Will Monti Be Given Power Again?

Mario Monti—Italy’s outgoing prime minister—may also be Italy’s incoming prime minister. And if he is voted into office, Monti will owe a lot of his success to the Vatican.

Monti succeeded Silvio Berlusconi in November of last year, but he was appointed by the president, not elected by the people. Since then, he has led a technocratic government that has focused on economic reform. However, Berlusconi’s party withdrew its support for him, and Monti resigned last Friday. He remains in office as a caretaker until Italy holds its elections in February. The prime minister said that he will not run for office, but that he might be willing to lead the new government if it invites him to. If that happens, Monti could once again win the office without worrying about a campaign or an election.

Since he resigned, the caretaker prime minister has not shied away from politics. Monti has published a detailed 25-page political platform and has urged like-minded politicians to support his agenda. He also posted his first tweet, in which he claims to have saved Italy “from disaster.”

Now Monti is getting support from the Vatican. Its newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, published a show of support for the prime minister and said it welcomed Monti’s call for the “most noble” form of politics. This move by the Vatican might indicate that Monti will indeed run for office. Or, Monti might prefer to leverage Vatican support to gain power after the elections are over.

Mario Monti is committed to establishing a federal Europe based on Catholic beliefs. He has praised Pope Benedict and called his policies on economics a “textbook” for nations to follow. The combination of Mario Monti and the Vatican fits perfectly with the European elite vision of turning Europe into a federal—and a very Catholic—superpower. To understand more, read “Pope Endorses ‘Prussian’ PM.”