Promising to remain faithful will no longer be a legal requirement for marriages in Italy, if a controversial new Bill is passed.
Supporters of the Bill to remove the word “fidelity” from marriage contracts claim that faithfulness in marriage is “outdated and obsolete”.
The proposal has already been backed by the Italian Senate and has now been passed to its Judiciary Committee.
Cheats
Its proponents want marriage contracts to contain the same wording as same-sex civil partnerships, which were legalised earlier this year.
Senator Laura Cantini claims that the wording of the Civil Unions Bill, which does not refer to fidelity or faithfulness, is “a much more advanced model”.
To pretend that adultery is a good thing in an otherwise long-lasting, loyal relationship is utter nonsense.
Harry Benson
According to a 2013 poll, more than half of men and one in three women have ‘cheated on their partners’, the highest percentage of affairs in Europe.
‘Consequences’
Last year, the former leader of the Christian Party stressed that there are “consequences” for people who have an affair in a discussion about infidelity on BBC One’s Sunday Morning Live programme.
Revd George Hargreaves was speaking after Ashley Madison, a website that facilitates extra-marital affairs worldwide, was targeted by cyber-hackers who revealed the identities of its members.
Hargreaves said: “Of course there are consequences [to adultery] because actually, marriage and sex are intertwined and actually, the sex act is part of the covenant making of a marriage”.
‘Nonsense’
He added that it is “the best thing for society for this marriage bond to be secure and the trust to be maintained and part of that is the sexual act stays within the marriage”.
Harry Benson, research director at the Marriage Foundation, also commented on the affairs website saying: “To pretend that adultery is a good thing in an otherwise long-lasting, loyal relationship is utter nonsense.”