Only eight major nations in the world, all
Catholic, do not allow divorce. They are Italy, Spain, Ireland, Brazil,
Chile, Argentina, Colombia and Paraguay. Of the eight, the one closest
to ending its prohibition is the home of the church it self. Italy's
Chamber of Deputies last week began full debate on a bill that would
allow civil divorce for one of seven reasons. Parliamentary observers
predict that the bill will pass, probably before the end of the year. Divorces have been difficult to obtain in Italy since ancient times. Ac
cording to legend, Romulus authorized them for Roman men for only three
wifely misdeeds: adultery, child poisoning, or changing the lock on
the bed room door. The Emperor Justinian was seemingly easier. He
allowed divorce by mutual consent, but there was a catch-22. The
divorcees were expected to take a lifelong vow of chastity. Caesar
dallied with Cleopatra on the Nile but could never marry her, presuming
he had wanted to, because there was Calpurnia back at home, and she
was above suspicion and therefore un-divorceable. In the past century, ten divorce bills have been introduced in
Parliament, but none ever got out of committee. Under the 1929
Concordat between Mussolini and the Vatican, the law was even
tightened. Up to that time, foreign divorces had been recognized,
giving wealthier Italians an escape hatch. The Concordat abolished this
exception, and slammed shut the hatch. Extramarital Relationships. Blocked at home and abroad for 40 years,
Italians have had no release from unhappy marriages except separation
or complicated, costly and time-consuming annulment by the Vatican.
Even so, an estimated 2,500,000 people are presently separated from
their spouses; of these, one-third have made more or less permanent
extralegal arrangements. Writer Gabriella Parca, author of a
much-discussed book on the predicament , estimates that “no
fewer than 5,000,000 people [one-tenth of Italy's population] are
involved in the drama of indissolubility and suffer its consequences.”
The total includes those separated, mistresses and illegitimate
children. The most famous unmarrieds in recent years, of course, were Carlo Ponti
and Sophia Loren; Ponti eventually became a French citizen in order to
marry her. Film Director Michelangelo Antonioni and Actress Monica
Vitti lived in separate apartments with a connecting interior
staircase, until Antonioni won an annulment and the two were married.
In less sophisticated circles, extramarital relationships are also
common and accepted. “You want to know which of your friends are living
together,” says a Milan doctor, “not for gossip or to spread scandal,
but to know how to address invitations to your parties.”
