Image source.
Zadok says:
It seems that as part of the protests, the Rector’s offices were occupied by students today.
One has to imagine that security concerns and the dignity of the Holy Father were the primary concern here. One can imagine that many at the Sapienza University are ashamed what the actions of their colleagues have brought about.
The Pope will, however, be sending the text of his proposed address to the Sapienza.
For lots of coverage, check out Papa Ratzinger Forum:
From the Italian news agency AGR:
ROMA – Clamorous applause greeted the news that the Pope cancelled his visit to La Sapienza during a meeting of protesting students at the department of political sciences.
The students then started to chant “Fuori il Papa dall’Universita” (Keep the Pope out of the university).
Here is Corriere’s round-up of immediate reactions:
“Profound regret” was Prime Minister Romano Prodi’s first comment. “I condemn the actions, the statements and the attitudes which provoked an unacceptable tension and a climate that does no honor to the civilized traditions and tolerance of the Italian people. I therefore express my profound regret for the decision of Pope Benedict XVI, and express my strong and convinced solidarity with him, renewing the invitation to him. No voice should be silenced in his country, least of all, that of the Pope.”
Silvio Berlusconi, president of Forza Italia and former Prime Minister: “This is a wound that is humiliating for the university and for Italy. The cancellation which the Pope was led to in the name of a presumed secularity of knowledge is the sign of intolerance and a certain fanaticism which have nothing to do authentic secularity – that the Italian university and the State have not shown themselves capable of guaranteeing freedom of expression to the highest religious authority.
“On e again, the left should make an examination of conscience: the alliance with intolerant fringe groups and the campaign of ideological anti-clericalism fomented by some parties, have created the climate in which this shameful episode could mature.”
Senate President Franco Marini: “I express my profound regret in my name and in that of the Senate for the way in which this episode has developed and ended.”
House leader Pier Ferdinando Casini: “Congratulations to the signatories of the letter protesting the Pope’s visit. Their intolerance has demonstrated the state of desolation in Italian universities and the cultural weakness of the holdovers from the counterculture of 1968. If these are our children’s teachers, then we must fear for our future.”
Walter Veltroni, Mayor of Rome and secretary of the new Partido Democrata: “This is a blow to liberal culture and the fundamental principle of the free exchange of ideas and respect for institutions. Every criticism is legitimate and the confrontation of views is the oxygen for our coexistence, but every instance of intolerance, such as those that have been demonstrated these oast few days against the Pope, do harm to democracy and freedom.”
Fabio Mussi, Minister for Universities and Research: “This was a very serious mistake for the university and its mission. The university is a place that should welcome not resist (thought). It is not necessary to agree with what the Pope says, but is not right not to let him talk.”