Pope Benedict and Italian PM Mario Monti

Tuesday, September 4th, 2012

On Monday, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti met Benedict XVI at the pope’s retreat in Castel Gandolfo, signifying the end of the summer doldrums. A brief Vatican statement said the exchange focused on the “European situation,” understood to mean the Eurozone’s massive debt crisis, high unemployment and generally dismal economic outlook.

It was the fifth such encounter since Monti was tapped to lead a technocratic government in November 2011, underscoring the positive vibe between “Super Mario” and the pope.

The parallels are certainly striking. Both Benedict and Monti are low-key figures who followed celebrities, John Paul II and Silvio Berlusconi. Benedict actually is German, while Monti is routinely described as more German than Italian, especially his passion for fiscal discipline. Both are struggling with crises that festered under previous administrations: the sex abuse scandals for Benedict and Italy’s $2.5 trillion public debt for Monti.

Here’s why all this rates a mention: At a time when church/state relations in many places seem to be deteriorating, including talk of a “war on religion” in America, the simpatico between Monti and Benedict could lead to détente on one of the most perennially contentious political matters of all: money.

Earlier this year, Monti’s government announced a host of austerity measures, including revisions to property taxes. Heretofore religious institutions have been exempt, even those that turn a profit, such as hostels and health clinics, on the grounds that they serve a public purpose.

In effect, the government has proposed to reclassify some of those facilities as commercial and insist they pay up.

The church operates roughly 50,000 parishes and oratories in Italy: 11,000 properties used for educational and cultural activities, 14,000 schools, and just under 5,000 hospitals, hospices and health clinics. All will be evaluated, and those deemed primarily commercial could theoretically be asked to pay back taxes dating to 2005. (The change applies to all nonprofits, but numerically, those operated by the church are the most significant.) Read more

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