VERONA, Italy – A congress in Italy under the auspices of a U.S. organization that defines family as strictly centering around a mother and father has made Verona — the city of Romeo and Juliet — the backdrop for a culture clash over family values.
A broad coalition of civic groups has mobilized against what they see as an exclusionary message that focuses hatred against the LGBT community and seeks to limit women's rights.
The World Congress of Families, which runs through Sunday, has revealed another rift in Italy's governing coalition, as well as providing a platform for ultra-conservatives seeking to reopen the debate over abortion, legalized in 1978.
Vice Premier Matteo Salvini is a featured speaker Saturday, but the leader of the other main coalition party has described the event as "medieval."
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