The General Who Stands Up to the Pope

“We are currently living in a period of crisis in Europe: a time when various populist movements are enjoying great popularity. … As a result of this populist wave, certain ideals have disappeared and certain principles, relating to behavior towards the weakest members of society, have been relegated to the background,” as La Stampa reports.

It is a message in the form of a warning sent by the Pope to the participants of the Alpbach Forum on August 24, 2024. It did not go unnoticed in the Italian press. The latter saw it as yet another papal criticism of the “populism” movement one of the representatives of which is currently on the rise in the peninsula.

Roberto Vanacci is a general, former commander of the 9th Parachute Assault Regiment, now a member of the League, and Member of the European Parliament from the last elections in 2024. The former general is not a man to retreat, even in front of the successor of Peter.

Reacting to the repeated positions taken by Pope Francis on the migration issue, he addressed his illustrious interlocutor as follows: “With all due respect, the Vatican has always defended its borders very well, so why can’t Italy do the same?”, he asked not without a certain irony, reports Crux.

As the same media outlet points out, quoting the MEP's words, his remarks did not fail to spark a polemic in the Italian media. “The 55-year-old former paratrooper and veteran of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq” is not new to this game.

He burst onto the Italian political scene in 2023, with the publication of a controversial book entitled Il Mondo al Contrario - literally “The World Upside Down,” in which he described homosexuality as an “abnormality.”

The former military man also criticized a volleyball champion of Nigerian origin, a naturalized Italian, who “did not represent Italy” in his eyes, cites Crux. The book also demonstrates climate skepticism. The great success of the book provoked “an avalanche of reactions” according to Crux, which led to the dismissal of Roberto Vanacci from his position as general.

Having positioned himself in the political arena alongside Matteo Salvini, he was elected to the European Parliament “with more than half a million votes,” the second highest score in the country. He is reportedly considering founding a new party, according to a source close to him, whose program would include “exiting NATO, rejecting American hegemony and transforming Europe into a confederation with its own army.” 

His firm positioning with regard to Church authorities seems to be a posture intended to show his place on the political chessboard. He had already “crossed swords with church leaders in public,” particularly on the issue of equality and inclusiveness in education, demanding that “students with different abilities be treated differently.”

Francesco Savino, vice-president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, has condemned the remarks, saying “that takes us back to the darkest hours of our history,” reports Crux. It is a clear reference to the racial laws of the fascist period.