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 ...

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

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views on

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

, despite his assurances that these were only his personal convictions and would not dictate his administration. Buttiglione is a Professor of

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

at Saint Pius V University in Rome, and member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. He served as a minister for EU policies (from 2001 to 2005) and then as Minister for Cultural Assets and Activities (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 ...

's governments. In 2005 Buttiglione received an honorary doctoral degree from

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

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 Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

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 ...

Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

, on the "heel" of Italy. He studied law in

and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and became a Professor of

at Saint Pius V University in Rome. He was also a professor of

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and acting rector at the International Academy for Philosophy in

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. Rocco Buttiglione first attained attention on the Italian 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 democratic ...

, formerly the largest party in Italy since the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, after the Tangentopoli

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, in which it came third after

'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 Governmen ...

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and the centre-left Alliance of Progressives. 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 Umberto Bossi (born 19 September 1941) is an Italian politician and former leader of Lega Nord (Northern League), a party seeking autonomy or independence for Northern Italy or Padania. He is married to the Sicilian Manuela Marrone, and has fou ...

, to win the 2001 election. Buttiglione was elected a Parliamentary Deputy for

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

in May 2001, and joined Berlusconi's new government as the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

Policy Minister. From 2005-06 Buttiglione was Minister for Cultural Assets and Activities.

Nominee for the European Commission

Background to the nomination

Following an increase of popular support for his socially conservative Catholic political party, the

(UDC), at a time of political difficulty for

's government, the UDC leader,

Marco Follini Marco Follini (real name Giuseppe Follini, born 26 September 1954) is an Italian politician and journalist. Follini was born in Rome. He was National Secretary of the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats until 15 October 2005. He was also Vi ...

, 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

; Subsequently, Tremonti was ousted from office and replaced with the politically more neutral Domenico Siniscalco. 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 The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

. 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 ide ...

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 **Ger ...

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, Spanish and

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

. In 2004,

José Manuel Barroso José Manuel Durão Barroso (; born 23 March 1956) is a Portuguese politician and university teacher, currently serving as non-executive chairman of Goldman Sachs International. He previously served as the 11th president of the European Commi ...

included him on his list of nominees for the

, 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

- was asked about his stance on

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 Pes (Latin for "foot") or the acronym PES may refer to: Pes * Pes (unit), a Roman unit of length measurement roughly corresponding with a foot * Pes or podatus, a * Pes (rural locality), several rural localities in Russia * Pes (river), a river ...

, 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 race, gender, age, relig ...

, 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,

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 Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, a face which we don't like. It's fundamentalist, which is absolutely not on", said Justice Minister Roberto Castelli. On 21 October José Manuel Barroso attempted to defuse the row by indicating that

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

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

based on sexual orientation, gender, or religious beliefs", he stated. On 30 October Prime Minister

'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 Franco Frattini (14 March 1957 – 24 December 2022) was an Italian politician and magistrate. From January to December 2022, Frattini served as president of the Council of State. Frattini previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from ...

was later indicated as a possible alternative, with the implicit promise that his ministry would then go to

Gianfranco Fini Gianfranco Fini (born 3 January 1952) is an Italian politician who served as the president of the Italian Chamber of Deputies from 2008 to 2013. He is the former leader of the far-right Italian Social Movement, the conservative National Allianc ...

, whose party had recently increased its influence in the government coalition. However, there were still rumors that

, 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 The Dignitatis Humanae Institute (DHI; also known as the Institute for Human Dignity ( it, L'Istituto Dignitatis Humanae)) is a Catholic Church, Catholic-inspired institute based in Collepardo, Italy. Its stated mission is to "protect and promote h ...

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 fo ...

, 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 wor ...

, member of

The Union The Union may refer to: Politics * The Union (Germany) or CDU/CSU, the partnership of the German political parties the Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union * The Union (Italy), a former coalition of political parties in Ital ...

. Turin had been a left-wing stronghold in the previous general 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, 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 Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

in 2002 over possible illegal

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...

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 "

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...

ulent

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 debtor ...

" in Italy; and faces inquiries into the disappearance of millions of

Euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

s 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 It ...

'', 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 The Center for Family and Human Rights (C-Fam) is a right-wing United States-based advocacy group, founded in 1997, in order to affect policy debate at the United Nations and other international institutions. It was formerly known as the Cathol ...

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 Radim Palouš (6 November 1924 – 10 September 2015) was a Czech dissident, philosopher, educator, and former spokesman for Charter 77, and from 1990 to 1994, was the rector of Charles University in Prague. Life Palouš was born into a family o ...

, 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 Francisco Marroquín University (Spanish: ''Universidad Francisco Marroquín''), also known by the abbreviation UFM, is a private, secular university in Guatemala City, Guatemala. It describes its mission as "to teach and disseminate the ethical, ...

Profile: Rocco Buttiglione
(

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT 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 ex ...

)
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