Giorgia Meloni condemns vandalism of pro-life center in Rome

By Courtney Mares

Rome Newsroom, Nov 27, 2023 / 12:49 pm

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has condemned the vandalism of a pro-life organization’s headquarters in Rome perpetrated during a protest to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Demonstrators threw smoke bombs, smashed windows, and spray-painted pro-abortion graffiti on the “Pro Vita & Famiglia” association’s main office in Rome on Saturday night despite the presence of Italian police at the protest. 

The vandalism occurred as thousands took to the streets in Italy’s capital for a march protesting violence against women.

In a post on social media on Nov. 27, Meloni questioned “how anyone could think of fighting violence against women by engaging in such intolerable acts of violence and intimidation.”

“Should violence always be condemned or only when it is directed at someone whose ideas we share?” the Italian prime minister wrote.

“A vandalized headquarters is always unacceptable. Especially if you ravage it in the name of women who have been raped, beaten, or killed,” she added.

Pro Vita & Famiglia (“Pro-Life and Family”) is an Italian nonprofit organization that helps organize Italy’s annual March for Life. The association’s headquarters were also vandalized during Rome’s LGBTQ Pride parade in June.

The pro-life association said Nov. 26 that an incendiary weapon was also found inside the office near the broken windows, which according to the initial findings of the police could have been an unexploded Molotov cocktail or a similar weapon. 

The organization said that the attempted attack on its headquarters “literally demonstrates the hypocrisy of the feminist and transfeminist movements who have exploited recent news events to carry out an intimidating action against our nonprofit organization.”

“This violence is even more unjustified given the activities of our association: the protection of life from conception to natural death, the promotion of the family, and the protection of educational freedoms of parents.”