Religion and Politics in ItalySee also Europe, France, Spain. 1. Brief Introduction 1. Brief Introduction to Religion and Politics in Italy Italy has a population of over 58 million, with a population growth rate of -.075% (July 2010 est). It had a 2009 HDI ranking of #18 and a 200 CPI ranking of 4.3. The CIA Factbook lists Italy as approximately 90% Catholic, with roughly one-third of the population regularly attending Catholic services. It also notes that there are “mature” Protestant and Jewish communities, along with a growing Muslim immigrant one. Italy became a nation in 1870, but the Vatican failed to recognize the government until the Lateran Treaties of 1929. Some Catholic bishops, however, showed sympathy to the government and the Italian liberal elite were never as anticlerical as their French brethren. The Lateran Treaties established Italian sovereignty over the Papal States, made Catholicism Italy’s state religion, and gave the church control of matrimony and religious education in state schools. The church, for its part, recognized the state, acknowledged Rome as its capital, and promised neutrality in politics. Following World War II, the major political battle took place between the new Christian Democratic Party (Fascism had discredited the far right) and the Communists (PCI). The Christian Democrats, backed by both the papacy and the United States, kept control of the prime ministership until August 1983. Even in the successor government of Socialist Bettino Craxi, however, the Christian Democrats held more cabinet positions than any other party. PCI leader Enrico Berlinguer first proposed a compromesso storico [historic compromise] between Catholics and Communists in 1973, but that proposal found more influence among intellectuals than politicians. Pope Paul VI (1963-78), whose father had served three terms in the Chamber of Deputies, symbolized the relationship between a reformist Christian Democracy and the papacy. When the Red Brigades kidnapped and later assassinated his friend, Christian Democratic leader Aldo Moro, who supported the compromesso, it was a personal blow. In 1984 Socialist Prime Minister Bettino Craxi and the Polish Pope John Paul II signed a new concordat, somewhat distancing the Vatican from Italian public life. The end of the Cold War fostered the fragmentation of the Christian Democrats, and billionaire media magnate Silvio Berlusconi founded the populist party Forza Italia. Berlusconi and Forza won national elections in 1994, 2001, and 2008. Current, much more secular, national politics generally focus on a struggle between the center-right and the center-left. In April 2006 parliamentary elections, the forces of the center-right candidate Berlusconi, 69, lost narrowly to Romano Prodi, a 66-year-old practicing Catholic and technocratic former Italian prime minister (1996-98) and president of the European Commission. Berlusconi’s personality, campaign tactics, and support for the Iraq War made him the focus of the election. Fisher’s “Letter From Europe” (below) explains why the church-state issues like abortion and same-sex unions are much less salient than they are in the United States. Italians have had many centuries to get used to religion in politics, and Catholics participate in both center-left and center-right alliances. Abortions have been legal since 1978, and they appear on the decline. The negative birth rate does remain a concern to both church and state. In 2005 the new pope joined a successful campaign of the Italian Bishops Conference to stop the liberalization of the assisted fertility law. Even the Radical Party’s Emma Bonino states that “[e]verybody thinks that the pope is the only moral figure in my country as far as war and social justice go. But on personal behavior, meaning sex, meaning divorce, meaning motherhood and pregnancy, people frankly do not care.” The Italian political culture thus offers a unique historical experience and contemporary relationship between religion and politics. The Prodi government fell in January 2008, and Berlusconi's center-right coalition defeated former Rome Mayor and Democratic Party leader Walter Veltroni's center-left coalition in April. The resulting parliament constituted "a political tsunami" in form as voters reduced the number of parties represented from twenty-six to six, making the system less hostage to extreme parties of the left and right. However, the second largest party in Berlusconi's coalition is the regional and anti-immigrant Northern League, which caused the fall of Berlusconi's first government in 1994. Hanson (2006) discusses “Religion in Contemporary Europe and the Expansion of the European Union” (pp. 138-45); “National Europe: Politics, Immigration, and Education” (pp. 145-50); and “Religion and Politics in the Contemporary West” (pp. 155-163). 2. A Short Introductory Course to Religion and Politics in Italy Grew discusses the prewar sources of Christian Democracy in France and Italy. Hanson covers Italy-papal interactions from the nineteenth century and the predominantly Christian Democratic-Communist Party interaction of Italian politics from 1945 to the Christian Democrats’ loss of the prime minister’s position in 1983. The books in Section Four all comment on Italy from their particular perspective. Grew, Raymond, “Suspended Bridges to Democracy: The Uncertain Origins of Christian Democracy in France and Italy,” in Kselman, Thomas, and Buttigieg, Joseph A. European Christian Democracy: Historical Legacies and Comparative Perspectives (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2003), 11-42. Hanson, Eric O., “Papal Reform: Leo XII to Paul VI, Christian Democracy” and “Italy: Christian Democrats, Communists, Socialists,” in The Catholic Church in World Politics (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987), 40-52, 134-39. 3. Other Key Resource Materials for Religion and Politics in Italy Byatt, A.S. “What is a European?” New York Times Magazine (October 13, 2002):46-51. Cleary, Edward L., “Vatican in World Politics: View from Europe,” paper for APSA 1998 Annual Meeting. Coughlan, John, “God and Caesar in the New Europe,” America 189 (August 4-11, 2003): 20-23. Davie, Grace. Religion in Modern Europe: A Memory Mutates (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000). Dawson, Christopher. The Making of Europe (Cleveland: Meridian, 1956). Emerson, Michael. Redrawing the Map of Europe (London: Macmillian Press, 1998). Greeley, Andrew M. Religion in Europe at the End of the Second Millennium: A Sociological Profile (New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, 2003). Judt, Tony. Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 (New York: Penguin, 2005). Kagan, Robert. Of Paradise and Power: America and Europe in the New World Order (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003). Maréchal, Brigitee, Allievi, Stefano, Dassetto, Felice, and Nielsen, Jørgen, ed. Muslims in the Enlarged Europe (Leiden: Koninklijke Brill, 2003). Nelsen, Brent F., Guth, James L., and Fraser, Cleveland R., “Does Religion Matter? Christianity and Public Support for the European Union,” European Union Politics 2 (2001). Soper, J. Christopher, and Fetzer, Joel. “Religion and Politics in Secular Europe: Cutting Against the Grain,” in Jelen, Ted Gerard, and Wilcox, Clyde. Religion in the Comparative Perspective: The One, the Few, and the Many (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002). Weigel, George. The Cube and the Cathedral: Europe, America, and Politics Without God (New York: Basic Books, 2005). 4. Recent News Articles on Italy (a. Politics; b. Religion and Politics, c. Political Economy; d. Society): a. Politics “Italians Go to Polls, in Referendum on Berlusconi’s Five-Year Record,” New York Times, April 10, 2006. Analysis of campaign. “Italy’s Natural Selection,” op-ed by Gianni Riotta, New York Times, April 13, 2006. The center-left’s Prodi won, but “Berlusconi won’t fade away.” "For Italy's Premier, Endurance Pays Off, for Now," New York Times, December 8, 2007. The 68-year-old Prodi jogs with reporter. Prodi has lasted for one and one-half years, despite presiding over an unruly nine-party coalition. Completely different personality than Berlusconi. Talk of possible electoral law reform. "Surprising Only a Few, Italy's Government Collapses," New York Times, January 25, 2008. Prodi government falls. "Italy's Leader Disavows Ally In Coalition," New York Times, July 31, 2010. After much tension, Berlusconi denounced Gianfranco Fini, speaker of the lower house and leader of People in Liberty coalition, now renamed Future and Liberty. Other Berlusconi ally, the Northern League (leader: Umberto Bossi; prominent member: Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti), will probably assure victory in no-confidence votes, but defection makes it harder. Fini refused to resign as speaker. b. Religion and Politics “Italy’s Church and State: A Mostly Happy Union,” New York Times, December 1, 2004. Ian Fisher’s “Letter from Europe.” "In Political Step, Pope Joins Fray on Fertility Law,” New York Times, May 31, 2005. Pope Benedict XVI endorsed a call by Italian bishops for a boycott on a referendum on medically assisted fertility. “Religious Issues Set to Influence Election Campaign in Italy,” Los Angeles Times, December 8, 2005. A discussion of the possibility of religious issues swaying voters in the coming electoral campaign. c. Political Economy “Italy’s Once-Plucky Little Factories Now Complicate Its Battle With ‘Made in China," New York Times, May 14, 2006. "Economy Ailing, Frustrated Italy Picks Berlusconi," New York Times, April 15, 2008. Center-right coalition wins both houses of parliament. See above for remaking of political party system. This is the first time since World War II that the Communist Party will not have representation. d. Society "Italy Arrests Hundreds of Immigrants," New York Times, May 16, 2008. Nearly 400 people were arrested, of whom 100 were immediately deported. These included 52 Moroccans and 32 Romanians. The Northern League favors a tougher immigration policy. Treatment of Muslims, Romanians (an E.U. country since January 2008), and Roma (Gypsies), who have European citizenship, are significant issues. August 9, 2010. |
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