, I don’t trust an assembled Church leadership to not end up embracing rather than disciplining the Germans.
Alas, so it may be.
I keep asking myself, “Who’s on first.”
No, that would not be the most effective response at the moment Fr. Peter. At the moment, they – the German Bishops – are merely voicing their opinion. Next year, the Bishops will meet, as planned, and then the Germans will know that their views have been totally rejected by the universal Church. Pope Francis has already stated that this journey is not about doctrine.
Fr Peter, why in the world would he do that when he is very much the head of the German Synodal path? This is the symphony he is conducting, the play he is writing and directing.
Just a wild guess.
That tittering sound we hear is Tetzel laughing, possibly in hell.
Instead of him tin-cupping indulgences in the 16th century, the Church in Germany in the 21st century excommunicates those who refuse to pay the federal church-tax, AND, sells out to those who would exchange the entire Church for a “synodal” mess of pottage.
Way back on February 25, 1296, before fledgling nation-states had become radically secularized, Pope Boniface VIII prohibited (in Clericis laicos) “all prelates and in general all persons belonging to the Church” (without the consent of the Holy See) from paying to laymen [today read the ZdK: the lay Central Committee of German Catholics] any ‘imports, taxes, tithes or half tithes or even a one-hundredth part”—on the penalty of ipso facto excommunication.
This penalty of 1296 A.D. was incurred automatically in 1955 by the lay-Catholic, Argentine dictator, Juan Peron. Butt, what will later history say of today’s clerical money-changers and proposed flesh markets in Germania?
The Vatican has issued another warning
Warning, or rather projection?
The single subject on which the Pope seems to speak with razor sharp clarity and focus is his intense dislike of the EF of the Mass and those who are attached to it. Everything else is fog and evasion.
Bergoglio’s Synodal Way poses threat to Catholicism by Design.
Pope Francis’s Synodal Way poses absolutely no threat to our Church. The Holy Spirit is present. Respect His presence and guidance. Pope Francis does.
There is absolutely not purpose to these synods other than to attempt to enshrine anti-Catholic bigotry into the Deposit of Faith.
The warning by Pope Francis to the
liberal “German Synodal Way” is significant for another reason. This is bad for Arch-conservative US Bishops because it puts Francis in the middle as a moderate between arch- conservative US Bishops and radical- liberal German Bishops; and makes it more difficult for US Bishops to claim that Francis is “going too far” to the left. Remember the old saying: “play the middle.” Francis can do that now because of the “radical” Germans, who have pushed US Bishops further to the right and placed Francis in the middle now between the two of them.
Is that the story you tell yourself? The radical Germans? They are very much of the heart of Pope Francis. The Pope pretends to excoriate them. That is all. It is a charade, nothing more.
Francis, himself, poses a threat to the unity of the Church. He refuses to stand against “Catholics” who promote an anti-Catholic agenda when it comes to their public defiance of Church teaching to protect the unborn. And, worse, he admonishes those shepherds who seek to bring members of their flocks back into the fold. Add his admiration for James Martin, and the case becomes airtight. Compassion is one thing, but when it silences the teaching of the Church, it is no longer compassionate.
Oh, there is no silence. Pope Francis, our teacher, has made it clear that abortion is an evil act, and those who support it are not in communion with the Church and so should not receive communion.
Donna, St Paul tells us the same thing. BTW, Is there any statement in the Bible that says they should be refused communion?
Steeped in mortal sin….Cordileone’s letter explains it.
Read 1 Corinthians 11:27-29, but don’t get wrapped up in sola scriptura, Mal. Canon 915 also addresses the subject of excommunication, which one does to oneself when denying the teaching of the Church and presenting oneself to receive the Eucharist.
Donna, it is truly our belief that if the teachings of the Church are denied then, when this is done, one excommunicates one’s self. This is exactly what Pope Francis has said on a few occasions.
Does the priest, who is distributing Holy Communion, really know what is lurking in the minds and hearts of all those who come up to receive the sacred bread? It is possible that many of these people do not accept or live by all the teachings of the Church. The onus is on the receiver. St. Paul makes it clear that these people eat and drink judgment upon themselves.
Mal,
Excommunication is used when a transgression is public. Not privately held in the heart.
When the archbishop of New Orleans excommunicated segregationists he only used that discipline for those who loudly and publicly continued unrepentant in error. If holding segregation beliefs silently in one’s heart was grounds for excommunication the archbishop would have need to excommunicate virtually every white person under his jurisdiction. That was the sad condition of civil rights in that time and region.
Where is it in the BIBLE??? Spoken like a Protestant. Are you?? As you must know the Catholic church is based on more than that alone. There is an old saying that actions speak louder than words. Having spoken several times to the Germans no effect, its time for the Pope to actually do something. Call in the particular German Bishops for a session of discipline including a time of quiet reflection on there actions for some extended period of time at some isolated monastery. As for your commentary above to my post, people commit many sins. No matter how bad, they will be forgiven if repented of. In the main those sins are committed by private people of no public note. The actions of the German bishops are much more serious as they threaten the unity of the church. Further they have made statements suggesting it is the church which must change to reflect modern times. Women priest, gay marriage , communion for non catholics are all on their agendA which they defiantly continue to push publicly. Time for Frances to put and end to these ramblings before bigger damage is done.
1 Corinthians 5:11
The Amish reference scripture verses for their practice of shunning which like excommunication is really meant to awaken people to the gravity of their transgressions in hopes they will repent.
Exodus 20:13 – Thou shalt not kill.
Exodus 20:16 – Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Only a hypocrite would support abortion (or another intrinsically evil act) while presenting oneself for Holy Communion. Such a hypocrite is like the Pharisee about whom you often write. His thinking is warped and fossilized. He is a self-styled judge against the word of God and the 2000-year-old Magisterium of the Catholic Church. One who loves God knows Him and keeps His commandments.
Catholic works of mercy compel us to instruct the ignorant and to admonish the sinner. This is the work of the Church and the work of each of the faithful.
Sure, sure. Then he hails the number one abortionist in Italy as one of its greats.
A landmark event happens with the overturning of Roe V Wade and he is mum.
Sola Scriptura? Catholicism, unlike Protestantism, affirms it is a grievance sin to be in grievance sin and receive communion and for a priest or high prelate to knowingly facillitate the act.
Yes, and back in olden times we even had the following from the Council of Trent:
“CANON XI. If any one saith, that faith alone is a sufficient preparation for receiving the sacrament of the most holy Eucharist, let him be anathema. And for fear lest so great a sacrament may be received unworthily, and so unto death and condemnation, this holy Synod ordains and declares, that sacramental confession, when a confessor may be had, is of necessity to be made beforehand, by those whose conscience is bothered with mortal sin, how contrite even soever they may think themselves. But if any one shall presume to teach, preach, or obstinately to assert, or even in public disputation to defend the contrary, he shall be thereupon excommunicated.”
Today, more complicated than abortion, because regarding the possible psychological complexity of aberrant sexual activities, in individual cases, the new Catechism carefully recognizes mitigating circumstances affecting subjective guilt (those individuals (!) whose consciences might be aware of “grave” but not fully deliberate “mortal” sin).
But it is precisely this so-called (!) “grey area” of mitigation—in individual cases—which Marx, Batzing, Hollerich and Grech would like to expand and exploit into a morally exempt category (!) for a contrived category of (LGBTQ) persons. And, indeed, even for unmarried and non-celibate heterosexuals as well (equity!).
Alchemy by a new name: synodality.
Thanks. Well said.
Well, well.
Tepid, but maybe a beginning.
Pope Francis cannot avoid being drawn out in this. Schism is a real possibility considering the declarations coming from the German Synod.
As promised by Christ, the Holy Spirit will have the final say on the Deposit of Faith.
As he has said before he is ok with schism. He is likely enjoying this.
It sounds as though the devil is alive and well in Germany. What is our Pope waiting for? Excommunicate those responsible.
James, you can wait until pigs fly if you are waiting for the Pope to do anything about it. They are merely executing his playbook.
The warning by about the liberal “German Synodal Way” is significant for another reason. This is bad for Arch-conservative US Bishops because it puts Francis in the middle as a moderate between arch- conservative US Bishops and radical- liberal German Bishops; and makes it more difficult for US Bishops to claim that Francis is “going too far” to the left. Remember the old saying: “play the middle.” Francis can do that now because of the “radical” Germans, who have pushed US Bishops further to the right and placed Francis in the middle now between the two of them.
“The Roman Pontiff has
full, SUPREME and universal POWER over the WHOLE Church, a power which he can always exercise UNHINDERED.” Cathechism # 882.
Yet ANOTHER “warning”???? How ineffective and banal. When is the Vatican ( aka the Pope) actually going to DO something about the German Church? Endless meetings and warnings have evidently resolved NOTHING and the fact that the German church roars on toward their goal of schism unimpeded ( for that is the only explanation which makes sense) is an indictment of the Pope. He refuses to protect the church from being publicly injured. Instead , crazed liberal clerics are deluding scores of Catholics that their way is fine and dandy. It would seem the pope has had too many “who am I to judge” moments and has abdicated his role. SOMEBODY has to judge, and that somebody is HIM. Tip-toeing around the truth will serve no one.
Wow! What if somebody else was to judge? He would kick out these Germans for merely expressing an opinion, kick out those who have had abortions, who take contraceptive pills, who have lustful thoughts, who have Pharisaical attitudes (our Lord denounced them) who allow some form of bigotry to reign in their lives etc. etc.
I don’t think the Germans are merely expressing an opinion. They are making up changes specifically to sacraments contrary to Magisterium. And if acts are no longer recognized as sin then what’s the point of the confessional. Self and pride certainly does not examine conscience. And I wonder how does the Holy Family hold as an image? It ain’t Joseph, Joseph and Jesus or Mary, Mary and Jesus. Will even that sacred image be tossed aside for wokeness?
Mal, don’t you know that abortion is an automatic excommunication?
Pope Francis has made it clear to this group – which is not the whole German Church – “If they find themselves separated from the entire ecclesial body, they weaken, rot and die. Hence the need always to ensure communion with the whole body of the Church.”
Here is another strong statement: “In order to safeguard the freedom of the People of God and the exercise of the episcopal ministry, it seems necessary to clarify that the ‘Synodal Way’ in Germany does not have the power to compel bishops and the faithful to adopt new forms of governance and new orientations of doctrine and morals.”
Natural calamities like droughts, forest fires, thunderstorms, floods, earthquakes, landslides, diseases, hunger, joblessness, homelessness, air and water pollution – are making life difficult for people in different parts of the world.
Yawn. Surely.
Well put Meiron.
The changes that the German “Bishops” proper with special regard to homosexuality, blessing same sex marriages. etc is a\particulatly grievous and deserving of a harsh warning to defrock and even excommunicate priests that participate in such activity…..I am moved to ask what good comes out of Germany after Martin Lither, Karl Marx, Adolph Hitler and now this!