Rocco Buttiglione (; born 6 June 1948) is an Italian
Union of Christian and Centre Democrats
The Union of the Centre ( it, Unione di Centro, UdC), whose complete name is "Union of Christian and Centre Democrats" (''Unione dei Democratici Cristiani e Democratici di Centro'', UDC), is a Christian-democratic political party in Italy. Lore ...
politician and an academic.
Buttiglione's nomination for a post as
European Commissioner
A European Commissioner is a member of the 27-member European Commission. Each member within the Commission holds a specific portfolio. The commission is led by the President of the European Commission. In simple terms they are the equivalent o ...
with a portfolio that was to include
civil liberties
Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...
, resulted in controversy as some political groups opposed him for his conservative
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
views on
homosexuality, despite his assurances that these were only his personal convictions and would not dictate his administration.
Buttiglione is a Professor of
political science at
Saint Pius V University in Rome, and member of the
Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences
The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences ( la, Pontificia Academia Scientiarum Socialium, or PASS) is a pontifical academy established on 1 January 1994 by Pope John Paul II and is headquartered in the Casina Pio IV in Vatican City. It operate ...
. He served as a minister for
EU policies (from 2001 to 2005) and then as
Minister for Cultural Assets and Activities
The Ministry of Culture ( it, Ministero della Cultura - MiC) is the ministry of the Government of Italy in charge of national museums and the '' monuments historiques''. MiC's headquarters are located in the historic Collegio Romano Palace (vi ...
(from 2005 to 2006) in
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies f ...
's governments. In 2005 Buttiglione received an honorary doctoral degree from
Guatemalan
Francisco Marroquín University
Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''.
Nicknames
In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father of ...
for his commitment to the ideas of liberty.
In May 2006, he unsuccessfully ran for mayor of
Turin.
Early career
Rocco Buttiglione was born in
Gallipoli
The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles s ...
,
Apulia, on the "heel" of Italy.
He studied law in
Turin and
Rome and became a Professor of
political science at
Saint Pius V University in Rome. He was also a professor of
philosophy and acting rector at the International Academy for Philosophy in
Liechtenstein.
Rocco Buttiglione first attained attention on the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional It ...
political stage when in 1994 he became secretary of the
Italian People's Party, the largest of the parties that emerged from the collapse of
Christian Democracy
Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism.
It was conceived as a combination of modern Democracy, d ...
, formerly the largest party in Italy since the
Second World War, after the
Tangentopoli
''Mani pulite'' (; Italian for "clean hands") was a nationwide judicial investigation into political corruption in Italy held in the early 1990s, resulting in the demise of the so-called " First Republic" and the disappearance of many Italian ...
corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
scandals. The People's Party had presented itself along with ''
Patto Segni
The Segni Pact ( it, Patto Segni), officially called Pact of National Rebirth (''Patto di Rinascita Nazionale''), was a Christian-democratic, centrist and liberal political party in Italy. The party was founded and named after Mario Segni, a forme ...
'' in the centrist alliance
Pact for Italy
The Pact for Italy ( it, Patto per l'Italia) was a centrist political and electoral alliance in Italy launched by Mario Segni and Mino Martinazzoli in 1994.
History
The alliance was composed of the Italian People's Party (PPI), the main succe ...
, in which it came third after
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies f ...
's centre-right
Pole of Freedoms
The Pole of Freedoms ( it, Polo delle Libertà) was a centre-right political and electoral alliance in Italy, launched at the 1994 general election by Silvio Berlusconi. Its counterpart in central and southern Italy was the Pole of Good Gover ...
/
Pole of Good Government
The Pole of Good Government ( it, Polo del Buon Governo) was a centre-right electoral, and later political alliance in Italy, launched at the 1994 general election by Silvio Berlusconi. Its counterpart in Northern Italy was the Pole of Free ...
and the centre-left
Alliance of Progressives
The Alliance of Progressives ( it, Alleanza dei Progressisti) was a left-wing political alliance of parties in Italy formed in 1994, with relevant predecessors at local level in 1993. The leader of the alliance was Achille Occhetto. The alliance ...
.
Buttiglione eventually joined forces with Berlusconi and the
Northern League Northern League may refer to:
Sport
Baseball
* Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), a name used by several minor leagues that operated in the upper midwestern U.S. and Manitoba from 1902 to 1971
* Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010), an indep ...
, led by
Umberto Bossi, to win the 2001 election. Buttiglione was elected a
Parliamentary Deputy for
Milan in May 2001, and joined Berlusconi's new government as the
European Union Policy Minister. From 2005-06 Buttiglione was
Minister for Cultural Assets and Activities
The Ministry of Culture ( it, Ministero della Cultura - MiC) is the ministry of the Government of Italy in charge of national museums and the '' monuments historiques''. MiC's headquarters are located in the historic Collegio Romano Palace (vi ...
.
Nominee for the European Commission
Background to the nomination
Following an increase of popular support for his
socially conservative
Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institution ...
Catholic political party, the
Union of Christian and Centre Democrats
The Union of the Centre ( it, Unione di Centro, UdC), whose complete name is "Union of Christian and Centre Democrats" (''Unione dei Democratici Cristiani e Democratici di Centro'', UDC), is a Christian-democratic political party in Italy. Lore ...
(UDC), at a time of political difficulty for
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies f ...
's government, the UDC leader,
Marco Follini, asked for more influence in the government. At this point the UDC was lobbying against the powerful
Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti
Giulio Tremonti () (born 18 August 1947) is an Italian politician. He served in the government of Italy as Minister of Economy and Finance under Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi from 1994 to 1995, from 2001 to 2004, from 2005 to 2006, and from 20 ...
, supported by
Umberto Bossi's
Northern League Northern League may refer to:
Sport
Baseball
* Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), a name used by several minor leagues that operated in the upper midwestern U.S. and Manitoba from 1902 to 1971
* Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010), an indep ...
; Subsequently, Tremonti was ousted from office and replaced with the politically more neutral
Domenico Siniscalco
Domenico Siniscalco alias Domenico Giovanni Siniscalco(born 15 July 1954) is an Italian economist and former Minister of Finance.
Sinicalco graduated with law degree from the University of Turin.
He served Italian government from June 2001 to Ju ...
.
The new balance of power inside the ruling coalition effectively entitled the UDC to ask for even more and it was therefore decided that Rocco Buttiglione, already a minister in the government, would become Italy's member of the
European Commission. As a result, his place in the Italian government was granted to another member of the UDC.
Rocco Buttiglione's apparent qualifications included speaking foreign languages, including
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
,
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
,
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
,
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
,
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
and
Polish.
In 2004,
José Manuel Barroso included him on his list of nominees for the
European Commission, with a designated portfolio of
Justice
Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...
,
Freedom
Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...
and
Security
Security is protection from, or resilience against, potential harm (or other unwanted coercive change) caused by others, by restraining the freedom of others to act. Beneficiaries (technically referents) of security may be of persons and social ...
.
Controversy
The nomination resulted in controversy. During his hearing before the
European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice And Home Affairs, Buttiglione - a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
- was asked about his stance on
homosexuality and women. Buttiglione responded that while he considered homosexuality a sin, his personal opinion would not prevent him from moving against discrimination of homosexuals. He also stated his belief that the family "exists in order to allow women to have children and to have the protection of a male who takes care of them".
The
PES,
ALDE and
Green/EFA groups expressed reservations regarding Buttiglione's ability to take positive political action in the area of civil rights, particularly in regards combating
discrimination
Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of Racial discrimination, r ...
, and threatened to reject the entire proposed Commission. On 11 October the committee voted by 27-26 not to endorse the nomination. After it became clear that a vote on 27 October in the European Parliament, to approve the Commission, would not succeed,
José Manuel Barroso withdrew his proposed Commission.
Italian conservative and Catholic politicians and church leaders rallied to defend Buttiglione's views. "This decision shows the real face of
Europe, a face which we don't like. It's
fundamentalist, which is absolutely not on", said Justice Minister
Roberto Castelli
Roberto Castelli (born 12 July 1946) is an Italian politician. He was the Minister of Justice in the second and third governments of Silvio Berlusconi. He has been one of the main representatives of the Northern League.
Early life and educatio ...
.
On 21 October José Manuel Barroso attempted to defuse the row by indicating that
civil liberties
Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...
,
human rights and discrimination issues would be handled by a special panel that would include Buttiglione but that Barroso himself would chair it. "The new Commission will be absolutely opposed to any kind of
discrimination
Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of Racial discrimination, r ...
based on sexual orientation, gender, or religious beliefs", he stated.
On 30 October Prime Minister
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies f ...
's government withdrew Buttiglione's nomination, keeping him in his office of minister in the Italian government. "The new soft totalitarianism that is advancing on the left wants to have a state religion. It is an atheist, nihilistic religion - but it is a religion that is obligatory for all", Buttiglione subsequently commented.
Foreign minister
Franco Frattini was later indicated as a possible alternative, with the implicit promise that his ministry would then go to
Gianfranco Fini, whose party had recently increased its influence in the government coalition. However, there were still rumors that
Giulio Tremonti
Giulio Tremonti () (born 18 August 1947) is an Italian politician. He served in the government of Italy as Minister of Economy and Finance under Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi from 1994 to 1995, from 2001 to 2004, from 2005 to 2006, and from 20 ...
, supported by the Northern League, might be picked for the job, but eventually Frattini was nominated and appointed.
In response to the veto of Buttiglione's candidature, a collection of Christian personalities in 2008 (with Buttiglione himself as Founding Patron) formed the
Dignitatis Humanae Institute to oversee the creation of a network of parliamentary working groups on human dignity across a diverse number of legislatures, with the aim of protecting the integrity of Christians serving in public life.
Turin mayoral election
Rocco Buttiglione ran as the candidate for his coalition, the
House of Freedoms
The House of Freedoms ( it, Casa delle Libertà, CdL) was a major centre-right political and electoral alliance in Italy, led by Silvio Berlusconi.
History
The CdL was the successor of the Pole of Freedoms/Pole of Good Government and the Pole ...
, for the office of Mayor in Turin. His opponent was the incumbent
Sergio Chiamparino
Sergio Chiamparino (born 1 September 1948) is an Italian politician.
He was President of Piedmont from 2014 to 2019, and was the mayor of Turin, Italy from 2001 to 2011.
A graduate in political sciences at the University of Turin, where he wo ...
, member of
The Union. Turin had been a left-wing stronghold in the previous
general elections
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
and the city hosted successfully the
2006 Winter Olympics
The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...
, making Buttiglione's challenge very difficult. Adding to that, some wondered why such a hard-line
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization ...
, who had never lived in Turin before, was proposed for the office, calling Buttiglione's move as a political suicide. After a poor campaign results were disastrous; Sergio Chiamparino, who had been elected in the previous elections with 52.8% of the votes, scored 66.6% of the votes against Buttiglione, and became the first Turin mayor to be elected at the first turn.
Financial investigations
It has also emerged that Buttiglione was investigated by the authorities in
Monaco in 2002 over possible illegal
money laundering in favour of his political party. At the end no evidence was found that a crime had been committed.
Giampiero Catone, a senior aide of Buttiglione, has been charged with "
fraudulent
bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debto ...
" in Italy; and faces inquiries into the disappearance of millions of
Euros of Italian and EU funds.
The Daily Telegraph
/ref>
Views on abortion
In an interview with ''Corriere della Sera
The ''Corriere della Sera'' (; en, "Evening Courier") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Milan with an average daily circulation of 410,242 copies in December 2015.
First published on 5 March 1876, ''Corriere della Sera'' is one of I ...
'', Italy's leading daily newspaper, Rocco Buttiglione was quoted as saying that he is opposed to efforts to create binding legal protections for the unborn in Italy. He later told the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute that he had been misquoted and clarified that he meant it was unlikely that Italy would ban abortion given its political situation. He also stated that anti-abortion
Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...
advocates should focus on reducing the demand for abortions by providing alternatives to mothers.
Publications
*''Dialettica e nostalgia'' (1978)
*''La crisi dell’economia marxista: Gli inizi della scuola di Francoforte'' (1979)
*''Il pensiero di Karol Wojtyla'' (1982)
*''Ethik der Leistung'' (1988; co-edited with Hans Thomas)
*''La crisi della morale'' (1991)
*''Die Verantwortung des Menschen in einem globalen Weltzeitalter'' (1996; co-edited with Rocco Buttiglione, Radim Palouš, Josef Seifert)
*''Wie erkennt man Naturrecht?'' (1998; co-edited with Josef Seifert)
*''Karol Wojtyla: The Thought of the Man Who Became Pope John Paul II'' (1997)
*''The moral mandate for freedom: Reflections on Centesimus Annus'' (1997)
References
External links
Honorary Doctoral Degrees
Universidad Francisco Marroquín
Profile: Rocco Buttiglione
(BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
)
Rocco Buttiglione Responds - The Moral Maze Pt II
Honors to Rocco Buttiglione at Francisco Marroquín University, New Media
Member of the Advisory Council: the Dietrich von Hildebrand Legacy Project
Pensare cristiano
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buttiglione, Rocco
1948 births
Living people
People from Gallipoli, Apulia
Italian Roman Catholics
Christian Democracy (Italy) politicians
Italian People's Party (1994) politicians
United Christian Democrats politicians
Democratic Union for the Republic politicians
Union of the Centre (2002) politicians
Culture ministers of Italy
Deputies of Legislature XII of Italy
Deputies of Legislature XIII of Italy
Deputies of Legislature XIV of Italy
Senators of Legislature XV of Italy
Deputies of Legislature XVI of Italy
Deputies of Legislature XVII of Italy
Politicians of Apulia
European Union and the Catholic Church
Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts
Members of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences
Recipients of the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis
Communion and Liberation