Pope Issues Veiled Call for Italy’s Catholics to Back Christian Democrats

Pope John Paul II thrust the Roman Catholic Church into Italian politics Thursday with a thinly veiled exhortation to the faithful to vote for the church-supported Christian Democrat Party in critical local elections a month from now.

It was the first time since 1981--when he fought against and lost a referendum for abortion in this Catholic country--that the Pope has ventured so directly into Italy’s purely political affairs.

Speaking to a convention of Italian cardinals, bishops and leaders of Catholic lay organizations in this hilltop town on the Adriatic coast, John Paul recalled the unity that Catholics historically have shown “in the moments in which the supreme good of the nation demanded.”

Call for Unity

Although he did not specifically name any political group, he left no doubt among those in his audience that he believes the time has come again for unity behind Italy’s only church-related political party.

“This teaching of history concerning the presence and the commitment of Catholics should not be forgotten,” he declared. “In the reality of the Italy of today, it must remain present in the moment of responsible and coherent choices that the Christian citizen is called upon to make.”

Political and church commentators of most major Italian newspapers immediately interpreted the Pope’s remarks as a call upon Catholics to vote for Christian Democrats in the municipal, regional and provincial elections that take place in most of Italy on May 12.

The Pope spoke against a background of conflict among his own Italian clergy over how involved the church should become in the nation’s politics. Only a month ago, the bishops issued their own statement about the forthcoming elections. They were calling on the faithful to vote against the Communists, who control a number of important local governments, including those of Rome and Bologna.

“Not all choices are compatible with the Christian faith . . . ,” the bishops declared.

Some important churchmen took a different line. The keynote speaker at this week’s Loreto convention, theologian Bruno Forte, urged the church to avoid becoming identified with any political party.

“The damage that derives to the credibility of the (church’s) message through such an identification is incalculable,” he said.

But despite his own repeated criticism of activist priests for becoming too political, John Paul II made it clear Thursday that in Italy, at least, it is time to reassert in politics “the principles of Catholicism (which) are a great part of the historic patrimony of the Italian people.”

Acknowledging that many professed Italian Catholics have drifted away from the church, he said, “Even and particularly in a pluralistic and partially de-Christianized society, the church is called on to work . . . until the Christian faith attains or recovers a guiding role . . . .”

The May elections have taken on a special significance, despite their local nature, because they represent the first test of party standings since last year’s European Parliament elections, in which the Communists showed unexpected strength.