Pope is victor as Prodi drops gay marriage law
Sunday February 25 2007
Early in the day, Mr Prodi decided to omit the gay marriage proposals from his 12-point plan for taking Italy forward. The move ensured the support of the Roman Catholics within his coalition. Mr Prodi is also trying to lure members of the Union of Christian Democrats, who form the Opposition, into his government.
"I am seeking more votes. I intend to fight on, but I need to have the strength," he said. The abandonment of the proposed law was widely criticised and described as evidence of the Vatican's continuing influence on Italy's domestic politics. It fed conspiracy theories that the Holy See had engineered the government's collapse, after warning it for several weeks about the consequences of pushing ahead with the legislation. There seemed to be satisfaction in the Holy See that the government's collapse would result in the death of the civil union law.
"It was a gift, arriving just at the beginning of Lent," said an anonymous senior prelate. However, he denied that the Vatican had been involved in the realpolitik that led to the government's downfall. The Vatican had warned that it would excommunicate any Catholic politician who voted in favour of the proposals on gay marriage. © Telegraph
