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	Lauto Finanziamento. La Chiesa Cattolica E Le Tasse Degli Italiani Radio Radicale February 13, 2008 http://www.radioradicale.it/scheda/247121/lauto-finanziamento-la-chiesa-cattolica-e-le-tasse-degli-italiani Clicking the link you can listen to the Italian-language public debate held on Feb.12, 2008 by the Fondazione Critica Liberale Fondazione Critica Liberale www.criticaliberale.it/ (a Foundation which wants to promote and spread the thought and the practice of liberalism) and the Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro (one of the three most important labor unions in Italy) on the theme: L'auto finanziamento. La Chiesa cattolica e le tasse degli italiani (Auto financing. The Catholic Church and the Italian taxpayer). Here is a concise report of the 1 hour 49 minutes debate, which was recorded by www.radioradicale.it (the radio run by the Italian Radical Party). The relator is Mario Staderini, a councilman of the First Municipality of Rome (the one responsible for the center of the city), and the representative of the political party "La Rosa nel Pugno". In 2004 Mario Staderini wrote of a book describing the illegal way the Italian State is implementing the 1984 revised accord of the 1929 "Concordato" ( the pact between the State and the Catholic Church stipulated by Dictator Benito Mussolini and Cardinal Gasparri). Mario Staderini divides the financing of the Catholic Church by the Italian State, at the national and local level, into three main branches: "direct", "indirect" and "black financing" "Direct": it's the so called "8 x thousand": a taxpayer, even he isn't charged directly, can indicate to the Italian State in his tax form if a charity of 8 euros for each 1000 euros calculated on his earned income must be given by the Italian Government to the Catholic Church or to other 5 recognized churches. There is a major controversy on how this law must applied because the Italian Government has invented a way to correspond that sum of money mostly to the Catholic Church even when there is no explicit will expressed by the taxpayers. Since 1990 the Vatican has received for that about ten billion euros. This system of direct financing has worsened the 1929 "Concordato" with Mussolini because at least the money before was given directly to the priests in the form of a stipend. Now instead the money is given to the Italian conference of Bishops (CEI) and only the high hierarchy can decide how it must be used: if a parish priest or a bishop is not following the "orders" from above then they can be punished or black mailed by not receiving the money promptly or even be deprived of it. Most of the money sent to Africa or to other underdeveloped regions all over the world is not spent for charity but mostly for propaganda purposes, for recruitment and for political reasons. This money has allowed the Vatican to enter the Italian political scene and support only those members of the Italian Parliament who follow the directives of the Vatican. "Indirect": fiscal advantages by the Italian State and local government institutions like free building of church facilities, payment of religious teaching in the classrooms, Italian police and traffic police employed for the necessities of the Vatican in case of big events. The hospitals and schools belonging to the Vatican have a convention with the Italian State or the local administrations and they are financed by the taxpayers' money. Yet they don't provide all the services which the State schools or hospitals provide to the Italian non catholic citizens. Moreover most of the historical real estate in downtown Rome belongs to the Vatican.Those buildings used by the Catholic Church when the Pope ran Central of Italy before 1860 remained in the ownership of the Vatican. Only important people connected with the Vatican can get an apartment in one of these historical buildings. Yet the Italian State spends the taxpayers' money to restore those buildings: for example the "Propaganda Fide" palace in Piazza di Spagna was restored using 6 million euros of the taxpayer's money . While all basilicas and all catholic landmarks are being restored at the taxpayer's expense to allow the Vatican to make money from the tourism organized by the "Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi " (the Vatican's tourism enterprise), the restoration of other public touristic landmarks like the Colosseum or the walls of ancient Rome is being almost completely ignored and sometimes made with private money. The shuttle bus "Roma Cristiana" (Christian Rome) run by the Vatican connecting all the Basilicas of Rome is mostly made at the expense of the City of Rome. "Black financing" : the possibility for the IOR (Istituto Opere religione, that's the Vatican Bank) to operate without any respect of international Law and get money and transfer money of the "well connected friends" all over the world. Those written above are only some of the main points debated. After Mario Staderini's introductions there were the comments of the other participants, who added their own accounts about the situation described. Proposals were made for initiatives to be taken in the next future in order to eliminate the privileges of the Vatican. The hope is that the European authorities will intervene in the near future to order the Italian Government not to allow the Vatican to run businesses in unfair competition with the other normal private business.
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