Italy has amended its divorce law, allowing couples to finalize the end of their marriage within six onths.
The change, as reported by Reuters, is part of the initiative by the country's prime minister, Matteo Renzi, aimed at curbing bureaucracy. Renzi posted a message on his Twitter account after parliament passed the law Wednesday night, saying in his native language, "Another promise kept. Let's move forward." The law had the support of most of the politicians, who claim that this move is a "step forward for civil society."
"The result will be less family conflict, not only in the interest of couples, but also and especially in the interest of children," Italy's Justice Undersecretary Cosimo Ferri said in a report from Xinhua.
Under the new law, when both parties consent to the dissolution of their marriage, it will only take six months for the divorce to become final. Previously, Italians had to wait three years to be granted a divorce. Ex-couples who were not willing to wait that long reportedly set up fake residency in other EU countries like Romania, where divorce is quicker.
But the bishops apparently blasted the change, as reported by Ansa. "We find ourselves with laws that, by facilitating and encouraging the already dramatic sense of precariousness within relationships, end up by sanctioning the malpractice of sentimental instability and family disengagement," said part of the editorial that was published in Avvenire, the Italian bishops' daily newspaper.
However, historian Alberto Melloni said the Church is no longer interested in challenging the decision because "they realized that it was a lost cause and did not want to fall flat on its face with a useless act of heroism," according to Reuters.
Divorce has been recognized in Italy since the '70s and since then, the Catholic nation has had 51,319 divorces in 2012, or about 174 divorces for every 1,000 marriages, according to figures from Istat.