Even if “he does not explicitly cite it”, Christianity is the “source” to which the President of the Italian Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi referred, in his first message addressed to both Chambers of the Italian Parliament on pluralism and impartiality of information. So say the 140 Catholic weeklies and their press agency, promoted by the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI), in a statement released on 23 July simultaneously with the message of Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. The “real novelty” of the message of the Head of State – write Paolo Bustaffa, director of SIR, and Vincenzo Rini, president of FISC (Federation of Italian Catholic Weeklies) consists in the request for “a law to regulate the information sector in a systematic manner”. This is “not a vague request”: it “explicitly” spells out the requisites of the law, including: the “protection of juveniles; the role of the Regions and of the State; the implementation of EU directives; and the guarantee of pluralism and impartiality”. In the final part of his message, emphasize Bustaffa and Rini, Ciampi “returns to culture as the ‘key to our identity and specifies some of its roots in Italy: formation of the language, ideals and values of the Risorgimento, Resistance, and Constitution. Ciampi does not expressly cite it, but the history of our country and the intellectual honesty of man lead to Christianity”.
