Italian politician says he'll lobby Europeans for Christian values

Published: 2005-01-14

ROME (CNS) -- Rocco Buttiglione, the Italian politician whose religious convictions were the subject of a European Union debate, is ready to face the European Parliament again -- this time as a Christian lobbyist. At a Jan. 11 forum titled "Proposing a New Voice for Christians in Politics," organized by Inside the Vatican magazine and the Michigan-based Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, Buttiglione said Christian values must be a part of European policy-making. "We need a voice of Christians in politics," Buttiglione told a group of journalists and clergy gathered in a bookstore just outside the walls of Vatican City. "This is an age in which fundamental values will be fought. This is the only Europe we have, and we must work, struggle and fight," he said. He added that he feared Europeans increasingly are rejecting religion. Buttiglione made it clear that supporting families is at the top of his agenda. By lobbying to lower taxes and support working mothers, he said, he wants to make childbearing an easier and more affordable experience, thus increasing Europe's dwindling birth rate. He said Italy has one of the world's lowest birthrates: nine births per 1,000 Italians per year.

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