Italian bishops, Northern League continue sparring on immigration

August 13, 2015

Continuing a war of words with Italian Church leaders on the topic of immigration, Matteo Salvini, the leader of Italy’s Northern League asked rhetorically: “How many refugees are there in the Vatican?”

Avvenire, the daily newspaper owned by the Italian bishops’ conference, accused Salvini and the Northern League of playing “petty politics” with the issue rather than taking action to resolve the immigration crisis. “Those who don’t do anything serious try to poison the hearts of Italians by odiously and outrageously attacking those who do the right thing,” an editorial argued.

Bishop Nunzio Galantino, the secretary-general of the Italian bishops’ conference, had raised the ire of the Northern League by saying that calls for restriction on immigration came from “cheap peddlers willing to say extraordinarily silly things just to get a vote.” Bishop Galantino also criticized the Italian government, saying that effective policies to cope with the flood of immigrants have been “completely absent.”

 

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Further information:

• Bishops' daily blasts Northern League in migrant debate (ANSA)
• Italy's Northern League raps bishops' involvement in immigration debate (CWN, 8/12)