President Giorgio Napolitano turned to an outside group of advisors, coined by the media as the ’10 wise men,’ to ensure the government’s political efficacy after elections last February left no solid majority of any party. Specifically, the advisors are being asked to formulate precise proposals and issues to find common ground among the fractured parties to form a governing coalition.

Tensions are high after the attempts from the center-left party to find common ground fell apart. Italy is currently in the throes of an unemployment crisis, especially among Italian youth. While the Italian markets have been relatively calm, economic stability demands a functioning government. With Napolitano’s term ending May 15, this puts even more pressure on the President and his advisors, as the three fractured parties argue over apparently irreconcilable differences.

The likely outcomes from Napolitano’s advisors will be a continuance of former Prime Minister Mario Monti’s austerity measures and a call for reform laws to protect the country against the political deadlock it finds itself in.  The moniker given to Napolitano’s ’10 wise men’ shows the predicament and the impasse at issue. Only the most brilliant of strategists could find common ground in this situation in the month and half left on Napolitano’s term. With such dire circumstances in the Italian government, the country should hope the wise men can also walk a tight rope.

For more information:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/31/world/europe/italian-president-may-step-down-amid-deadlock.html?ref=italy&_r=0

http://www.forbes.com/sites/afontevecchia/2013/04/02/italian-president-girogio-napolitano-is-trying-to-avert-a-crisis-of-systemic-proportions/

http://news.yahoo.com/italys-wise-men-seek-end-political-crisis-president-144743141.html

Silvio Berlusconi, former prime minister of Italy, was convicted on Thursday as a result of an illegal wiretap and was sentenced to one year in jail. Berlusconi, who asserts his innocence, appeals the sentence and will remain free for the time being. Currently, Berlusconi is also appealing his conviction in a tax fraud case for which he was sentenced to a year in jail last October. Berlusconi also faces charges for allegedly paying for sex with an underage prostitute.

In this case, Berlusconi was found guilty of a breach of confidentiality for the leak of a wiretapped call in a newspaper in 2005. The call was between a political opponent and a police officer, and it involved a bank takeover. Berlusconi’s brother, the publisher of the newspaper in question, received a sentence of 2 years and 3 months in jail after being convicted of the same offense. The newspaper, il Giornale, printed the transcript of the wiretapped communication. Berlusconi has said he expects convictions in his tax fraud appeal and prostitution case, citing judicial persecution that arises during pivotal times in Italy’s history. The former prime minister’s defense counsel and political friends has levied similar accusations. Angelino Alfano, the leader of the People of Freedom party, claims that the court’s decision is an effort to marginalize Berlusconi through judicial action.

At this time when the attention of the world turns to the world’s smallest country, housed within the city of Rome, for the election of the 266^th pope of the Catholic Church, it is appropriate to discuss the relationship between the Vatican City State and the Italian Republic.  Today the Vatican is recognized as a Permanent Observer State by the United Nations and as a sovereign nation by Italy.

The Vatican was the capital of the Papal States until 1870 when its sovereignty was lost to the Kingdom of Italy under Victor Emmanuel II.  In 1929 the modern Vatican City State came into being when the Kingdom of Italy and the Vatican signed the Lateran Accords which recognized the sovereignty of the Vatican and provided the Vatican with compensation for the land taken in 1870.  The treaties also gave the Vatican extraterritorial authority over 23 sites within Rome, and five sites outside of the city.  Among these is the Basilica of St. John the Lateran and several other churches, as well as the Apostolic Palace at Castel Gandolfo, where Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI will spend the next few months while his permanent residence within the Vatican walls is being prepared.

After the signing of the Lateran Accords, all Italian laws that passed Parliament and were adopted by Italy were automatically adopted by the Vatican.  This changed in 2009 when the Vatican altered its policy so that the Pontifical Commission for the Vatican City State now examines each Italian law individually before adopting it.  According to Jose Maria Serrano Ruiz, the president of the Vatican commission on law revisions, the change in policy was a result of the “really exorbitant number” of Italian laws, their volatility, and their contrast with Church teaching.  Some speculated that this change was instigated by the decision of Italy’s highest court to allow a woman in a coma to have her feeding tube removed.

For more information:

http://www.historyofnations.net/europe/theholysee.html

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/vt.html

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/27/17106028-inside-castel-gandolfo-pope-benedicts-spectacular-temporary-retirement-home?lite

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/secretariat_state/pdf-diplomazia/2004-july1-Resolution%20ONU%20Holy%20See.pdf

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7807501.stm

http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/12/31/us-italy-vatican-idUSTRE4BU3BD20081231