The controversy immediately broke out over the bill
presented to the Chamber by the League which would provide for
a wedding bonus of up to 20 thousand euros
but only for those who get married in church, with the
opposition protesting by recalling how "the state is secular"
.
The "correction" arrives shortly: "The bill at my first signing, aimed at encouraging the wedding sector, which for reasons of costs provided for a bonus intended only for religious weddings,
will naturally be extended to all during the parliamentary debate
weddings
, regardless of whether they are celebrated in church or not", Domenico Furgiuele specified in the evening.
Sources Palazzo Chigi: measure is not being studied by the government
In the evening, sources in Palazzo Chigi specified that the proposal is a parliamentary initiative and is not being studied by the government.
In the context of a complex financial framework,
the executive, underline the same sources, is working to support the family with concrete and feasible measures
, which will be contained in the budget law.
The proposal was filed by Furgiuele, Simone Billi, Ingrid Bisa, Alberto Gusmeroli and Erik Pretto and
is based, among other things, on the deduction of 20 percent of expenses connected with the celebration of (religious) marriage
: from ornaments in the Church, including decorative flowers, the runner and the booklets, the clothes for the bride and groom, the catering service, the favors, the hairdresser, the make-up and the photo shoot.
The aim of the proponents is to revive the fate of (religious) marriages in decline.
Weddings that in Italy (in church or not) have been in decline for years and which, during the pandemic, have literally collapsed
, especially the religious ones.
And if the provisional Istat data for the first nine months of 2021 show that marriages have doubled compared to the same period of 2020, this recovery is not sufficient to recover the numbers lost in 2020.
In fact, comparing the first nine months of 2021 with the same pre-pandemic period, the change remains negative (-4.5%)
and in line with the decrease already experienced in more recent years.
In fact, the pandemic has led many, especially young people, to postpone weddings, which have almost halved in just one year: in fact, 96,841 weddings were celebrated in 2020, 87,000 fewer than in 2019, equal to -47.4%.
Civil unions, separations and divorces are also in sharp decline due to Covid: the former, between partners of the same sex, have fallen by 33%, separations by 18% and divorces by 21.9%.
Della Vedova, Più Europa: reactionary proposal that "fits in the vein of bonuses for anything"
The criticisms of the bill presented by the League to the Chamber for the church wedding bonus were immediately strong: for Benedetto della Vedova, a member of Più Europa, the pdl "fits into the trend of bonuses for anything and, in itself, it is not so original. To qualify it in the reactionary wake of the sovereign right is the fact that the benefit should be reserved for Italian men and women for at least ten years and who have chosen religious marriage, obviously strictly heterosexual: a pearl of constitutional illiteracy".
While the senator of the Democratic Party
Enrico Borghi
reminds everyone that "Those who believe in uncertain values do not need to bear witness to them from the corroborating tip:
stuff from merchants of the Temple"
.
Criticisms also from
Mara Carfagna: "We are still at the Pope King
".
Wolves, We Moderates: "Weird proposal, it doesn't belong to us"
Criticisms also from the government partners of "We Moderates", with Maurizio Lupi defining the proposal as "strange".
"The 'marriage bonus', moreover only for those who get married in the Church, is certainly not the support that families expect and that we want to give. This proposal does not belong to us, neither politically nor culturally, as, we are sure, it is not a priority of the government. However, we invite the opposition not to build a house of cards and ridiculous controversies on the proposal of a single parliamentarian".