ROME — The head of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI), Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, has urged Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to prioritize welcoming migrants and “ecological transition” in her governing program.
Meloni, Italy’s first female prime minister, was elected this month by a significant margin, having run on a platform of economic reform, regulation of immigration, national sovereignty, and parental involvement in the curriculum of their children’s schools.
In his congratulatory letter, Cardinal Zuppi called Meloni’s elevation “historical,” while also laying out the bishops’ vision for her government.
Among the key “challenges” to be addressed, Zuppi mentioned “poverty, the demographic winter, protection of the elderly, imbalances between territories, the ecological transition and the energy crisis, work, especially for young people, and hospitality and integration of migrants.”
Italian outgoing Premier Mario Draghi welcomes new Premier Giorgia Meloni, as she arrives for the Bell Ceremony at Palazzo Chigi in Rome. (Stefano Costantino/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Zuppi also highlighted the need for a “streamlining of bureaucratic procedures” as well as “reform of the democratic organization of the state and of the electoral law.”
The cardinal exhorted Meloni to work “in full harmony with Europe” in addressing the war in Ukraine, “in the unavoidable and urgent search for a right way that can finally lead to peace.”
In closing, Zuppi assured the new prime minister that the Catholic Church in Italy would engage in “constructive dialogue” with her administration, “inspired solely by the desire to contribute to the pursuit of the common good of the country and the protection of the inviolable rights of the person and the community.”
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