The legislation stops far short of authorizing gay marriage, which was passed last year in predominantly Catholic Ireland and was legalized as well across the United States. Last-minute changes removed references to "faithfulness" in the relationship lest it be construed as equivalent to marriage, which the Catholic Church insists is a lifelong union between a man and woman.
More painful for the LGBT community was Renzi's decision earlier in the week to scrap the provision allowing gays to adopt the biological children of their partners. It was sacrificed to ensure support within Renzi's own Democratic Party, and even then Renzi put the bill up to a confidence vote to ensure passage — a common tactic in Italian politics to ensure that the majority closes ranks.
Avvenire, the newspaper of the Italian bishops' conference, lamented in an editorial Thursday that Renzi had forced senators to choose between their consciences and the government.
"It would have been better to not so heavily condition the freedom of conscience of the senators who will vote (with a few announced exceptions) not because of their intimate conviction of the quality of the law but out of loyalty or not to a political judgment of Renzi's executive," Avvenire said.
