Civil Unions and Political Divisions

Abstract

In the early months of 2007, the question of legal recognition for de facto couples was one of the main talking points in public and political debate. Having been included in the center-left Unione coalition’s 2006 general election manifesto, it gave rise to a parliamentary bill known as the DICO. In this chapter, we will examine the issue and implications of civil unions in order to gain a better understanding of the current relationship between the Church, the Catholic community, and Italian politics. Moreover, as we will see, analyzing events surrounding the DICO inevitably leads to the sensitive subject of the Italian state’s lay character. Campaigns for and against the DICO bill were launched in the media and at the ground level not only by the Church and specific parties, but also by ad hoc groups of Catholics and lay people involved in politics. Indeed, we can view the DICO episode against a wider background of regulation (or attempted regulation) concerning ethically sensitive questions in recent years. It therefore offers an interesting perspective from which to consider the type of political representation adopted by the Church.