A bill to grant legal recognition to same-sex couples and unmarried heterosexual couples has passed through the Italian Senate after months of public debate, following a recent suspension of the legislative process to allow politicians to reflect on the proposed law.
The legislation passed after its sponsors removed a controversial clause that would allow for a non-biological parent in a homosexual union to adopt the biological children of his or her partner.
Although Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has hailed the vote as a victory, Senator Monica Cirinna, the legislation’s main sponsor, said it was a hollow one, given the removal of the adoption clause.
To become law, the bill will also need approval from the lower house of the Italian parliament, where a final vote is expected within two months.
When asked to comment on the bill on his recent return flight from Mexico, Pope Francis affirmed the Church’s teaching that marriage is only between one man and one woman, but maintained that “the Pope doesn’t get mixed up in Italian politics”.