ROME -- Rarely do people rush to the defense of divorce lawyers, but Italians did on Tuesday, the day after Pope John Paul II called on Roman Catholic lawyers and judges to abstain from handling divorce cases.
Newspapers and commentators across Italy criticized the 81-year-old pontiff for telling an audience of attorneys that they "must avoid personal involvement in what could be seen as cooperation with divorce." An editorial in Corriere della Sera, Italy's most respected newspaper, characterized the pope's views as fundamentalist.
"There are many reasons to respect this pope," the Milan daily said, "but his appeal for conscientious objection against divorce by lawyers and judges is the same as the one made to the Taliban to resist in Afghanistan, and by the anti-globalization movement against the internationalization of trade and the economy."
87.5% differ with pope
A poll Tuesday by Datamedia, an Italian research group, indicated that 87.5 percent of those interviewed disagreed with the pope--this in a country that is 98 percent Catholic.
"I think the pope should mind his own business," said Mirella Pellegrini, 57, a twice-divorced Roman who still considers herself a Catholic. "Divorce is legal in Italy. This question has already been decided by parliament. And regarding my own sins, I will discuss this with God when my time comes."
Even at Sergio Biancetti's matrimonial agency, a sort of matchmaking service, in Rome, there was little support for the pope's position.
"People don't like this interference from the pope," Biancetti said. "People divorce because it's not possible to stay with a man or women they don't love anymore. They believe they have a right to decide their own life and future."
Liliana Colamarno, 61, who has been separated for 20 years, also took exception.
"If there is a crisis in the family, then people should not be forced to stay together," Colamarno said.
Divorce and abortion have been legal in Italy since the late 1970s. They are seen as major victories for women's rights in a country where women were not allowed to vote until 1946.
In the pope's comments Monday, he said "the value of marriage cannot be regarded as an object of mere personal choice; it is one of the cornerstones of society as a whole." He added that "divorce is a negative influence on young generations, tarnishing for them the beauty of true marriage."
John Paul II has long been a vigorous defender of traditional church doctrines on abortion, contraception, the ordination of women and homosexuality. On the question of divorce, however, his tone sometimes softened when he preached on the spiritual needs of divorced or separated Catholics.
Shock and anger
That is why many Italian Catholics were shocked and angered by his latest remarks.
"The question of divorce has to be a free choice," said Fausto de Bonis, 61, a divorced businessman. "I, as a Catholic, believe that God is forgiving. I don't understand why the church thinks divorced people can't receive communion, but criminals can. This is the mentality of the clergy."
Elida Di Gennaro, 27 and engaged to marry, said the pope's position failed to respect basic human rights. "If a husband is beating his wife, she has every right to divorce him. To stay together just because they were married in a church is absurd," she said.
Conservative politicians in Italy criticize the Catholic Church at their peril, but the pope's attack on divorce appeared to touch a nerve.
"No one can deny John Paul II the right to his own opinion and to speak out on such a crucial issue. At the same time, however, I know that as a Catholic I must oppose divorce, but as a political leader I know that it is the law of the land," said Marco Follini, head of the Christian Democratic Center Party.
Alessandra Mussolini, granddaughter of the Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini and a member of parliament from the far-right National Alliance, said the idea of saving a marriage at all costs was "hypocrisy."
The pope made his comments before an audience of lawyers who belong to the Roman Rota, the Church tribunal that can grant marriage annulments to Catholics, especially those who happen to be rich and famous.