Still Running Off at the Keyboard

One of the Catholic Church's most controversial figures inflamed public debate in Italy with a typically off-handed comment -- and inadvertently exposed the Vatican's problems in crafting a coherent, comprehensive response to Islamic imperialism.

Cardinal Renato Martino -- the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and the Vatican's former ambassador to the United Nations -- said that the Italian government should allow the Koran to be taught during the hour mandated for Catholic religious instruction.

"If there are 100 Muslim children in a school, I don't see why they shouldn't be taught their religion," Martino said in a press conference March 9. "If we said 'no' until we saw equivalent treatment for the Christian minorities in Muslim countries, I would say that we were placing ourselves on their level."

Martino's comments came as campaigning in Italy's April 9 general election entered its final push. Two significant issues are the effect of massive Muslim immigration on Italian society and the ensuing place for government-sponsored Catholic religious education, mandated by the 1929 concordat between the Vatican and Italy that was renewed in 1984.

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