Peaceful Demonstration Sends Strong Message
By Irene Lagan
ROME, MAY 17, 2007 (Zenit.org).- An estimated 1 million people poured into the square outside the Basilica of St. John Lateran this week. The mostly Catholic crowd was a show of force to the leftist government that has tested the patience of the Italian people, most recently through proposed legislation to legitimize civil unions.
Billed as a gathering in support of the traditional family, the demonstration stood in marked contrast to most Roman protests featuring politically-charged and banner-waving socialists.
Instead, the enormous crowd sported baby strollers and balloons, hosts of families enjoyed singers and speakers, and people in booths gave away parenting and family magazines.
A total of 90 police officers stood by as families, church groups and young people came and went.
Hosted by a collective of 450 organizations, the spectrum included Catholic lay movements, trade unions and non-Christian representatives.
Fabrizio Azzola, a leading member of Alleanza Cattolica, said that the day was indeed a reaction to a government maneuver that would undermine families. He said the massive turnout showed that Italians sense that something vital is at stake.
"People are beginning to grasp the fundamental truth that the family is not negotiable," Azzola said. "The great family tradition that has always characterized Italian culture is deeply rooted. Most people have a gut sense that giving legal status to civil unions would threaten the fabric of our culture."
The latest version of a move to legitimize civil unions allows an individual to go before a public officer and obtain legal status to cohabit. No distinction would be made with regard to gender.
Azzolo pointed out that the proposed bill prohibits couples from appearing together before a public officer because it would bear too much resemblance to civil marriages.
At the same time, many of the benefits accorded to married couples would apply.
Further, to dissolve the alliance no more than a letter to authorities by one partner would be required. Public divorce proceedings take three years.
Since Italians have already rejected a same-sex marriage bill, the proposal comes as another poorly disguised attempt to grant legal status to same-sex couples.
Azzola said: "The bill is really absurd. We all know that marriage has a public and cultural meaning. Society is modeled on marriage and most forms of authority derive from the family structure. It also sends a confusing message to our youth, who depend on us as to provide guidance and structure."
Azzola said that the incredible number of people who turned out for the family event constitutes a wake-up call to politicians who have been lying to them for years.
"Catholic ministers and lawmakers have not been loyal to us," Azzola said. "But family values are the core of Catholic values. If Christians in government sacrifice these, the very basis of what got them votes has crumbled."
More importantly, Family Day was evidence to many parents that they "do not stand alone."
"The people who came to Family Day are not the kind of people who typically demonstrate," he said. "These are people striving to build the future through their children."
In addition to the high cost of living and socialist-style tax structures that make it difficult to make ends meet, Azzola said that the psychological pressure from popular culture and social policies causes many families to feel isolated.
A father of three, Azzola said that he and his wife are used to comments and questions about their unusually large family: "Society as seen on television, media and advertising glorifies adultery, betrayal and Hollywood-style living. It is easy for parents to feel like they are the only ones struggling and making sacrifices for their children."
Others echoed similar sentiments.
"We are not here to protest," said Paolo Fini of Florence. "We want to show support for families."
Pushing a baby stroller and carrying his daughter on his shoulders, Fini said that while everyone enjoys the same individual rights, families are the basic unit of society and that children deserve the protection afforded by the traditional family structure.
Fini's wife, Stefania Farinelli, said that it would harm families to grant recognition to civil unions since the few public resources available to support poor families would then be made available to anyone who declares an alliance.
"It is difficult as it stands now," she said. "There are no tax breaks or educational subsidies for families with children."
Italian journalist, Giacomo Galeazzi, observed that one of the most significant aspects of Family Day was that it was an initiative of the Catholic laity, and a sign that the emphasis of both Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI on marriage and family issues resonates deeply with many Italians.
In contrast to the relative calm of the million plus crowd outside St. John Lateran's, a boisterous crowd in Piazza Navona gathered to protest Family Day.
Brandishing flags with images of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara, the small crowd was a more typical Roman protest. Noticeably absent among the group were heterosexual couples protesting Family Day.
Azzola said that he didn't understand the counterprotest: "Family Day is making sure that families are recognized and supported. We are trying to preserve what we have, and make sure that our children have benefits and legal protection. But in the end, it must be that there are different worldviews that are not so compatible after all."
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God in the Streets
A Eucharistic procession through the streets of Rome last Sunday literally stunned onlookers to silence.
Organized by the Michigan-based Sisters of Mercy, the timing and circumstances of the procession left no doubt among the sisters that the inspiration and orchestration was the "work of the Holy Spirit."
As if by sheer coincidence, the Eucharistic procession followed Family Day and converged with the feasts of Our Lady of Fatima and Our Lady of the Eucharist, and then proceeded along a route taken by gay and lesbian rights activists protesting the Church and family the day before.
After attending a Mass celebrated by Cardinal James Stafford, major penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary, at the Church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, more than 200 people wound their way past the Pantheon, through Piazza Navona and onto the Oratorians' Chiesa Nuova.
In his homily, Cardinal Stafford explained that Catholic tradition describes participation in the Eucharist as a friendship that has been reconciled by the blood of Christ.
He explained further that exposition of the Blessed Sacrament is an extension of the Eucharistic celebration and makes us more present to Christ.
"We are extending this friendship to the streets of Rome," Cardinal Stafford said.
Along the way, the processors paused in front of several churches for benediction, including the Church of St. Agnes -- located in a bustling Piazza Navona -- and the Church of St. Eustachio.
Each time the sacred Host was elevated, there was a palpable hush.
In one instance, a waitress about to serve beer paused and dropped to her knees. On another side street, a group of men playing poker and drinking whiskey fell silent, while some made the sign of the cross.
According to Sister Mary Christine, the timing and the route of the procession were determined by factors outside of their control.
The idea, she said, was launched into action at the start of Lent after the sisters watched a similar procession through the streets of New York City at the end of the vocations video "Fishers of Men."
"The response among our sisters here was electric," Sister Mary Christine said.
After receiving immediate permission from the Diocese of Rome, the sisters had to obtain no less than 30 official permissions from Roman offices.
But with the official stamps of approval in hand, the sisters had the assistance of the Oratorians of St. Philip Neri at Chiesa Nuova, the Dominicans at Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, and seminarians and priests from the North American College, as well as Cardinal Stafford.
"I experienced the reality of the Scripture 'Power will go out from him,'" Sister Mary Christine said. "Only that kind of power could reduce Rome to silence on a Sunday."
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A Preview of "Cathedralia"
A musical composition transformed a liturgy on Saturday evening at St. Anselm's Church atop the Aventine Hill into a rare but exquisite experience.
Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, presided over the Holy Mass celebrated in Latin, and Michael D'Alessandro, a student of liturgy, philosophy and theology at the Pontifical Athenaeum of St. Anselm, provided "Cathedralia."
With the accompaniment of the London Oratory School boy's choir and an orchestra, D'Alessandro's musical composition -- a small part of his doctoral dissertation -- transported me into the liturgy in a way that I don't normally experience.
Like so many, I grew up during a time when liturgical music was banal at best. The rare experience of authentic liturgical music afforded a richer participation in the liturgy. This is no secret to those who understand liturgy.
Sacred music, as Cardinal Josef Ratzinger wrote in "The Spirit of the Liturgy," is integral to liturgy. It has the capacity to "awaken areas of man's existence that spontaneously turn into song." Moreover, he said, that song is the language of love.
The composition of Saturday's liturgy offered a taste of this sort of renewal.
D'Alessandro's vision is to "recreate the space between the profane and the necessary, to reinvigorate the arts that have been run aground" through nihilism.
"Cathedralia" is meant to manifest devotion and beauty through cultural representations.
Beginning in 2009, "Cathedralia" will be performed in four annual simulcasts in theologically and historically significant cathedrals in Rome and in the United States.
While the music is not being composed specifically for liturgy, it is meant to be performed in a Cathedral setting to demonstrate the role of the cathedral as a place where beauty and knowledge meet the transcendent.
D'Alessandro said the performances will draw upon the tradition of the Jesuit theater of the 17th century, which integrated educational and religious activities into media performances.
Basing performances on ecclesiastical history and biblical stories, Jesuit theater conveyed spiritual, theological and moral themes through culture.
In keeping with the same tradition, D'Alessandro hopes his work will be an "utterance of God's perfection."
Code: ZE07051729
Date: 2007-05-17