Across Italy, Forza Nuova is joining demonstrations organised by a small group called ComitatoNO194 which is campaigning for a referendum to abolish the current law on abortion – passed more than 40 years ago. Fontana, the family minister, is also a registered member of this group.
“The patriotic and revolutionary Christian wind has definitively entered Italy and Forza Nuova strongly pushes for legislative changes to eliminate abortion and initiate a great demographic growth in Italy”, said Forza Nuova’s Pietro Amedeo, at a ComitatoNO194 demonstration in Verona in November.
Ahead of this week’s WCF, Amedeo also accused Verona’s Bishop Giuseppe Zenti of being "hostage to the homosexual lobby".
After the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin said “we agree on the substance… [but] there are some differences on the modalities”, Zenti suggested he’d rather not participate in “the political conflict on a theme that does not deserve the violent and ideological language of these days”.
Though the bishop’s hesitation was short-lived: he confirmed his participation in the WCF saying “whoever sees a significant event in it, will join it”.
Another active far-right movement in Verona is called Fortress Europe – a reference to Nazi propaganda during the Second World War. Despite being an offshoot of Forza Nuova, which also campaigns on similar themes to the WCF, it has not officially announced its participation in the event.
On International Women’s Day, 8 March – while feminist activists took to the streets across Italy – Fortress Europe promoted the fascist slogan “Dio, Patria e Famiglia” (“God, Fatherland and Family”) as “the fundamental values on which every human society has always been based”.
Meanwhile, after more than 500 University of Verona academics denounced the WCF as anti-scientific, a rainbow banner outside the school was damaged. It had displayed part of the university’s statute, saying that it “promotes pluralism of ideas and rejects violence, discrimination and intolerance”.
A syllable was strategically cut out of the banner, transforming the word “reject” into “push” and distorting the meaning of the entire phrase. No group has claimed responsibility for this act, which reflects the level of tension in the city that extends from the very top of the administration to the streets.