Meloni at the Pope, wars and ethical issues in the foreground

From the war in Ukraine to the Gaza crisis. International issues will be the focus of the conversation between Leo XIV and Giorgia Meloni, in the audience between the Pope and the Prime Minister scheduled for 11:30 at the Apostolic Palace. The Prime Minister will be accompanied to the Vatican by Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano and, as always happens in these official appointments with the head of the Italian government, a meeting with the Secretary of State of the Holy See, Pietro Parolin, is scheduled immediately afterwards: during which there should be space for dossiers related to State-Church relations, as well as end-of-life issues. And perhaps it is no coincidence that the final text of the bill on medically assisted suicide, on which the government and majority have been working for months, was announced on the eve of the meeting.

At the beginning of a day that for her will end at Villa Taverna, for the celebration of the Independence Day of the United States, Meloni will therefore have a face to face with the American Pope that comes almost two months after the white smoke of the conclave, on May 8. A period in which there were two quick greetings, on the occasion of the inauguration of Leo and the Jubilee of the rulers. But above all two telephone conversations made public. One on May 15, when Meloni guaranteed appreciation and support for the "efforts of the Holy See for peace and the cessation of conflicts in all crisis scenarios where weapons have taken the place of confrontation and dialogue". And one five days later, in which the prime minister, after discussions with Donald Trump and other European leaders, had the pontiff confirm his availability "to host the next talks in the Vatican" between Ukraine and Russia. An objective for which the conditions have not yet been created.

Meanwhile, the situation in the Middle East has also been complicated by the conflict between Israel and Iran, with Washington's military intervention. "The same determination must be used for the ceasefires in Ukraine and Gaza," warned Meloni at the NATO summit that approved the increase in military spending last week. The urgency of ending the conflicts will also be expressed in the face-to-face meeting with the Pope, who spoke out against "the false propaganda of rearmament" and against the prevalence of "the law of the strongest."

Then with Parolin the more political dossiers will be addressed. The end of life is a current issue. In recent weeks the CEI has appreciated the inclusion in the bill of the reference to palliative care. In the final text announced by the speakers (expected in the Senate on July 17) it should be defined whether they should be mandatory or "made available concretely" for terminally ill patients. Who, in any case, could accept them and subsequently ask for end-of-life treatment anyway.

"The State and the Church are distinct but they respect each other, and they grow together," Meloni wrote to the Pope in her congratulatory letter after the conclave. Relations with the Church "are extraordinary," a government source assures, on this front "it is as if we had already achieved all the programmatic points." For the executive, the controversy over the 8xmille is therefore instrumental for the change with which in 2023 a sixth possible destination purpose (recovery from drug addiction) of the state-managed share was inserted, after the five introduced by the Conte2 government in 2020. A "unilateral change," argued in recent weeks the president of the CEI Matteo Zuppi, which has created "a disparity that damages both the Catholic Church and the other religious confessions that have signed the agreements with the State."

The topic is being addressed by one of the various tables set up between Italy and the Holy See, where it has already been decided that any change with possible effects on the pact agreement will be shared. For example, the possibility of including various options for the 8xmille to the Church could be evaluated. Meloni and Parolin, among other things, should take stock of the transfer of the Bambin Gesù pediatric hospital to the former Forlanini area (the government has allocated 50 million per year), and of the agreement for the construction of an agrivoltaic park in the area owned by the Holy See in Santa Maria di Galeria.