“We can only be happy and satisfied about this order by the Supreme Court of Cassation, accepting our appeal and recognizing our right to be atheists and agnostics and to say it loud. As trivial as this sounds, it took seven years of legal battles to be put black on white.” With this comment Adele Orioli, in charge of legal initiatives at the Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics (Unione degli Atei e degli Agnostici Razionalisti, Uaar), hailed the order… Read more »
Uaar: more science and less Vatican on public television
“We have a RAI Vatican Channel (public information programming), religious tv series, a dedicated bishop’s channel, Vatican correspondents, TV reporting which almost always opens with irrelevant statements by the pope. And if that wasn’t already enough, now get the daily mass on RAI 1. There has never been a more appropriate time than now for our country to deserve a plurality of information, promoting research and the rational discussionof problems and solutions and instead what State TV thinks we need… Read more »
Coronavirus Emergency, Churches Are Open: a Scandal, Despite the Law
«It just seems that the only independent and sovereign thing in this land is that state inside the state which is the Church. Which doesn’t hesitate to contravene the health provisions that apply to mere mortals. And, even worse, in fact instigates the commission of crimes and behaviors against the public health, and especialy against the safety of the most fragile persons. Our President of the Republic has been clear: “Italy is going through a difficult situation” and “in… Read more »
The government helps persecuted minorities, but only if they are Christian. The outrage of the Uaar
«We are appalled. The Budget Law has established a fund intended to support persecuted minorities in crisis areas andthat is something we have nothing to complain about. Too bad the only minorities protected by the provision are Christian ones. To weave this initiative together with the general public’s attitude towards themigrant issue, you could say that the government adopting the policy‘let’s help them at home, and only if they are Christians’. Furthermore, let’s consider the fact that among the countries that persecute… Read more »
The Italian flop of the 5-day-after pill
Approved by the Italian Drug Administration (AIFA) after a long debate, and with significant restrictions, the 5-day-after pill, mired in controversy, still struggles to get mass distribution in Italy, a Country dealing with strong biases and wrong beliefs on contraceptives. A survey on emergency contraception has been recently presented in Venice at the 15th World Congress on Human Reproduction. The survey, involving over 1,200 women, shows that in Italy almost three women aged 16 to 45 out of ten risk… Read more »
New Parliament, old genuflections
Having quickly archived the cold and cerebral Joseph Ratzinger, Italian media and politicians, not to mention public opinion, have been enthusiastically hailing pope Francis, by most considered a “new” pope, herald of a different style of Church management, with his humble image and sensitivity to ordinary people. It must be said, he didn’t have to face such a tremendous challenge in gaining more popularity than his predecessor, but the press has already overwhelmed us with comments on his not-so-flashy cross,… Read more »
Rome, public transport for evangelization
A church losing out to secularism, a shaky Mayor aiming at a second term and a controversial transport company. What have these things in common? An evangelization strategy burdening a badly strapped-for-cash municipality, namely Rome. On the occasion of Pope Francis’s inauguration, on Tuesday March 19th, Rome’s mayor, Gianni Alemanno, decided, in agreement with the Prefect and the Police Commissioner, to allow free travel on the underground system from 5:30 am to 2:00 pm, tapping into the Prime Minister’s funds…. Read more »
The Catholics’ political space in the new Italian Parliament
The silver lining of an extremely cloudy governmental situation that after an ambiguous electoral result still shows no clear perspectives for a sustainable majority is that the emerged parliament is by far the most secular we’ve had in Italy for decades. While our association, UAAR, has applauded this ‘anomaly’, the leading Catholic magazine Famiglia Cristiana has voiced its preoccupation for “an Italy where Catholics are still relegated to a marginal role”, given the modest result of the post-Christian Democratic coalition… Read more »
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