Italy’s Prime Minister tells bishops to back off over constitutional reform

ROME – After the leader of the Italian bishops recently appeared to throw cold water on a key constitutional reform backed by Italy’s conservative government, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni essentially told the bishops to back off, reminding them that “the Vatican state is not a parliamentary republic.”

Meloni made the comments in a May 30 interview on Italian television, in response to May 23 comments from Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Bologna, president of the powerful Italian bishops’ conference CEI and a key ally of Pope Francis.