Senator Gianluca Cantalamessa, from the Lega party, presented a draft law with seven articles proposing new rules for the actions of imams (those responsible for leading prayers). in mosques) in Italy. The text is being processed by the Constitutional Affairs Committee of the Senate in Rome.
The proposal calls for the creation of a national registry of magnets. (Ummah) together with the Ministry of the Interior. To join the group, the religious figure must have Italian citizenship and residency in the country for at least four years.
The project requires applicants to state the religious principles that inspire their activities. They must also indicate the functions they perform and the religious authority to which the imam answers.
One of the central points of the measure is the requirement of fluency in the local language. The imam must demonstrate B1 level knowledge of Italian to deliver the sermon, known as khutbah, exclusively in the national language.
The text establishes that meetings of a political nature must be communicated to the local mayor ten days in advance. Failure to comply with the rule may result in a fine of 15.000 euros.
In the project's introduction, the author states that investigative evidence points to mosques as places of terrorist trainingThe senator justifies the measure by citing the absence of a formal agreement between the state and the Islamic communities.
The proposal is reminiscent of the 2017 “Patto per l'Islam,” signed during the Gentiloni administration. At that time, the document already provided for sermons in Italian, but the current dialogue faces impasses following the collective resignation of the Council for Relations with Islam in 2024.
The project was originally submitted in July 2023, but has recently gained momentum. The Lega party, led by Matteo Salvini, intends to include the text in the government's new security package through amendments during parliamentary debate.
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