Posted on 05/13/2007 2:52:29 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Thousands rally for traditional family in Italy
ROME, Italy (AP) -- With grandparents and children in tow, tens of thousands of families gathered in a Rome piazza to voice their opposition to a government bill that would give many legal rights to unmarried couples, including gay ones.
The "Family Day" rally Saturday, drawing hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in total, was organized by lay Catholic groups and family associations. While the demonstration has been endorsed by Italian bishops, neither the Vatican nor the Italian bishops conference is formally behind it.
"With this demonstration, we wanted to give a signal. It must not be a sporadic event, but it must contribute to dialogue and help (people) understand family must be protected," said Emanuele Cirillo, 27, of Naples, who had traveled to Rome for the demonstration.
People from across Italy began pouring into the massive St. John Lateran piazza in the morning. The demonstrators were entertained by singers, speakers and even a brief video of the late Pope John Paul II giving a 1988 speech about the need to protect family.
Clowns and stilt walkers mingled with the crowd to entertain the children.
By the end of the day, organizers said as many as 1.5 million people had showed up, but police did not give a final estimate. Earlier, police put the number of participants at 250,000 but the crowd had since grown.
The turnout was above the organizers' expectations.
(Excerpt) Read more at edition.cnn.com ...
Ping!
“Hundreds rallied to support the bill in Rome’s Piazza Navona” - bbcnews.com
1.5million V couple of hundred
maybe conservative catholicism is on the rise in italy again?
scratching head
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