http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=48655
Muslim-Catholic marriages on the rise in Italy Rome, Jan. 16, 2007 (CWNews.com) - According to the Catholic charitable organization Caritas, the number of marriages between Italians and foreign natives living in Italy has risen tenfold in the past 15 years. In 1991 there were 60,000 such "mixed marriages" registered in Italy; last year there were 600,000, Caritas reports. Italian men preferred Filipino, Romanian, Peruvian, and Albanian women. In contrast, Italian women preferred Senegalese, Tunisians, and Moroccans. The more affluent northern section of Italy leads the way in mixed marriages. About 10% of the mixed marriages involve a Muslim with a Catholic spouse. In the vast majority of such cases, the children are raised as Muslims. If the wife is Catholic, statistics show that she is likely to convert to Islam. Given the tensions that mark Italian culture today, it is not surprising that these mixed marriages are fragile-- although there too the figures show a geographical difference. The average Catholic-Muslim union lasts just 5 years in the northern city of Milan, and 13 years in southern Lecce. The figures on mixed marriages were released just a day after Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) released his annual statement for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees. In that statement the Pontiff underlined the need to support the families of migrants as they adjust to a new cultural surrounding. +++ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
