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Posted on 09/11/2008 9:36:59 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
An Italian comedienne faces prosecution for insulting the Pope, an offence that carries a prison sentence of up to five years.
Sabina Guzzanti, noted for her sharp satirical wit and lampoons of the powerful, is accused of "offending the honour of the sacred and inviolable person" of Pope Benedict XVI at a rally in Rome in July at which opposition leaders accused Silvio Berlusconi, the Prime Minister and media tycoon, of passing ad personam laws to protect his own interests and avoid prosecution for alleged corruption.
Speakers at the rally on Piazza Navona also protested against excessive interference by the Vatican and the Catholic Church in Italian affairs, from abortion to gay rights. Ms Guzzanti, noted for her satirical impersonations of Mr Berlusconi, told the crowd that within 20 years Italian teachers would be vetted and chosen by the Vatican.
She added: "But then within twenty years the Pope will be where he ought to be, in Hell, tormented by great big poofter devils — and very active ones, not passive ones." Giovanni Ferrara, the Rome prosecutor, said that he had asked Angelino Alfano, the Minister of Justice, for permission to proceed with a prosecution.
The 1929 Lateran Treaty between Italy and the Vatican lays down that an insult to the Pope carries the same penalty as an insult to the Italian President. Prosecution however requires authorisation from the Ministry of Justice.
Mr Berlusconi has been at pains to court the Vatican and the Catholic vote since returning to power for the third time in May. Last weekend he accompanied Pope Benedict to Cagliari in Sardinia and attended mass there.
Mr Berlusconi, who owns Italy's three main commercial television channels and as Prime Minister also wields influence over RAI, the state broadcaster, has been accused by the Left of using his media power to muzzle satirists and critics.
Three years Ms Guzzanti released a widely praised film, Viva Zapatero!, about the suppression in 2003 of her late-night show RAIot, in which she had satirised Mr Berlusconi. Viva Zapatero! was given an ovation at the 2005 Venice International Film Festival.
The move to prosecute her over her anti-papal remarks was praised by some on the centre Right, including Luca Volonte, a Christian Democrat, who said that "gratuitous insults must be punished". However Paolo Guzzanti, Ms Guzzanti's father and a centre Right MP, said that the move was "a return to the Middle Ages. Perhaps my daughter should be be submitted to the judgement of God by being made to walk on hot coals".
Antonio Di Pietro, a centre Left senator and former anti-corruption magistrate, who organised the rally, said that Ms Guzzanti had only "exercised her constitutional right to freedom of thought. You can agree or not agree with what she said — and peronally I didn't — but to put people in prison for that they think is reminiscent of a time when those who thought differently had castor oil poured down their throats", a reference to Fascism.
Bobo Craxi, leader of the Italian Socialists and son of the former Prime Minister Bettino Craxi, said: "If we put satire on trial we are moving closer to a totalitarian regime". Marco Travaglio, a leftwing writer who also addressed the July rally, said: "At this rate Aristophanes and Rabelais would have ended up in prison for being satirists."
Dario Fo, the Nobel prize-winning playwright, said that Dante Alighieri, Italy's national poet, would also have been prosecuted, since "he put a Pope in the Inferno as well, namely Boniface VIII." He said that the Lateran Treaty had been signed under the Fascist regime of Benito Mussolini, "and this is Fascism pure and simple".
Father Bartolomeo Sorge, a Jesuit scholar, told La Repubblica that the move to prosecute Ms Guzzanzi was incomprehensible. "I cannot understand it," he said. "We Christians put up with many insults, it is part of being a Christian, as is forgiveness. I feel sure the Pope has already forgiven those who insulted him on Piazza Navona".
Magistrates said that no legal action would be taken against the comedian and activist Beppe Grillo, who at the same rally attacked President Napolitano for "being asleep like Morpheus" after he signed into law a decree granting Mr Berlusconi immunity from prosecution for as long as he holds high office. Mr Grillo claimed that the threat of legal action over Ms Guzzanti's remarks about the Pope was "only a cover for a more general suppression of satire under Berlusconi".
She added: "But then within twenty years the Pope will be where he ought to be, in Hell, tormented by great big poofter devils — and very active ones, not passive ones."
Uh, yeah - that seems like 'sharp satirical wit' ... NOT
“Perhaps my daughter should be be submitted to the judgement of God by being made to walk on hot coals”.
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As long as they then throw her in jail I am alright with that.
Madonna had better stay out of Italy. On second thought, I hope she does a show in the Colosseum.
Good for her.
The law actually applies to any “Head of State” and the Lateran treaty establishes the Pope as a head of state. That diminishes the implication of a religious persecution by Italy to a non issue.
Isaiah 5:20
That makes it even more tyrannical.
(2) The Lateran Treaty broadly provides the pope with equal legal status to the Italian President - not just this law to protect the dignity of the office.
The reason why the treaty does this is to ensure that the Pope - and therefore the Church - is not considered to be subordinate to the state in any way: in the UK, for example, the Archbishop Of Canterbury is subordinate to the Queen and Parliament and serves at their pleasure.
I would also point out that the Italian President is a figurehead and does not have any more actual politrcal power in Italy than the Queen does in England.
Matthew 5:22.
Separated At Birth....
Boy, these artists are fun when trying to be ‘provocative.’ Isn’t it interesting that they go after Christian leaders, and not Muslims?
That law is obscene..
Oh grow up.
Methinks someone is showing his anti-Catholic bias...
Good quote!
I’m sure the usual suspects will be defending the obscenity — in fact, it’s already started.
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This poor woman needs help. Does anyone remember Sinead O'Connor? Guzzanti reminds me of her.
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