'Anti-fascist' pasta dinner not scrubbed but moved says bishop

An 'anti-fascist' pasta dinner

organised in the Marche city of Ascoli Piceno by partisans group

ANPI has not been cancelled but simply moved to another parish,

the local bishop said Monday denying that the Church had opposed

the event on ideological grounds.

The dinner will take place, but no longer in the parish of the

Immaculate Heart of Mary, but in San Marcello, Bishop Gianpiero

Palmieri told ANSA.

"Anti-fascism, freedom, and democracy," the bishop emphasized,

"are constitutional values that should belong neither to the

right nor the left, but should be the shared heritage of the

entire country," he said.

What happened, the prelate said, is the result of a

misunderstanding and not an ideological choice.

"The request to the friars," he explains, "was presented as a

charity dinner. The parish priest, a minor friar who arrived

about a year ago and is originally from Kenya, is not

well-versed in Italian history and political debate.

"When he heard about 'Anti-Fascist Pasta,' he thought it was a

political initiative and reacted by saying to forget it."

"Regardless of what some parishioners may have said," he adds,

"he himself suggested an alternative solution, proposing to host

the initiative in the parish of San Marcello, where it had been

organized in 2025."

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