To the journalists’ questions about the possibility that the Family Day "might change the relationship between the Italian Bishops Conference and politics", through a "method" that "delegates" some political measures "to an organisation that coordinates the lay associations", Betori answered that "the subject of the relationship between the Italian Bishops Conference and the organised laity was not on the agenda" of the assembly. "If anything, what happened with the Family Day has a significant precedent in what happened on the occasion of the referendum on IVF, when the Italian Bishops Conference had recalled some basic values, as it did afterwards in its Note on the Family and Unmarried Couples". "The Italian Bishops Conference explained mgr. Betori dialogues with these associations, recognises them as extremely significant points of reference and confrontation with the laity. However, this does not mean that the priests will not listen to the rest of the congregation". According to Betori, this is proven by the fact "their opinion is freely available on the media". On their part, the Bishops "claim their right-duty to express a historical opinion on the problems of today’s reality, on the other side the right of the organised laity to voice their opinion in a significant form, not least about the effects that some bills of law can have on people’s life".
