ITALY: Some 132 years after his predecessor Pius IX was unceremoniously removed from temporal power in Rome in the defining moment of Italian unification, Pope John Paul II and the Italian state put bygones behind them yesterday when the Pontiff made a first visit to the Italian parliament, writes Paddy Agnew, in Rome
As always these days, the 82-year-old Pope was painfully slow in his movements but crystal clear in his thoughts. During a 45-minute address to a packed lower house which included state President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Prime Minister Mr Silvio Berlusconi and the entire cabinet, the Pope called on Italian parliamentarians to respect the role of the family, to consider a gesture of clemency towards prisoners and to recall the role of Christianity when it comes to the formulation of a new EU constitution.
Heavy security measures were in place yesterday, with the area around the parliament building, Palazzo Montecitorio, largely closed off. Giant TV screens were erected in the piazza outside Palazzo Montecitorio but only a small number of curious tourists and bypassers stopped to watch.
Inside parliament the Pope was afforded a very warm welcome. When he finally entered the lower house chamber after a difficult long walk down the Transatlantico corridor, the Pope was greeted with a warm round of applause. During his speech he had to stop 22 times as he was interrupted by further applause.
The Pope said a deep bond linked Italy and the Holy See, notwithstanding the "vicissitudes and contradictions of history". Italy, he said, "would be most difficult to understand without reference to Christianity, its life blood".
In a speech which was careful to avoid any apparent interference in internal Italian affairs, the Pope did however touch on some sensitive issues. Making reference to the Italian birthrate crisis, he called on legislators to "make the task of having children and bringing them up less burdensome both socially and economically".
- A fugitive mobster turned himself in to the police yesterday, prompted by Pope John Paul's speech to the Italian parliament on Christian values, his lawyer said. - (Reuters)