June 16, 2013

Gay Pride in Rome

"I can get Married in France" says the sign held by a transvestite in Rome's Gay Pride March in Rome, Saturday, June 15, 2013. Photo by AP photographer Andrew Medichini

A participant at the Gay Pride Parade in Rome Saturday holds up a sign saying “I can get Married in France”.  Note the Eiffel Tower in the jeweled crown.  Gay marriage in France was legalized in May of this year.  It is not legal in Italy and I think it will be a long time before it is.  We won’t be seeing Coliseums in jeweled crowns of transvestites any time soon.

The posts of the past two days are why I love working in Rome.  One day I am covering the Vatican, and the next a Gay Pride March. (Actually I didn’t cover the March yesterday, my colleagues Paolo Lucariello and Annalisa Camilli covered for AP Television, and Andrew Medichini, who covered for AP photo, generously gave me these photos.  I was busy with a birthday party, a end of the year dance performance and a class dinner.  June is a wicked month for Mammas in Rome.)  Still, the Gay Pride March is one of my favorite events to cover.  While at the Vatican the ceremonies are marked by elaborate  pomp and majesty, the Gay Pride has its own elaborate pomp of a different sort. It is filled with outrageous, provocative costumes, trucks packed with grooving transvestities, and strollers pushed by gay mothers.  There is hugging and kissing, dancing and singing, it is one big rolling, happy, carefree party.

Participants in Gay Pride in Rome on a float passing through the city center. June 15, 2013. Photo by AP Photographer Andrew Medichini

I am sorry I missed it yesterday, there is nothing that puts one in a good mood faster than a day at Gay Pride.

Dancers on Float at Gay Pride in Rome pass near the Coliseum. Saturday, June 15, 2013. Photo by AP Photographer Andrew Medichini

 

Related posts:

June 15, 2013

Harleys at the Coliseum and a “Gay Lobby” at the Vatican

Harley-Davidson Motorcycles roar past the Coliseum. June 15, 2013, Photo by AP Photographer Andrew Medichini

It has been a busy, wacky week in Rome with Harley Davidson’s roaring through the center of the city, and the press in an uproar about a “gay lobby” at the Vatican.   As this acoustic and verbal storm has whirled around me, I’ve been happily working on a feature on street performers in Rome, filming a fabulous Michael Jackson imitator whose feet fly over the cobblestones to the tunes of “Billy Jean” as the sun sets over the eternal city. Then there was Maria Grazia, the floppy hat bubble-blower who blows gigantic bubbles in the old Roman neighborhood of Trastevere, the bubbles blowing upward on the wind and bursting above the piazza.  (I will do a separate post on them). There are 35,000 Harley Davidsons in Rome this weekend as part of the celebrations of the 110th anniversary of the founding of the American motorcycle company.  Over 1,000 of them will be blessed by the Pope tomorrow when they attend his Angelus in St. Peter’s Square.

Harley Davidson motorcycles parading through center of Rome. June 15, 2013. Photo by AP photographer Andrew Medichini

But while the Pope is blessing bikers, he has some other things on his mind.  The news of changes at the Vatican began mid-week when reports emerged that Pope Francis had declared there is a “gay lobby” in the Vatican. Now, in my opinion this is a complete misnomer.  After speaking to friends inside the Vatican, priests outside the Vatican and experts on the Vatican, I am convinced that there is no “gay lobby” in the Vatican, however, since apparently the Pope used that term, it requires an explanation.

Time to get down to business. Pope Francis checks his watch during his weekly audience in St. Peter's Square. June 12, 2013. Photo by AP photographer Alessandra Tarantino

On June 6th Pope Francis, in a private audience, told a group from the “Latin American and Caribbean Confederation of Religious”, known by the acronym CLAR, the following: “In the Curia (the Vatican government) there are also holy people. But there also is a stream of corruption, there is that as well, it is true…The ‘gay lobby’ is mentioned, and it is true, it is there…We need to see what we can do about it.” He then went on to say, “The reform of the Roman Curia is something that almost all Cardinals have asked for in the Congregations preceding the Conclave. I also asked for it. I cannot promote reform myself, these matters of administration…I am very disorganized, I have never been good at this. But the Cardinals of the Commission will move it forward.”

A write-up of these comments were published on the website of the CLAR and immediately were picked up by the press.  “Gay Lobby at the Vatican” was splashed all over the headlines.  The CLAR were so embarrassed they immediately published a statement saying they regretted that they had made the comments public, but they did not deny them.

The term “gay lobby” emerged in the Italian press about the time of the Vatileaks Butler scandal (See Blog Posts — The Butler Did It, and The Butler Takes the Stand).  The term was used again in articles during the period leading up to the Papal Election when there were widespread, unsourced reports that the “gay lobby” was at the center of a secret dossier that Benedict XVI asked three elderly Vatican Cardinals to prepare following the Vatileaks-Butler crisis.  Italian media reports suggested that corruption and blackmail surrounding this “gay lobby” might have even pushed Benedict to resign.  The dossier was given to Pope Francis but its details have never been released.

Everybody knows that sex and the Vatican seem to go hand in hand and nobody believes that vows of celibacy manage to keep the thousands of Vatican employees sex-free. And all one has to do is watch one episode of “The Borgias” (see my blog post “The Brilliant, Bloody Borgias“) to know that past Popes, Cardinals and Bishops have been up to some considerable hanky-panky inside Vatican walls. But as far as I can tell there is no group of gay men in the Vatican who lobby for a common political agenda (and certainly not for gay rights).  Yes, there are plenty of gay men in the Vatican and there are plenty of heterosexual men in the Vatican, and there are plenty of both who do not maintain their vows.  These individuals put themselves in a position to be black-mailed leading to corruption.

This week AP Television  spoke to a couple of Vatican experts on the topic.   The first was Austin Ivereigh, Founder of Catholic Voices, a group that promotes Catholic ideas in the media. This is how he put it: “Sexual orientation is not a bar to be a priest or to be working in the Vatican.  The problems come when they are not obeying their vows of celibacy and they have sexual relations.  That is something that obviously they shouldn’t be doing and there is obviously an effort on the part of some to cover it up.  That is what I assume is meant by the term “gay lobby.”

Marco Politi, journalist, long-time Vatican-watcher and author of several books on different popes, including: “His Holiness: John Paul II and the History of our Time” with Carl Bernstein, and “Joseph Ratzinger: Crisis of a Papacy,” was quite clear on the topic: “In the Vatican, a gay lobby doesn’t exist.  In the Vatican there are a lot of people, we can’t give a percentage, who have relationships with males or hidden relationships with women and there are single gay people who are part of cliques, they can be right wing, left wing, center…What is clear is that Pope Francis in this conversation had to admit that there is resistance to reforming the curia.”

So, what seems to be happening is that Pope Francis used the term “gay lobby” to refer to a clique or coterie of officials inside the Vatican who are corrupt.  Using his typical humility he noted that he is not a “good administrator” and is “very disorganized” and will rely on his commission of eight cardinals to help him.  That commission includes the following Cardinals: Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley, Archbishop of Boston; George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney, Australia; Oscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, president of the Vatican city state administration, Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa, the retired archbishop of Santiago, Chile; Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Mumbai, India; Reinhard Marx, archbishop of Munich and Freising, Germany; and Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, Archbishop of Kinshasa, Congo.

As Politi explained to me, the Pope is using the commission to encourage more democracy or “collegiality” in the church;  decisions will not just be made from on high, but will be reached at with consensus.

Pope Francis kisses a baby in St. Peter's Square during his weekly audience. June 12, 2013. Photo by Alessandra Tarantino

Over the past several months, those of us who live in Rome and cover the Vatican have seen the Pope take the Catholic Church by storm. There is never a day when Pope Francis doesn’t say something that makes the news.  His weekly audiences are packed with people pouring out around the edge of St. Peter’s Square.  He has started the audiences a half-hour earlier so he can tour the square in his Popemobile, his zucchetto (skull-cap) frequently blowing off as he kisses every baby that is held up to him, and hugs every disabled person he sees.  He has won the hearts of common Catholics.  Now he needs to get down to the dirty work of cleaning up the curia, and he knows that.

It looks like he is going to start with the Vatican bank. According to journalist Massimo Franco, author of several books on the Vatican, including most recently, “The Crisis of the Vatican Empire,” over the next few weeks Pope Francis is likely to make dramatic changes at the Vatican bank, known as the Institute for Religious Works (IOR) — an endless source of embarrassment– over the decades it has been accused of corruption and money-laundering for the Mafia.  This morning the Vatican announced that Pope Francis has named a trusted aide  Monsignor Battista Mario Salvatore Ricca as interim prelate to oversee the Vatican bank.

In the same talk where he mentioned the “gay lobby” the Pope said, “it is necessary to shake things up…it is not news when an old man dies of cold, or that there are so many children with no education or hungry….on the other hand, the main stock exchanges go up or down three points and this is a world event.  One must shake things up!”

I think we are going to see some shake-ups at the Vatican in the coming months.

Pope Francis at his weekly audience in St. Peter's Square. June 12, 2013. Photo by AP photographer Alessandra Tarantino

*I thank my two AP Photo colleagues Andrew Medichini and Alessandro Tarantino for allowing me to use their fantastic photo “rejects” — those left over after they’ve filed the best for AP– for my blog.

Related posts:

June 1, 2013

Enlightened at the Economics Festival in Trento

Piazza Duomo in Trento during the Festival di Economia. May 31, 2013

Dear Blog Readers,

This weekend I was invited to the Festival of Economia in Trento, Italy to moderate a talk with one of Italy’s most prominent journalists and writers, Federico Rampini, currently US Bureau Chief for the Italian daily “La Repubblica.”  Stepping back from the daily grind of personal and professional responsibilities was an unexpectedly refreshing and enlightening experience.

Piazza Duomo in Trento during the Festical di Economia, May 31, 2013. Photo by Trisha Thomas

Trento is one of Italy’s many hidden jewels, a tiny town nestled in a valley in the Italian alps with a quaint city center with a fork-wielding Neptune fountain, cobblestone streets, fresco-painted buildings with views off to the nearby snow-peaked mountains.  It has the perfect combination of charm and northern-Italian (nearly Swiss) efficiency.  After the anarchy of Rome with its traffic, smog, litter, cigarette butts, dog poop, and increasingly rude citizens, it felt like a breath of fresh air.  Indeed there was no traffic, no smog, no litter, no cigarette butts, lots of dogs– but no poop in sight, and the people were friendly and kind.

My speaker's badge and program for the Festival di Economia in Trento, Italy. June 1, 2013. Photo by Trisha Thomas

The theme of the Festival this year is “Sovereignty in Conflict” — which I quickly learned can be interpreted in lots of different ways — the sovereignty of a European country in conflict with European-wide decision-making, the power of big banks over small sovereign states, the influence of international institutions such as the UN or NATO over a sovereign nation.

When I arrived in Trento I was surprised to see a huge banner with Federico Rampini’s picture hanging over the main street.  I suddenly realized I would be moderating a discussion with one of the stars of the annual festival.  The talk was held in the “Teatro Sociale” a theater packed with hundreds of people and TV cameras sending our event out to large screens in the central piazza.  As I took my place in one of the two capacious black arm-chairs on the stage–unglamorously pulling scraps of paper with notes, articles by Rampini, pens and press passes out of my bag–  I was wishing I could pull a “Charlie Rose” hat out making me smooth and erudite rather than my usual frantic, racing, list-making, find-a-way-to-get-it-done “Mozzarella Mamma” self.  How nice it would be to be calm, cool, elegant and collected, contemplating the world’s big questions above the daily fray.   But there was no need to worry, Rampini is a natural showman for intellectuals and could have easily carried it off whether I was frenetic or erudite.  Without a note, or paper or pen he calmly delivered his complete interpretation of the “Obama Doctrine”.

A Banner with a photo of Italian journalist and writer Federico Rampini hangs above the street in Trento. (note: It wouldn't be a proper Italian town if there were not the two nuns strolling past). May 31, 2013. Photo by Trisha Thomas

One interesting little aside,  I used the “tu” in Italian with Federico and he used the “tu” with me instead of the formal “Lei”.  Shortly into the event, Federico said something along the lines of “let me explain why we are using the “tu” — we are both journalists and among colleagues, we always use the “tu”.  I suddenly realized, I had once again, after 20 years in Italy, made another one of my American gaffes.  We don’t have a formal form for “you” in English and I have never been comfortable with the Italian “Lei”, but in certain places it is pro forma.  Presenting a prominent figure on a public stage, I should have used the “Lei”.   (See my Blog Post on LEI-Language Confusion). Charlie Rose would never have made that error.

Rampini has worked for years in the United States, spent five years as bureau chief in Beijing, and has covered economics and politics in Europe from Brussels, Milan and Paris.  His work makes him uniquely qualified to analyze Obama’s economic policy in the light of globalization, and I was amazed at his conclusion.  Rampini said that Obama has always had a clear doctrine for globalization that is falling into place and proving effective.  According to Rampini, Obama came into the Oval Office in the midst of the biggest economic crisis since the depression.  He did not hesitate to continue what the Bush administration had already begun — bail out Wall Street.  That policy paid off because the big banks have paid back nearly all their loans and were given enough of a cushion to be able to help Main Street recover.

Rampini said Obama laid out his view at the G20 in Pittsburgh in 2009.  There Obama said the financial crisis was born in the United States because the US and Americans were living and spending beyond their means.  He said the US needed to do their part, but other countries, particularly China and Germany were living below their means, too much saving and frugality and not spending enough, particularly on imports.   Rampini said China took Obama’s message to heart and changed course, German Chancellor Angela Merkel chose to ignore it.

The second part of the Obama globalization strategy, according to Rampini, is free trade with a social card — protection of workers and the environment.  Rampini gave as an example the recent free-trade agreement with Colombia (some more details on that agreement here), and the Obama administration’s goal of a free-trade agreement with Europe that could give the west more negotiating power with China.  Rampini pointed out that Obama has his first Summit with new Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the 7th and 8th of June at the Sunnyland Estates in California.

The third part of the Obama strategy is to turn-around the trend of exporting jobs and bring manufacturing back to the US, in other words, the re-industrialization of the United States.  Here Rampini moved slightly off the subject of Obama and onto the capacity of Americans to work together to make a better future and suggested that Italy should learn this lesson. He recounted the extraordinary story of Rochester, New York, home to the Kodak Company.  Rampini said he recently visited Rochester, which is apparently thriving economically despite the fact that the Kodak Company, once employing 65,000 people in the area, went bankrupt in 2012.  He said the city, the company and the University of Rochester worked together on top of the “cadaver of the Kodak dinosaur” to reinvent Rochester as the center of optics– now companies in Rochester do everything from building IMAX theaters to making optical systems for 3D film productions for Hollywood. Rampini suggested that Italy should heed the lesson of working together for the benefit of the community — Turin could become a center of auto design, and Olivetti could transform itself into a Silicon Valley style company.

In this third prong of the Obama strategy, Rampini noted that Obama entered office with the worse economic crisis since the depression but is now in the fortunate position to be President when America is seeing a “magical moment” of becoming energy self-sufficient.  He said the US now produces more natural gas than Russia, and no longer imports a drop of oil from the Persian Gulf. (I am not sure that is 100 percent correct, I have seen reports to the contrary, nevertheless, all agree that with the arrival of Shale Gas and fracking, the US is becoming energy independent.  Imagine how that will change US Foreign Policy in the next decade!)

Rampini concluded noting that Obama recognized the US responsibility in starting the economic crisis but Obama blames Europe for continuing it, and Obama continues to believe that Merkel’s austerity policies are dangerous for all.

As an American, I was interested to hear Rampini say that he thinks Obama will go down in history as the second greatest President of the past 100 years after Franklin Delano Roosevelt for four reasons — being the first black President (who also served two terms), pulling the US out of the economic crisis, getting the US out of two wars, and for the changes in health-care policy.

Trisha Thomas with Federico Rampini at Festival di Economia, Trento, Italy. May 31, 2013. Photo by Gianna Fratta

As Rampini spoke, I went from being a small spot in my black armchair to a great-big figure.  I ended up feeling so puffed-up and proud to be an American, from a country where people can work together to solve problems, and where we have a President with a vision. I said that to the audience who found it amusing.  Italians don’t usually see either Americans or our presidents in such a positive light.

Following the presentation with Rampini I was able to get a seat to hear Laura Boldrini — the new President of the Italian Parliament (or Speaker of the House to Americans).  I mentioned her in my last post on “Femicide in Italy“.  Boldrini is dynamite and I was blown away by the power and passion of her speech.

Boldrini’s topic was “Sovereignty and Individual Dignity”.  She dug deep into her experiences working for 24 years for the UN, 15 as spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees — helping refugees in some of the worst conflicts and crises of our generation — Somalia, Sudan, Afghanistan, Pakistan the Balkans, and Rwanda to name a few.

President of the Italian Parliament, Laura Boldrini

Boldrini was crystal clear.  She said, “When it comes to the mortification of human dignity, there exists a right and responsibility to intervene in internal affairs.  But with two conditions.  First, that one decides scrupulously applying international law and not unilaterally or with extemporaneous coalitions.  Secondly, that intervention does not necessarily signify armed intervention.”

Boldrini was also clear on the question of Europe’s economic difficulties, noting, “In the opinion of the public today, Europe is only imposing on itself austerity measures, respect for budget policies and requiring countries in debt to implement new cuts to social systems that are already fragile and tested to their limits by the crisis.  To sum up, just more sacrifice.  The Europe of human rights and liberty has given in all too often to that of finance and technocrats…..I would like to see a Europe that is stronger, more united and more equitable”

I was particularly interested in Boldrini’s concluding comment in which she lashed out at journalists saying, “they become passionate about the latest political soundbite, losing sight of the big questions about the future of the world — climate change, migrations of populations, sources of energy, and scientific endeavors.  These are not abstractions, to the contrary, thinking about the global picture is the only realistic way possible, because today no social phenomenon that influences the life of people and nations is born or dies within the borders of just one country.”

Boldrini is right, sometimes we journalists do get caught up in the latest soundbite, the last tweet, the most astounding piece of video and we forget to step back and look at the bigger picture.  I am happy this weekend in Trento has allowed me to do just that.

Related posts:

May 28, 2013

Femicide in Italy

A staircase in the small town of Corigliano Calabro’ in southern Italy was dotted Monday with pairs of shoes latched together with red ribbons.  They were there in protest, and in solidarity, following the “femicide” this week of 15-year-old Fabiana Luzzi.

“Femicide” in Italy is a topic I have avoided writing about for a simple, cowardly reason.  It frightens me.  I have two daughters, one 15 and one 13, and when I see stories of “femicide” in the newspapers, I turn the page, on the TV, I change the channel.  But this week one of my blog readers, Silvia Marelli, urged me to write about it to help raise awareness of this terrible phenomenon in Italy.

“Femicide”, for those like me who were not really sure what it means, is a term invented by Sociologist Diana Russell in 1992 and refers to the act of killing of a woman for motives related to her being female.

The details of Fabiana’s murder are grim.  Her boyfriend, 17-year-old Davide has confessed to taking her out of town to the ruins of an old farmhouse.  There he stabbed her in 20 places, without hitting any vital organs.  He left her there in agony. Two hours later he came back with a container of gas.  Fabiana was still alive and struggled to kick over the container and stop him.  He dragged her body into nearby woods, to avoid any smoke being seen from the highway, and then burnt her to death.  Friends say Davide was jealous and had beaten her black and blue in the past.  She had decided to end the relationship.

Italian Papers filled with articles on femicide in Italy. May 28, 2013, Photo by Trisha Thomas

Reading the papers over the following days, I gleaned some interesting details that placed Fabiana’s story within an Italian context.  On Monday when hundreds of people from the town, including teachers, friends, and shop-owners, marched in protest over her death, there was no member of the town council, there was no mayor.  The city government has been disbanded because of Mafia infiltration.  The local bishop was present though and visited the mourning family – sadly he lacked some tact and told Fabiana’s mother “Davide was also a victim” and spoke to her about forgiveness. It seems a stereotype of Italy with the omnipresence of the Mafia and the Catholic Church.

Fabiana’s brutal murder comes on top of a series of recent “femicides” that are shaking the conscience of Italians.”  Here are a few:  In April, 23-year-old Denise Morello was shot in the head in an underground parking lot by her ex-boyfriend, this month 30-year-old Alessandra Iacullo from Rome was killed by her ex-boyfriend, who repeatedly stabbed her in the neck after she broke up with him, and 27-year-old Chiara Di Vita was shot to death by her companion who then killed himself.

Scene from Italian Film "Open Doors" just before husband brutally rapes and murders his wife.

“Crimes of Passion” are certainly not unique to Italy, but the country does have a long tradition of them.  I remember as a young graduate student when my new Italian boyfriend and future husband took me to the Italian movie “Open Doors” (“Porte Aperte”) based on the book by Sicilian writer Leonardo Sciascia.  The film begins with a grizzly triple homicide, but what is most frightening is when the husband fiercely rapes his struggling wife before shooting her through the head. I was shocked by the brutality of this scene and it remained so clear in my mind that I went back to look at it before writing this post.

As I was writing this post, my colleague Paolo Santalucia pointed out to me that until 1981 Italy had a law in its penal code for “Crimes of Honor.”  The law is as follows:

Codice Penale, art. 587
 Chiunque cagiona la morte del coniuge, della figlia o della sorella, nell’atto in cui ne scopre la illegittima relazione carnale e nello stato d’ira determinato dall’offesa recata all’onor suo o della famiglia, è punito con la reclusione da tre a sette anni. Alla stessa pena soggiace chi, nelle dette circostanze, cagiona la morte della persona che sia in illegittima relazione carnale col coniuge, con la figlia o con la sorella.

Translated: “Whoever causes the death of a spouse, or of a daughter or of a sister, when he discovers an illegitimate carnal relation and in a state of rage caused by the offence to his honor or to the honor of the family, is punished with the imprisonment from 3 to 7 years. The same penalty is requested for those who, under the same circumstances, causes the death of the person who was found having the illegitimate relation with the spouse, daughter or sister.”

The above shows that there was a legal tradition in Italy of tolerance towards men who killed their wives, daughters or sisters in a jealous rage to protect their honor, in other words, a tolerance of femicide.  The law has changed but some of the behavior has not, apparently old habits die hard.

I received today a lengthy report from EU.RES — a group that does research on economic and social issues in Italy, and has new data on femicide in Italy that covers up to 2012.  The report noted that between 2000 and 2011 they counted 2,061 femicides in Italy with an average of 172 victims per year. 70.8% of the women were killed by family members and 79.7 percent of the femicides were committed at home.  Interestingly, the report divided the motives into categories that I find might overlap a bit, or in some cases it might be “all of the above”.  Nevertheless, here is their data:

1) 29.9 % of the femicides were for reasons of Passion and Possession,

2) 22.2% of the femicides were following a fight or disagreement

3) 14.5 % of the femicides were a result of mental disturbances in the killer

4) 9.2 % were the result of a raptus

I did not see any comparison to femicide in other countries, or any analysis of causes. But the EURES report is so in-depth it will be too hard for me to extract the details I need in a hurry.  So, for this post, I will quote the website “feriteamorte” (Blessed to death) which is working hard to combat “femicide” in Italy. (Note: the below quote was written before the release of today’s EURES report)

“In Italy, laws to protect victims of violence are in place, but these are not always applied effectively. And violence in the family is the most prevalent form of violence against women. Here too, the lack of data is a problem: the only information available comes from surveys conducted by ISTAT in 2006. According to this survey, 6,743,000 women aged 16 to 70 years have been victims of physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. 5 million women have suffered sexual violence, 3,961,000 physical violence.

About one million women have suffered rapes or attempted rapes. 14.3 percent of women in a current or previous relationship, have experienced at least one instance of physical or sexual violence by their partners and when only women with a former partner are considered, the percentage rises to 17.3 percent. In almost all cases the violence is not reported.

There is also no official data on femicide. From that which is available, an escalation of violence is highlighted, which has seen about 900 women killed from 2005 to the end of 2012.”   Credit: www.feriteamorte.it

Could the apparent increase in femicide in Italy be due to the economic crisis With unemployment in Italy at 11.5% and youth unemployment a startling 38%, are men more likely to attack their wives and girlfriends? I don’t know the answer to that question.

Italy is lucky to have Laura Boldrini the new President of Parliament who worked for over a decade as the spokeswoman for the UN’s High Commission for Refugees, and in her new role has promised to push for legislation to “stop the massacre.”

In her words, “by now it is almost a daily appointment.  Italian women nearly every day meet their death at the hands of bloody and uncontrollable men who cannot resign themselves to considering them people.  Violence dressed up as love.”

Boldrini has also lashed out against Italian culture that encourages certain chauvinist attitudes towards women.  She recently said, “Italy is plastered with posters of scantily clad, flirtatious women.  Everything is sold through women’s bodies. On television, the models are the housewife or the half-naked woman.  It is a short step from there to violence. If women become objects, the message is clear. You can do what you want to an object.”

I know another Italian woman who is dedicating her life to changing attitudes towards women in Italy.  Her name is Lorella Zanardo and in 2009 she produced a ground-breaking documentary “Il Corpo Delle Donne” (“Women’s Bodies”) accompanied by a book of the same name in which she tackled the question of the image of women in Italian TV.  At the time, Italian TV was brimming with nearly naked starlets often participating in vulgar dances and humiliating chit-chat with properly dressed male hosts. You can see the video translated into English at www.ilcorpodelledonne.net

Zanardo insists that “femicide” in Italy can only be beaten with a cultural change that starts with education in the schools and a change in the representation of women by the media.  Zanardo says the current representation in the mass media wither it is TV or advertising continues to be “humiliating and voyeuristic”.   Zanardo herself spends her time going to schools and meeting with young people to discuss these issues with them.  In a recent article Zanardo recounted a young girl at a school saying to her, “I don’t go out with my friends in the afternoon anymore.  My boyfriend is jealous, he doesn’t like it.”  Comments like that show the importance of the work Zanardo is doing.

Today the lower house of the Italian parliament unanimously approved the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women.  It is a start but it is too little and too late for 15-year-old Fabiana Luzzi.

Thank you to Chiara Carbone for providing me with files of statistics and important background information on his topic.

Related posts:

May 18, 2013

Powerful Gestures

Actress Angelina Jolie steps off a Venetian water taxi in a scene from "The Tourist" starring Jolie and Johnny Depp

Dear Blog Readers –  I have had a difficult couple of weeks for various personal reasons that I am sure all of you would understand, but I will spare you the details, I am sure you all have enough of your own.  Of course, you can imagine that writing blog posts gets quickly shoved aside when more important matters emerge.  There have been several topics which I have been eager to write about which are briefly listed below, however, I would like to write a quick post today on powerful gestures.  This week, as I struggled with some of my own difficulties, I was unexpectedly uplifted by the revelation by Angelina Jolie that she had a double mastectomy.  See her op-ed in the New York Times here: My Medical Choice

Back in 2004, I saw Angelina Jolie at a press conference inside a tent at Circus Maximus in Rome.  She was speaking to the press before a concert organized by Quincy Jones to raise money for children in war zones.  Angelina was young, a single mom of her first child, and was stunningly beautiful– glowing, radiant. As I listened to her, I looked around and saw many of the male photographers I know starring at her in awe. Aside from her beauty,  she was intelligent, articulate and clearly committed to the cause.  She went on to continue her massively successful career, to adopt again and have children of her own and to marry Brad Pitt.  In recent years, while I admired her, I was envious and perhaps a tad hostile towards her.  She was rich, beautiful, too skinny in my opinion, and probably had dozens of Nannies.   Several years ago, a friend of a friend of mine (note readers: this is gossipy chit chat, not journalistic accuracy) worked as a cook for Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and their brood while Jolie was shooting “The Tourist” with Johnny Depp in Venice. The cook told my friend that Angelina Jolie was a wonderful mother– kind, generous and gracious and that her children are well-behaved and polite.  Aarrggh.  That got on my nerves even more — not only is she beautiful, rich, and married to Brad Pitt but she is the perfect mother too.  That is too much for a poor wretch like me to take.

Then this week, as I was struggling with my own difficulties, out pops the news — I first saw it on a tweet– that Angelina Jolie had a double mastectomy.  As obvious as it is, it suddenly dawned on me that yes, indeed, bad things can happen to rich, beautiful, powerful, perfect mothers too.  I am not getting any joy out of Jolie’s suffering, but I am grateful that she had the courage to share her story.  It will make a difference to so many women,  and not just those with breast cancer.  THANK YOU ANGELINA!!

Pope Francis kissing tattoo-ed foot at Juvenile Detention Center on Holy Thursday. March 28, 2013. Freeze Frame of Vatican TV video.

Speaking of powerful gestures, in a post on March 28th (see: Francesco Frenzy), I wrote about Pope Francis going to a juvenile detention center in Rome on Holy Thursday and washing the feet of teenage inmates.  This gesture meant a lot to many people.  Below I am copying some letters from inmates in Los Angeles who were impressed by the gesture and wrote to the Pope.  The below notes were provided to me by Father Thomas Rosica.

“Los Angeles County has one of the highest youth incarceration rates in the country. Up to 90% of the county’s juvenile justice youth are Latino or African American, and up to 70% of incarcerated youth nationally are said to have some kind of disability…

When the young boys at the juvenile detention facility in LA heard of Pope Francis’ wish to celebrate the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper at Rome’s Casal del Marmo prison with the young inmates there, many of them expressed their desire to participate from afar and in close solidarity to what the Pope was going to do in another juvenile hall….

…they have written letters to Pope Francis, thanking him for his gesture of love and service, praying for him…describing the sadness of their lives in detention, and asking for prayers to help them endure the darkness and hopelessness of their situations…

Some of these youngsters will spend the rest of their lives in prison….”

LETTERS FROM AN L.A. PRISON

Dear Pope Francis, 
I don’t know if you have ever been to where I live.
 I have grown up in a jungle of gangs and drugs and violence.
 I have seen people killed. I have been hurt. 
We have been victims of violence. 
It is hard to be young and surrounded by darkness.
 Pray for me that one day I will be free 
and be able to help other youth like you do.

Dear Pope Francis,
 I know the same youth feet that you wash 
are like me. 
Drugs have been part of me life for so long.
 We all struggle to be sober. 
But you inspire me and I promise to be sober 
and help others with the cruel addiction of crystal meth.

Dear Pope Francis,
 My many friends are in two different maximum security 
prisons in one of our states 33 state prisons. (Calif.) I am writing to tell you that I feel bad 
that more youth of color are in prison in our state
 than any other place in the world. I am inviting you to come 
here next year to wash our feet, many of who have been sentences to die in prison.
 God bless you.

Dear Pope Francis,
Thank you for washing the feet of youth like us in Italy.
 We also are young and made mistakes. 
Society has given up on us, thank you
 that you have not given up on us.

Dear Pope Francis, 
I think you are a humble man. 
When you read this letter you will have washed the feet of other kids like. 
I am writing this letter because you give me hope.
 I know one day with people like you us kids
 won’t be given sentences that will keep us in prison
 for the rest of our lives. 
I pray for you. Dont forget us.

Dear Pope Francis,
 I am glad you picked the name Francis. When I was little I read about St. Francis. He is a cool saint. He was a man of peace and simplicity. I am praying to you that you pray that we have peace in our gang filled neighborhoods.

Dear Pope Francis,
 Tonight we pray for all victims of violence.
The families of people we have hurt need healing. 
Our families need healing.
 We are all in pain. 
Let us feel Jesus’ healing tonight.

Dear Pope Francis,
 I read that the harshest sentence that a youth
 can receive in Italy is 20 years. I wish this was true here.
 I hope I hear back from you. I have been catholic and glad I am catholic
 because I have a pope like you.
 I will pray for you every day because we need examples of God like you are
 in this violent world.

Dear Pope Francis, 
When Jesus washed the feet of his friends he gave an example of humility. I have been raised to believe that it is only with respect in hurting your enemy that you are a man. Tonight you and Jesus show me something in this washing of the feet something very different. I hope we kids learn from this.

Dear Pope Francis,
 I have never been to Rome. I do not know if it is near Los Angeles
because all my youth I have only known my neighborhood. I hope one 
day I will be given a second chance and receive a blessing from you
and maybe even have my feet washed on Holy Thursday.

Dear Pope Francis, 
I know you have a good family. I am writing this letter to you because I know
that my family is suffering because of me. I know have done some bad things but I am not a bad kid and when last year in our big state we got a new law called SB9 * this made me family happy because this is a beautiful message that we kids deserve a second chance.

Dear Pope Francis, 
From reading I know that us kids are capable of making decisions like older people do. I have seen pictures of brains of kids and adults. I am asking you as Pope to help us and
help other people understand we can change and want to change.

****************

Powerful, moving responses to a powerful gesture on the part of Pope Francis.  My heart goes out to these young boys at the Juvenile Detention Center in Los Angeles who have lived with gang violence, drug addiction and life sentences.  The difficulties they face make mine shrink in comparison.

A final note–Coming soon on Mozzarella Mamma:

As I mentioned above I have a Blog Post to do list, so here are so items I am hoping to get to soon.

1) NUNS 2013 -

Last Monday, the Vatican released a series of statistics on the Catholic church in the world including the following on nuns or as they say “professed women religious`’

“A strong downward trend was observed in data for the professed [women] religious, with a decrease of 10% from 2001 to 2011. The total number of professed religious, that counted 792 thousand units in 2001 is now at just over 713 thousand 10 years later. The decline particularly affects three continents (Europe, America and Oceania), with significant variations (-22% in Europe, -21% in Oceania and -17% in America). In Africa and Asia, however, there has been a sustained increase, more than 28% in the first continent and 18% in the second. Consequently, the fraction of professed religious in Africa and Asia out of the global total increased from 24.4% to about 33%, at the expense of Europe and America, whose dropped respectively by a total of 74% to 66%.
”

I can see a few reasons for not wanting to be a nun. Nuns have (presumably) no sex, no children of their own, little power in the Vatican, they can’t say Mass, some of them have reprimanded by one pope (Benedict XVI) for overreaching and chided by another (Francis) for being “old maids”. They are the foot soldiers of the Catholic Church, doing a lot of the toughest jobs without much recognition. What is in it for a nun in 2013? Why are the numbers increasing in Africa and Asia while dropping so dramatically elsewhere?

Blog readers, this is a story I also want to do for AP Television, so if anyone reading this is a nun, lives in Rome, and would be willing to talk to me on camera about some of these questions, please let me know.

2) BUNGA BUNGA REPERCUSSIONS

Yesterday Karima el-Mahroug the famous “Ruby” who is at the center of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s prostitution-with-a-minor trial took the stand yesterday, revealing more juicy details of the bunga-bunga parties- odd costumes,  envelopes of cash etc.  I have written quite a bit on this bizarre story in various posts (see: Berlusconi’s Babes, Veronica’s Revenge) but the trial is nearing its conclusion in June and I would like to post once more on this unusual court case, some of the female protagonists from Karima to the powerful prosecutor Ilda Boccassini (see: The Italian Tiger Mamma)

3) WORLD MOTHERS REPORT

This week my dear friend Phoebe Natanson from ABC News sent me the Save the Children’s 2013 State of the World’s Mothers report.  On the  list of the best places to be a mother, Italy comes in 17th, the US comes in 30th, Australia 10th, the UK 23rd, and the booby prize goes to the Democratic Republic of Congo where mothers face all sorts of tragedies.  Yet again, the Scandinavian countries take the prize as the best place to be a mother.  I have lots more to say and write on this topic and hopefully that post will be coming soon.

All comments, suggestions, corrections on any of the topics above are most welcome.

*SB-9 Definition

“Senate Bill 9 (also called SB 9) became California law in January 2013. This law gives a second chance to most people who were under the age of 18 at the time of their crime and sentenced to life without parole. They can ask the court for a new sentencing hearing. At that hearing, they will have the chance of getting a new sentence with the possibility of parole.” (taken from www.fairsentencingforyouth.org)

Related posts:

May 8, 2013

Divine Julius – An Italian Politician

Giulio Andreotti

This past week for me has been a strange experience of ushering in the new, and ushering  out the old in Italian politics.  Last week I did a post on Cecile Kyenge, Italy’s first black Minister, who represents a clear break from the old ways of getting things done in Italian politics (See Post “Call me Black“).  This week I am writing a post on the mysterious figure who represents Italy’s political post-war history, Giulio Andreotti.  They call him “Il Divo Giulio” an Italian play on the latin “Divus Iulius” (Divine Julius)– referring to Julius Caesar.

Andreotti died this week at age 94.  He was no doubt the most powerful, controversial and enigmatic figure in the last 60 years of Italian politics.  His style of politics was considered Machiavellian and realistic.  He served as Prime Minister seven times and on 33 other occasions held ministerial posts, among them frequent turns at the Foreign Ministry, Defense Ministry and Interior Ministry.  He entered into parliament at age 24, and when he died this week, he was still officially a member of the Italian parliament holding the title “Senator-for-life”

In addition to the title “Il Divo Giulio” his critics also call him Beezlebub, the Prince of Darkness.  Although he was never convicted of any crimes, many questions remain about Andreotti’s relationship with the Italian Mafia.  According to several Mafia turncoats,  Andreotti was known by the Mafia as “Zio Giulio” (Uncle Giulio), the Mafia’s protector in Rome, and in exchange for protection, the Mafia delivered Sicily to Andreotti’s Christian Democratic party.

Andreotti is still so controversial that when the Senate tried to hold a minute of silence following his death last Monday, a small group of new members of Parliament from the Five Star Movement began yelling “booo”, and “shame”. A prominent anti-Mafia writer Roberto Saviano (Quoting Indro Montanelli, one of Italy’s most prominent journalists who died in 2001) tweeted “Andreotti: the biggest criminal because he got out of it, or the most persecuted?”, and anti-Mafia prosecutor Gian Carlo Caselli was quoted in various Italian dailies saying that the only reason that Andreotti was not convicted for Mafia association before 1980 was because the trial went beyond the statute of limitations.  Italy’s current President Giorgio Napolitano simply said “History will judge him.”

Giulio Andreotti speaking to journalists at his senate office

Andreotti was known for his phenomenal memory, his political acumen, and his ever-ready one-liners.  Italian papers were filled this week with historic Andreotti zingers. He seemed to have one for every occasion.  His most famous was, “Power wears down only those who don’t have it.”  Clearly, his tight grip on power never wore him down.

Over the years he had many legal difficulties for Mafia related crimes and corruption, but he never questioned the judicial system.  Unlike former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi who has fought with everything in his power against judges, to change trial locations, to switching hearing dates and manipulate the system, with typical Andreottian calm, following his 2002 conviction (later-overturned) in a mafia-linked murder, Andreotti issued a simple statement, “I still believe in the justice system.”

Andreotti worked with a group of Christian Democrats -led by Italy’s first post-war Prime Minister Alicide di Gasperi – to pull Italy out of its post-war depression to become one of the world’s biggest economies.  In the early years of his political life Andreotti helped draft the post-World War II constitution, and in the later years he pushed for Italy’s strong participation in the European Union. Unfortunately, the economic system created during the years of dominance by the Christian Democratic party was characterized by a massive state presence, and widespread patronage and corruption.

Andreotti was a devout Catholic, attending mass every day.  He maintained close ties with the Vatican, and was friends with Pope’s and Cardinals — for decades he was the Vatican’s point man in Italian politics.  An Italian paper this week showed photos of Andreotti with 7 Popes going all the way back to Pius XII (the WWII Pope) and up to Cardinal Bergoglio in 2009, now Pope Francis.

In addition to “Il Divo” and Beezlebub, Andreotti has yet another nickname “il gobbo” — the hunchback. Although once a fairly tall man, over the years he became very hunched.  He had a distinctive appearance with a shock of hair brushed back from his large head, large ears, and thick glasses hiding watery blue eyes. His unusual looks made him a prime target for cartoonists, which he always took in stride.

A cartoon of Giulio Andreotti in which he says: "They are not skeletons, they are relics"

He was not a vain man, and had two famous one liners on that: “being mediocre men, the middle path, for us, is the best one” and “Humility is a stupendous virtue, but not when it is used when declaring one’s income”

Giulio Andreotti holding up a cartoon saying "Boys, keep your backs straight"

Throughout the Cold War, Andreotti maintained close ties to the US which used the Christian Democratic party to try to push back any communist party influence in Italian politics.   Photos in Italian papers this week showed him with Nixon, Kissinger and Reagan as well as other world leaders – Thatcher, and Gorbachov.

When I married my Italian husband and moved to Rome, my mother-in-law wanted my husband to present his new wife to her friend, Giulio Andreotti.  I resisted.  We were married in 1993 a year after Andreotti finished his last term as Prime Minister.  He was preparing a defense against various legal attacks.  I knew I would have to cover his upcoming trial on charges of Mafia association in Palermo and I didn’t want to mix my marriage up with my job, so I dragged my heels.  In the end I went, and we had a fascinating conversation about US policy in the Middle-East.  The Middle-east was one of his passions and his knowledge of US policy was formidable.  I was impressed.

Shortly thereafter I would return with a camera crew to interview him about his upcoming trial in Palermo on charges of Mafia Association.   I asked him about one turncoat’s accusation that he had met with Toto Riina, the Mafia’s “Capo di tutti Capi” — Boss of all Bosses, and exchanged a kiss on each cheek.  I can’t remember if it was in the interview with me or in a public statement, but Andreotti frequently said “Everyone knows who I am.  If I had really gone to Sicily and met Toto’ Riina in broad daylight, you should send me to a lunatic asylum, not to jail.”

As with many journalists who interviewed Andreotti, I discovered he had a capacity to talk anyone under the table.  He calmly, effortlessly spilled forth facts, figures, information that were sometimes related and sometimes irrelevant.  One went away with plenty of video-tape but few clear answers.

I remember clearly the chaos the day the trial opened at the bunker-courthouse in Palermo’s Ucciardone Prison, built for the Maxi-Trial of nearly 500 mafiosi in 1986.  It was a media circus outside the with crowds of curious on-lookers, journalists from all over the world pushing and shoving about and satellite trucks lining the streets around the prison.  Little old ladies dressed in black peered out from windows of nearby buildings at the confusion below. Just before the trial was to start at 9am, Andreotti was whisked through the gates in an unmarked car.

TV cameras were not allowed inside, so I left my cameraman (AP Television’s Gianfranco Stara) outside and slipped inside to sit high above and stare down at Giulio Andreotti’s “gobbo”.   In retrospect, his manner was in such sharp contrast with Silvio Berlusconi.  In the courtroom, Berlusconi is active always giving interviews on the side to reporters and busily talking with his lawyers and showing his disdain from the judges and prosecutors.  The unflappable Andreotti sat calmly and listened.

He was accompanied by a young woman laywer, Giulia Bongiorno, who made her reputation for her brilliant defense of Andreotti.  (She also defended Raffaele Sollecito, the boyfriend of Amanda Knox in that murder trial).  She later described how Andreotti remained unperturbed by the media attention.  She described watching him take full advantage of being in Palermo to eat Parmigiana Melanzane (Eggplant Parmesan) and Sicilian Cannoli.

The trial went on for six and a half years and eventually Andreotti was acquitted.

One of the prosecutors on the team, Gian Carlo Caselli told Italy’s Daily Corriere Della Sera” this week: “His acquittal was only for actions that occurred after 1980.  For those that were committed up until that date, Andreotti was recognized as guilty of association for the delinquency with the Mafia, it is just that it fell under the statute of limitations.”

Andreotti’s lawyer, Giulia Bongiorno told reporters this week, “He was fully acquitted, and I say that because I know the documents.  All the accusations were overturned, even in the famous “statue of limitations” there was never a guilty judgment.”

Giulio Andreotti is such an enigmatic figure that he was a magnet for books and movies.  In “The Godfather III”, which came out in 1990, Franics Ford Coppola created the character Don Lucchesi who was was clearly based on Andreotti, then nearly 20 years later, in 2008, Italian movie director Paolo Sorrentino made the film “Il divo” about Andreotti which won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

The day after he died, Massimo Franco, a prominent Italian journalist who wrote the comprehensive biography “Andreotti: The Life of a Political Man, the History of an Era”, went to pay his respects — as Italians do — to the deceased before the funeral. He described “Divo Giulio” appearing as calm as always, laid out in his blue double-breasted suit in his bed in his elegant Roman apartment, as the friends and powerful acquaintances moved in and out of the room.  In his hands was a black rosary, a white porcelain cross fixed to the wall above the bed.

There are many secrets that Giulio Andreotti has taken with him to the grave.  He was an extraordinary man who did much to shape Italy in a complicated era. The debate in Italy continues over whether he was good or evil or somewhere in between, but no one questions that he was the most powerful politician of the post-war period and his death marks the end of that era.

Related posts:

May 3, 2013

Call Me Black!

Cecile Kyenge, Italy's new Minister of Integration surrounded by photographers as she enters press conference in Rome. Freeze frame of video shot for AP Television by Gianfranco Stara. May 3, 2013

When Cecile Kyenge walked into her press conference in Rome today, I was surprised at how petite and unassuming she appeared. I had been chasing an interview with Italy’s first black Minister all week and in my mind she had become larger than life.  Who was this small, unassuming woman with dark skin, short hair and big brown eyes? As soon as she began to speak, I realized why I might have imagined her as physically larger.  Her words are POWERFUL.

“I am not a colored person, “she began, “I’m black, and it is important to say that and I am proud of it.”  She went on to say she considers herself a Congolese-Italian.

On Sunday Kyenge was sworn in as Minister of Integration in the coalition government led by new Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta.  Shortly after Letta chose her, the racist attacks began.

A member of the European Parliament from Italy’s xenophobic Northern League called the new government the “bonga bonga government” and suggested that she would “impose tribal traditions” on Italy, and a neo-fascist website called Kyenge a “Congolese monkey.”

Kyenge responded with what seems to be her usual aplomb, she tweeted ” I believe even criticism can inform if it’s done with respect.”

Cecile Kyenge's Twitter Page

Today, again, she addressed the question of racism in Italy; there was no anger, no hostility, just a simple determination to bring change, “In reality, Italy isn’t a racist country,” the problem she said was “ignorance” adding, “We need to break down these walls… until you don’t know the other, skepticism increases, discrimination increases. At the moment, what is identified as racism is based on the non-knowledge of other cultures. ….immigration is a richness. Differences are a resource.”

One of Kyenge’s top priorities as Minister of Integration will be changing Italy’s law on children of immigrants. As the law stands now, a child of immigrants born in Italy cannot apply for citizenship until he or she becomes 18.

Kyenge is not the first high-profile individual to face racism in Italy.  Mario Balotelli, probably Italy’s best soccer player, who plays for AC Milan, has been a frequent victim of harsh racial attacks with people throwing bananas on the field when he was playing and fans of opposing teams holding up signs saying “Black Italians Don’t Exist”, even recently the Vice-President of AC Milan, former Prime Minister Silvio Belrusconi’s brother, referred to Balotelli as “our family’s little negro” (See my blog posts “Balotelli’s Mamma” and “Mario Balotelli Forever.” )

Earlier this week I spoke to Professor James Walston at the American University in Rome about racism in Italy.  He told me, “There was no racism forty years ago because there were not any non-white Italians, you need the other in order to hate the other, or at least the idea of the other. And this has happened very strongly in the last decade or so and Italians are coming to terms with that. It will take a long time, and probably there will never be a completely racism free society. It will take a long time for Italy to reach a sort of acceptance, a multicultural acceptance that most of the rest of Europe has and North America has. But Italy is now changing, Italy is a multicultural society with 7.5 percent of its population immigrant and it is much more similar to France, U.S., and Canada”.

Cecile Kyenge, speaking to me during an interview today with AP Television. Freeze frame of video shot by Gianfranco Stara. May 3, 2013

Following her press conference I had a chance to briefly interview the 48-year-old Kyenge on my own and ask her some more personal questions.  Here is what she had to say.  First she explained to me how she ended up in Italy:

“I came here to study, I did not have political ambitions, I came because I wanted to become a doctor, because I couldn’t find a faculty in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, I was ready to go to any country even if it was Japan, I was willing to go any place that would give me the possibility to become a doctor.  I didn’t speak Italian, I didn’t know many things, the important thing was to reach my goal and to become a doctor.”

Kyenge came to Italy, studied to reached her goal, becoming an eye doctor and ended up marrying an Italian and having two children.  She had no idea that she would end up in politics and no clue that she would make history by being the first black minister in an Italian government. As she put it:

“This was not part of my plans, but I am very happy. It is huge responsibility, and it is an honor, that sometimes even scares me a bit, but I believe that it is a step that will give satisfaction to many people.  Being a doctor also means being a missionary it means being at the service of everyone, and this is also my position, I hold the same concept, to be at the service of all.”

Kyenge told me that she is a bit intimidated at times about her new role, not just as Minister but as role model for so many immigrants. It certainly has given satisfaction to many immigrants in Italy to finally see one of their own in politics, a field dominated in Italy by old white men.

Michiesa Cervantes, a teenager of Filipino origin was walking with two friends  in Rome’s Piazza Vittorio today, a neighborhood filled with immigrants from all over the world, she declared, “I think it’s a positive thing for us foreigners because now we have someone representing us in politics”.  In the nearby market, Nigerian immigrant Kaius Ikejezie, was picking out some vegetables at a market stall.  When he heard Kyenge’s name he grinned and said,  ”We hope she will start a new era for Italy, let’s hope!”

But one of my favorite comments today came from Kyenge’s sister Dora, who was at the press conference. She gave me a tidbit of insight into Cecile Kyenge’s determination, “she’s always been a fighter. I’m sure she will be successful because she has always fought, since when she was born. Yes, when she was a little baby just a few months old, they thought she was dead, but she fought, she always has. So I have no doubt that she will be successful.”

Neither do I.

Related posts:

May 2, 2013

Benedict is Back!

A helicopter carrying Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI back to the Vatican. May 2, 2013. Photo by Gregorio Borgia

After his dramatic departure just over two months ago, the former Pope, Benedict XVI, returned to the Vatican today to take up residence in a small monastery inside Vatican walls.  On February 28th the newly resigned Ben XVI took off from the Vatican in a helicopter and whirred over the city as thousands of people gathered on Roman roof-tops and terraces, piazzas and streets to wave goodbye. The 85-year-old retired to Castel Gandolfo — the Pope’s summer residence on a lake outside of Rome — while he waited for renovations to be finished on the “Mater Ecclesiae” monastery.  He said he was going to live “hidden from the world.”

Following his departure were the heady days leading up to the Conclave and the election of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires to become the next Pope, Pope Francis. Benedict XVI was briefly seen looking suprisingly unsteady and weak in a video released by the Vatican on March 23rd after a visit by Pope Francis to Castel Gandolfo.  The video prompted questions about his declining health.

Today the Vatican released a photo of the two Popes who will be neighbors, and anyone familiar with Vatican etiquette cannot help but be struck by seeing these two men both dressed so similarly in white. It is uncanny.

Two Men in White. Pope Francis greets Pope Emeritus Benedict at the door to the "Mater Ecclesaie" Monastery on the X Pope's re-entry to the Vatican. Photo released by the Vatican newspaper "Osservatore Romano"

Unlike Benedict’s departure, which was broadcast live by Vatican TV around the world, today’s re-entry was a low-key affair with no TV coverage provided by the Vatican.  The photo above of the helicopter, taken by AP’s Gregorio Borgia, was from a location outside Vatican walls.

Benedict XVI’s ever loyal secretary Archbishop Georg Ganswein — who flew away with him, was also on the helicopter today for the re-entry.  If you look carefully, you can see Ganswein in the photo released by the Vatican peering around the edge of the doorway and smiling approvingly at the two Popes. Ganswein and the Memores Domini, the four consecrated women who cook and clean for the two men will join them in the Monastery. (See post on Georg Ganswein Padre Georg: The Vatican Heart-Throb)

A Vatican statement noted that the Pope will be — as he said himself on February 11th — serving the church by dedicating himself to prayer.  Apparently, he will also be playing the piano. Reportedly, his piano has been moved from the Papal apartments into the monastery.

The statement also noted that the Monastery was built over 20 years by Pope John Paul II and has housed various different orders of clositered nuns over the past two decades, among them Carmelites and Benedictines.  For the moment, no more nuns will be living in the monastery.

Interestingly, for the time being Pope Francis has chosen to live in the Santa Marta Residence and not in the Papal Apartments, so although there are now two Popes within the Vatican walls, neither one is living in the Apostolic Palace.

Benedict XVI was the first Pope to resign in 600 years, and he will be the first former Pope to continue living at the Vatican.  We will see how it works.

Related posts:

April 29, 2013

A Sad, Sunny Day in Rome

A policeman pushes me back from the Piazza in front of Palazzo Chigi, the Italian Prime Minister's office as ambulances wait to load injured policemen and take them to the hospital. Photo by Trisha Thomas, April 28, 2013

Today was a sad day in Rome.  Two policemen were shot and one critically wounded as they stood in front of the Prime Minister’s office this morning. But more on that in a minute.

It started off as a slow Sunday for me.  After weeks of struggling to form a new government, finally 47-year-old Enrico Letta succeeded and the swearing-in ceremony for the new government Ministers was being held at the Presidential Palace, the Quirinal, in the center of Rome.  Several of my colleagues were covering that ceremony and then the official handover ceremony afterwards at the Prime Minister’s office, Palazzo Chigi, in which the outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti was to give the symbolic “bell” to the new Prime Minister.  Only photographers and camera-persons were allowed into the handover ceremony so AP Television sent one of our regular freelance cameramen Fanuel Morelli.  Fortunately for us, Fanuel is a smoker. But more on that in a minute.

Since February’s national election, with a stunning turnout for the upstart “Five-Star Movement” of Italian comic Beppe Grillo, and a surprising successful comeback of Italy’s former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi,  Italy has been living in a political limbo with no one able to form a government.  Until a few days ago it looked like Italy might have to hold another national election.  Political uncertainty is dangerous for a country hanging on the edge of economic disaster with unemployment at 12-percent (youth employment at least double that) and the country’s debt 130-percent of GDP.  If Italy goes down economically, it would be disastrous for the rest of Europe.  Italians are fed up with the politicians and scared about their future.

(For an interesting perspective on this, check out the recent “Letters from Italy” on the BBC featuring the comments of my husband, Gustavo Piga.)

Then finally this week a political solution was reached.  A coalition government led by center-left Democratic Party member Enrico Letta.  I was pleased because this new government has the first African-Italian Minister, Cecile Kyenge, Minister of Integration, and Gold-Medal winning Canoeist Josefa Idem, a Mamma, as Minister of Sport and Equal Opportunity. But I was not covering the swearing-in ceremony.  I had a ticket with my mother-in-law and daughter for a guided tour of the “Titian” exhibit at the “Scuderie del Quirinale Museum”  – the “Scuderie” are the former horse stables for the Qurinale palace which once housed Popes and then Kings.

A Poster for the Titian Exhibit at the Stables of the Quirinal Palace in Rome

“Titian” is fabulous, but I was disappointed with our guide who seemed to be delivering a tedious university lecture rather than an intriguing, informative description of the works and the artists.  Half-way through the tour my phone, which I had thought I had put on silent, began to ring.  I saw it was my colleague Paolo Santalucia and figured he wanted to talk about Monday’s schedule so I hung up on him figuring I would call him later, but he called right back telling me there had been a shooting at the Prime Minister’s office and I needed to join the cameraman Fanuel there.  I dropped everything and ran.  Ran past all the Titian’s, pushing past museum visitors, who looked at me angrily, ran out the exit forgeting my coat, and took off down the Via delle Dateria at a full sprint.  I could see other journalists running down the stairs from the Quirinal Palace.  It was a race.  I ran so hard my throat hurt.  When I reached Palazzo Chigi they were bringing in ambulances to take away the wounded and I was pushed back by the policeman in the photo above.

Our cameraman Fanuel later explained it like this.  Since the swearing-in ceremony was taking a while, and the Ministers were not yet headed for the Prime Minister’s office, he slipped outside with a few other cameramen and photographers to have a cigarette.  As he was smoking, he heard a gunshot a few meters away. He said, “we didn’t think it was gunfire, then I turned around and I saw this man wearing a tie, and he was pointing this gun in this direction toward the policeman and he fired five or 6 more shots.”

Below is a freeze frame of what Fanuel filmed.  It is Carabinieri Brigadier Giuseppe Giangrande, 50-years-old, shot at short range in the neck.

Carabinieri Brigadier Giuseppe Giangrande shortly after being shot at short-range in the neck. Freeze Frame of video shot by Fanuel Morelli for AP Television. April 28, 2013

Moments later police had the shooter pinned to the ground.  A few hours later Italy’s new Deputy Prime Minister Angelino Alfano explained to us in a press conference that this gunman wanted to kill himself after he had shot at the others, but he was out of bullets. Alfano said, “this tragic criminal gesture this morning was carried out by a 49-year-old unemployed man who immediately showed that he wanted to kill himself.” Alfano went on to say that they were pretty sure it was an “isolated gesture”

Police pin the gunman to the ground just minutes after the shooting. Freeze frame of video shot by Fanuel Morelli for AP Television. April 28, 2013

Over the course of the day more details came out about the shooter.  He is Luigi Preiti, an unemployed bricklayer from Calabria, a poor region in the toe of Italy’s boot.  He recently has left his wife.  Later the prosecutor told reporters that Preiti had confessed that he had gone to Palazzo Chigi to shoot politicians, but when he was blocked by police, he shot at them.

After a long, exhausting day at work, I went to pick up my daughter who had joined a friend at a 7pm Mass.  I slipped into the packed San Bellarmino Church at 7:30pm as the priest was already mid-homily.  The theme was “perdono” – Forgiveness.  It brought to mind an excellent post I read the other day by Reverend Nancy Rockwell following the bomb attacks at the Boston Marathon.  It was about Evildoers and forgiving. Here’s the link to: A Bite in the Apple on Evildoers

Details have also emerged about the injured.  The bullet entered the neck of Giuseppe Giangrande brushed past his spinal cord and remained lodged inside.  It was removed at the hospital.  He is now in intensive care and doctors are struggling to save his life.   On an heart-breaking personal note, Giangrande lost his wife a few months ago.  Their only child, a 23-year-old daughter, is now in Rome with him.  Italian reports say Sunday morning Giuseppe Giangrande posted on his facebook page “”Buona domenica a tutti. Oggi grande giornata di sole” – Translated, “Good Sunday to Everyone. Today is a beautiful Sunny Day.”  It turned out also to be a sad, sunny Sunday. My heart goes out Giuseppe Giangrande and his daughter.

Related posts:

April 27, 2013

Beasts of Burden or Sacred Creatures

A little donkey hitched to a cart in Jemaa el Fna Square in Marrakech. Photo by Trisha Thomas, April 20, 2013

Dear Blog Readers –

I realize I risk boring you with my continuing posts on Marrakech, but my daughter Chiara insisted that I do a post using the photos that I took of animals in Marrakech which I would sum as the easy and tough life for animals in Marrakech.  Anyone who has travelled in the some of the poorer countries of the world know that animals can get the best and the worst of treatment.  In the United States and Europe people take their dogs to shrinks and put sun-screen on their noses when they take them to the beach (this is true, my veterinarian friend Alessandra loaned me some dog sun-screen to put on my daughters the other day).  Doggie hair salons and luxury hotels are spreading in the West. In both Northern India and the Philippines I have been in the back seat of cars that have hit dogs running out of villages and kept on going.  In one case, I got upset and all the other people in car were laughing telling me that they would have a feast in the village that night– roast dog.

In Rome, I have covered animal rights groups throwing fake blood against the windows of the Fendi store on the chic Via Condotti to protest against their business in expensive fur coats, and have covered activists at the cat sanctuary at Rome’s Torre Argentina, I have also covered battles between activists and Roman carriage drivers who take tourists in horse carriages thorough the streets of Rome.  In Rome, cats are pretty close to sacred and are allowed to do whatever they want, likewise in India, Hindus believe cows are sacred and let them roam where they wish, blocking traffic and enjoying themselves.

Horses pulling a carriage mix in traffic with mercedes taxis on the streets of Marrakech. Photo by Trisha Thomas, April 22, 2013

Similarly, Morocco has animals that get the best treatment and some that get the worst.  The little donkey above pulling the cart probably does not have the easiest of lives, and nor do the horses below.  The ones who have the easy life in Marrakech are the storks.

A stork on a nest at the El Badi Palace in Marrakech. Photo by Trisha Thomas, April 22, 2013

From guide books and Googling I’ve learned some of their beliefs. Moroccans believe that storks bring good luck and happiness and a nest on the roof of your home brings good luck.  According to the Berber belief storks are humans turned into birds.  Because the storks migrate from Europe to Africa and remain in couples who return to the same nests, they have come to symbolize strength, prosperity and love.  Apparently it is a punishable offence to harm a stork or its nest.  I read in one place that the punishment is a three month prison sentence, but I have not confirmed this.  Nevertheless, the storks are ubiquitous in Marrakech, their long beaks and scraggly legs hopping around the tops of their gigantic nests.

The best place to photograph them is at the ruins of what once must have been the spectacular  El Badi Palace built by Sultan Mansour in 1578.

The El Badi Palace in Marrakech. Photo by Trisha Thomas, April 23, 2013

I wandered through what once must have been stunning courtyards and pavilions, past now empty reflecting pools, looking up at the gawky creatures perched around the tops of the walls and towers.

Marrakech’s main square the Jemaa el Fna is filled with various types of animals.  I thought this monkey on a chain with its trainer seemed a bit sad.

 

A little monkey on a chain in Jemaa el Fna Square looks at me forlornly as I take his picture. Photo by Trisha Thomas April 22, 2013

One morning I saw a similar monkey jump on the back of a friendly tourist, snatch off his sunglasses and toss them on the ground.

I had a chat with a group of snake charmers who would offer up a show for whoever was willing to pay.  Instead I paid one of them, Reda, to take some close-up photos of the snakes for me.

Reda was eager to put a water snake around my neck which I did not want.  Then he squatted down and snapped a few photos of the cobra and the python for me.

Reda shows me a water snake in Jemaa el Fna Square in Marrakech. Photo by Trisha Thomas. April 23, 2013

 

 

 

A close-up of a Cobra in Jemaa el Fna Square in Marrakech. Photo by Reda, the Snake Charmer. April 22, 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cobra snapped at Reda as he squatted to take the picture.  Reda, hopped backwards in his flip flops with remarkable speed and agility.

Finally, ever since I took a two-week camel trek in the desert in Kenya, I have been amused by the stubborn personality of most camels.

Trisha Thomas with her camel, Imboso, on a camel trek in Samburu, Kenya 1979. Photo by Peter Hetz

I did not go for a ride, but I did snap this photo of a smiling camel near the Menara Gardens in Marrakech.

 

A smiling camel near the Menara Gardens in Marrakech. Photo by Trisha Thomas, April 22, 2013

Blog readers, I am curious to hear your tales of sacred cows, spoiled poodles, Holy Cats and beasts of burden.  What as been your experience with good and bad treatment of animals around the globe?

Related posts: