Italy's evangelicals express reservations after Five Star Movement's election victory
After the landslide victory of a controversial party in Italy, the country's evangelicals are voicing caution rather than jubilation.
The Five Star Movement took the largest share of the vote on March 4 in a dramatic shake-up of Italy's political scene.
Voters rejected centrist politics in favor of M5S's Eurosceptic, anti-establishment message, with one of the party's main promises to tackle corruption, decentralize power, and raise the minimum wage.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Commenting on the turn of events, vice president of the Italian Evangelical Alliance, Leonardo de Chirico sees two sides to the outcome of the election.
On the one hand, he said the potential for instability and the Eurosceptic platform of M5S were a cause for concern.
On the other, he said that with such a shake-up in the government "corruption could maybe decrease."
"The established political framework is shattered," he said, according to Evangelical Focus.
He said that "some political maneuvering is necessary" for the M5S to form a government and despite earlier comments from the party insisting that it would not work with any other party, the early indications following the election are that it will try to form a government with the conservative Northern League.
That prospect is concerning Italy's evangelicals. The Italian Evangelical Alliance said M5S and The League "have shown little concern for religious freedom and minorities so far".
Samuel Magnin, a pastor in Monza, Lombardy, agrees, telling the magazine: "The results are not good for the church. The League is a racist party and does not want evangelicals."
Nonetheless, de Chirico is trying to stay optimistic about the prospects for evangelicals under the Five Star Movement.
"Usual reference points for evangelicals are no longer there and we have the responsibility to build new bridges. As usual, challenges can become opportunities," he said.
