Vatican Will End Automatic Adoption of Italian Law

ANSA and the Times Online of London report that starting today, the Vatican will end the practice adopted under a Vatican statute signed in 1929 of automatically incorporating laws passed by Italy's Parliament into the Vatican's legal code (except in cases of radical incompatibility with canon law). A new Vatican statute signed in October by Pope Benedict XVI comes into effect today. It requires each Italian law to be carefully examined before being incorporated into the Code of Vatican Law. New international treaties will also be carefully examined. The change stems largely from concerns about liberal Italian laws on divorce and abortion, and trends in Europe that could find their way to Italy on same-sex civil unions and euthanasia, although the Vatican is also concerned about the sheer number of laws passed by Italy's Parliament.