Tag Archives: Rome

The Local Italy reports: The website of Lazio, the Italian region that includes Rome, was down on Sunday after being hit by a cyber attack, meaning that people could no longer use it to book a Covid vaccine. The President of the Lazio region, Nicola Zingaretti, wrote on his Facebook page: “A massive hacker attack against LazioCrea computer systems that …

Reuters reports: A visibly indignant Pope Francis had to pull himself away from a woman in a crowd in St Peter’s Square on Tuesday after she grabbed his hand and yanked him toward her. After reaching out to touch a child, the pope turned away from the crowd only for a nearby woman to seize his hand and pull her …

The Associated Press reports: The Vatican tribunal has convicted a former Holy See diplomat and sentenced him to 5 years in prison for possessing and distributing child pornography in the first such trial of its kind inside the Vatican. Monsignor Carlo Capella admitted to viewing the images during what he called a period of “fragility” and interior crisis sparked by …

The Australian reports: Vatican police broke up a homosexual orgy last month in an apartment belonging to the Con­gregation for the Doctrine of the Faith — the department charged with, among other things, tackling clerical sexual abuse. The occupant of the apartment is alleged to be the secretary of cardinal Francesco Coccopa­l­merio, head of the Pontifical Council for Legislative texts …

Earlier today Italy’s legislature made the final approving vote on its civil unions bill after Prime Minister Matteo Renzi called for a confidence vote that would have cost him his job if the bill had failed. Tonight LGBT Italians and allies are celebrating at Rome’s iconic Trevi Fountain, which has been lit in the rainbow colors in solidarity. After being …

The Guardian reports: Thousands of gay rights activists and LGBT families rallied in Rome to protest against the watering down of Italy’s civil unions bill, which no longer envisages adoption rights for homosexual couples. Protesters carried banners that read “We want equality” and sported the gay pride rainbow on their faces, with one man naked apart from a cardboard fig …

Reuters reports: Catholics should stop using condescending language such as “pity” towards homosexuals and find ways to welcome them as sons and daughters of the Church, bishops have told a major gathering on the family. The comments supporting more inclusive language for homosexuals in the Church were made in the first two rounds of interventions at the closed-door gathering, known …

A Vatican priest working in the office of the Holy See was fired today immediately after he came out. Via Reuters: Monsignor Krzystof Charamsa was removed from his position at the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican’s doctrinal arm where he had worked since 2003, a statement said. Charamsa, 43, and a Polish theologian, announced he was …

Breitbart celebrates: Hundreds of thousands of people travelled from all over Italy and Europe yesterday to protest against the proposed legalisation of gay marriage, and the teaching of ‘gender theories’ in schools. Gathering in the San Giovanni Square in Rome, with estimates of participants running from 300,000 to a million people, the protest put the ‘anti-Austerity’ protests held in London …

You can see the mocking responses and memes here and here. The Italian government is taking the threat seriously. In the wake of the threat, Italian security chiefs have approved plans to put 4,800 soldiers on the country’s streets and ‘sensitive sites’ to prevent terrorist attacks. Reports claim 500 will be deployed in Rome – where soldiers are already guarding …

“At last Rome has adopted a register of civil unions. It is a long-awaited result which puts our city more and more in the forefront of the rights of individuals and the recognition of emotional ties, stable and durable. Today the capital of Italy gives the signal that, in this city, love is the same for everyone. So I want …

“Today, the Vatican’s colloquium on the complementarity of man and woman in marriage moved from laying a theoretical groundwork to take on the tone of a half-time locker room pep talk for those advancing the cause of natural marriage. In message after message today, from Sikh, Muslim, Mormon, and others (including American evangelicals Rick Warren and Russell Moore), there was …

Miranda Blue writes at Right Wing Watch: Next week, American Religious Right leaders including the Southern Baptist Convention’s Russell Moore, pastor Rick Warren, Archbishop of Philadelphia Charles Chaput, and Latter-Day Saints official Henry Eyring will be joining opponents of LGBT equality from around the world at an interfaith conference on the “complementarity of man and woman in marriage” hosted by …

Via the International Business Times: Three topless Femen demonstrators have been dragged away from St. Peter’s Square after simulating anal sex with crucifixes in a protest against the Pope outside the Vatican. The women crouched on all fours and re-enacted sex with crosses while shouting anti-papal remarks including “a world without religion, a parliament without a pope” and “god is …

Via Bloomberg: Rome Mayor Ignazio Marino today defied Italian law by transcribing 16 same-sex marriages that were celebrated abroad onto city hall registers. “Today is a special day that I hope will soon become a normal day,” Marino posted on his social media account along with pictures of himself wearing the mayor’s sash, posing with the smiling couples and their …

President #Obama proclaims June as #LGBT #Pride Month— “let each of us speak for tolerance, justice, and dignity.” http://t.co/2c3jaet7ah — U.S. in Holy See (@USinHolySee) June 3, 2014 Former NOM communications director Thomas Peters is ever so pissed. From his post at Catholic Vote: It’s nice to see where our tax dollars are going. One wonders if a rainbow flag …

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The Italian Senate is considering an expansion of its hate crimes laws to include LGBT citizens. This week the new Italian wing of France’s neo-Nazi affiliated Manif Pour Tous held a rally in protest. Via the anti-gay LifeSiteNews: A large rally was held in Rome against the bill organized by the recently formed Manif Pour Tous Italia, a civil liberties …