ROME – In an historic first, the Vatican has invoked its sovereign status under a 1929 treaty with Italy to protest a draft Italian law designed to combat homophobia, objecting that it could restrict the religious freedom guaranteed the church under that accord. The Vatican’s concerns were expressed in a nota verbale, meaning a formal diplomatic communique, presented by British Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s foreign minister, to the Italian Ambassador to Italy, Pietro Sebastiani, in mid-June. It’s not a personal letter by Gallagher, but rather a corporate statement by the Vatican’s Secretariat of State. The contents of the note were first reported by the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, and confirmed for Crux by a Vatican official informed on the matter.
Vatican invokes sovereign status to protest anti-homophobia bill
Vatican invokes sovereign status to protest anti-homophobia bill
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