Teodem (translatable as ''Theo-Democrats'') is a

Christian-democratic 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 ...

faction with 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 Ita ...

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, which combines social-conservative views on ethical issues with a

Christian left The Christian left is a range of left-wing Christian political and social movements that largely embrace social justice principles and uphold a social doctrine or social gospel. Given the inherent diversity in international political thoug ...

ist approach on economic issues. In the run-up of the 2006 general election

Francesco Rutelli Francesco Rutelli (born 14 June 1954) is an Italian journalist and former politician, who is the president of '' Anica'', National Association of Film and Audiovisual Industry, since October 2016. He also chairs the "Centro per un Futuro Sosteni ...

, leader of

Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy ( it, Democrazia è Libertà – La Margherita, DL), commonly known simply as The Daisy (''La Margherita''), was a centrist political party in Italy. The party was formed from the merger of three parties within ...

, recruited some devout Catholics, notably

Paola Binetti Paola Binetti (born 29 March 1943) is an Italian politician, psychiatrist and academic. Biography Binetti was born in Rome. She graduated in Medicine and Surgery in 1967 at the Università del Sacro Cuore in Rome, subsequently specialising in p ...

(president of the committee against the referendum on limiting the restrictions to artificial insemination) and Luigi Bobba (leader of the "Christian Associations of Italian Workers", a leading Catholic association), to run in party lists for the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, in order to balance the choice of a joint-list with the left-wing

Democrats of the Left The Democrats of the Left ( it, Democratici di Sinistra, DS) was a social-democratic political party in Italy. The DS, successor of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) and the Italian Communist Party, was formed in 1998 upon the merger of th ...

for the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

. In the 2006–2008 parliamentary term three senators (Luigi Bobba, Patrizia Binetti and Emanuela Baio Dossi) and three deputies ( Dorina Bianchi, Enzo Carra and

Marco Calgaro Marco may refer to: People * Marco (given name), people with the given name Marco * Marco (actor) (born 1977), South Korean model and actor * Georg Marco (1863–1923), Romanian chess player of German origin * Tomás Marco (born 1942), Spanish c ...

) were affiliated to the Theo-Dems. Due to the razor-thin majority 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 ...

in the Senate, they sometimes held the balance. After some initial criticism, they decided to follow Rutelli into the

, born with the merger of Democracy is Freedom with the Democrats of the Left. During the parliamentary term Theo-Dems were joined by other Catholic MPs close to Rutelli, including two former leading members of the Association of Italian Catholic Guides and Scouts, Cristina De Luca and Luigi Lusi. In the current parliamentary term, started with the 2008 general election, the group was originally composed of five deputies (Paola Binetti, Luigi Bobba, Enzo Carra, Marco Calgaro and

Donato Mosella Donato may refer to: People *Donato (surname) As a given name * Donato Bilancia (1951–2020), Italian serial killer * Donato Bramante (1444–1514), Italian architect * Donato da Cascia (fl. c. 1350 – 1370), Italian composer of trecento ma ...

) e six senators (

Benedetto Adragna Benedetto is a common Italian name, the equivalent of the English name Benedict. Notable people named Benedetto include: People with the given name * Benedetto Accolti (disambiguation), several people * Benedetto Aloi (1935–2011), American mob ...

, Emanuela Baio Dossi,

Egidio Banti Egidio is an Italian masculine given name. People with the name include: Given name * Egidio (saint) (circa 650–710), Christian hermit saint * Egidio Colonna, Giles of Rome (circa 1243–1316), European intellectual, archbishop * Egidio da Viterb ...

, Dorina Bianchi, Luigi Lusi e

Antonino Papania Antonino may refer to: * Antonino (name), a given name and a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Antonino, Kansas, an unincorporated community in Ellis County, Kansas, United States See also * Antoniano (disambiguation) * Anto� ...

), all close to Rutelli so that they are considered to be part of the so-called ''

rutelliani ''Rutelliani'' referred to the followers of Francesco Rutelli, a former leading member of the Democratic Party, and later leader of Alliance for Italy. The followers of Rutelli were mainly centrists who wanted the party to be modelled on the Democra ...

''. In October 2008 some Theo-Dems, along with other Catholic MPs close to Rutelli, notably including

Renzo Lusetti Renzo, the diminutive of Lorenzo, is an Italian masculine given name and a surname. Given name Notable people named Renzo include the following: *Renzo Alverà (1933–2005), Italian bobsledder * Renzo Arbore (born 1937), Italian TV host, sho ...

, launched a new association named

Persons and Networks A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of propert ...

(PeR). It is not yet clear if it will replace the current association or not. In the 2009 Democratic Party leadership election the group supported

Dario Franceschini Dario Franceschini (; born 19 October 1958) is an Italian lawyer, writer, and politician, member of the Democratic Party (PD), of which he briefly became leader in 2009. Franceschini served as Minister of Cultural Heritage and Activities and To ...

, through the adhesion to Rutelli's Free Democrats. In October, however, Binetti, offended by some remarks by Franceschini over her positions on

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...

, she hinted that she was going to vote for

Pier Luigi Bersani Pier Luigi Bersani (; born 29 September 1951) is an Italian politician and was Secretary of the Democratic Party (PD), Italy's leading centre-left party, from 2009 to 2013. Bersani was Minister of Industry, Commerce and Craftmanship from 1996 t ...

. In November 2009 some Theo-Dems (including Marco Calgaro) left the PD in order to join Rutelli's new party,

Alliance for Italy Alliance for Italy ( it, Alleanza per l'Italia; ApI) was a centrist political party in Italy. The party, which was described in its manifesto as "democratic, liberal, popular" as opposed both to " right-wing populism" and the " social-democratic ...

, while in January–February 2010 Enzo Carra, Renzo Lusetti and finally Paola Binetti joined the Union of the Centre instead, citing the PD's endorsement to

Emma Bonino Emma Bonino (born 9 March 1948) is an Italian politician. A senator for Rome, she served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2014. Previously, she was a Member of the European Parliament and a member of the Chamber of Deputies. She serve ...

, a secularist

Radical Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...

, as centre-left candidate in the Lazio regional election. After these splits, the Theo-Dems, led by Luigi Bobba, are thus a tiny minority within the PD, composed of one deputy and five senators. Without Binetti and Carra the future of the faction is anyway unclear.

References

External links

Official websiteManifesto "For the Democratic Party"Persons and Networks Association
{{Democratic Party factions Democratic Party (Italy) factions