32 ICSA
News From the Media
Raffaella Di Marzio was interviewed,
along with Willy Fautrè, in September,
2016 during the film Protect Your
Dignity, the joint Ukrainian-Belgian
production in cooperation with the
public organization Kavalyer, the
Human Rights Without Frontiers
International organization (hrwf.eu),
and the Unsolved Crimes newspaper
(zlochiny.com).
Movements
Hare Krishna
The Italian Parliament hosted an
ISKCON 50 conference entitled Fifty
Years of the Krishna Consciousness
Movement: Srila Prabhupada,
Messenger of Peace and Spiritual
Knowledge at the Chamber of
Deputies, one of two houses in
the Italian Parliament’s bicameral
legislature, on October 5, 2016.
Approximately a hundred delegates
attended the prestigious conference,
which was introduced by the Vice
President of the Chamber of Deputies.
Speakers at the conference included
Madhusevita Das, President of
the ISKCON Italian Confederation
Parabhakti dasa, Vice President of the
Italian Confederation of ISKCON and
Massimo Introvigne.
Soka Gakkai
On June 27, 2015, Italian Prime
Minister Matteo Renzi visited Soka
Gakkai, the world’s largest Buddhist lay
organization, in Florence to solemnly
sign the concordat (Intesa) with the
movement. On June 14, 2016, the
concordat was approved by the Italian
Parliament (GU n.164 del 15-7-2016).
Soka Gakkai has been very successful
in Italy and currently has some 75,000
members.
While the Italian Constitution reserves
the name Concordato for the concordat
in force with the Catholic Church,
which has the peculiarity that its
interpretation is subject to Italian
courts of law and entrusted to the
International Court in The Hague
(it is regarded as a treaty with a
foreign State, the Holy See), the other
concordats, called Intese, function
like the concordats that exist in other
countries. Concordats include religions
in a special “club” of denominations
that the government consults on
certain occasions. These concordats
are allowed to appoint chaplains in the
army—a concordat is not needed for
appointing chaplains in hospitals and
jails—and, perhaps more importantly,
they are partially financed by taxpayers’
money. Denominations in Italy with
a concordat include Waldensians,
Assembly of God Pentecostals,
Seventh Day Adventists, Jews, Baptists,
Lutherans, Mormons, Greek Orthodox,
Apostolic Pentecostals, the Italian
Buddhist Union, the Italian Hindu
Union, and Soka Gakkai. Mormons,
however, on the basis of their doctrine
of separation of church and state,
refuse to receive taxpayers’ money.
Report From Slovakia
Piotr T. Nowakowski
On October 27, 2016, Plus 7 days,
the Slovak tabloid magazine and
most widely read weekly in Slovakia,
published an article, “Zvrhlý jogín má
u nás stále tisícky prívržencov!” (“Kinky
yogi still has thousands of supporters
here!”), which described the activities
of Swami Maheshwarananda, a
controversial yoga guru, born in India
as Mangilal Garg.
The authors write that, despite alleged
sex scandals he faced a few years ago,
reported by foreign magazines, the
yogi still “has thousands of followers in
Slovakia” and organizes yoga classes,
and the prices of his workshops are
rising. The Yoga in Daily Life system,
which he brought to Slovakia some
time ago, gained him the favor of
health professionals and politicians.
ICSA TODAYTODAY
Correspondents
,
Reports
News From the Media
Raffaella Di Marzio was interviewed,
along with Willy Fautrè, in September,
2016 during the film Protect Your
Dignity, the joint Ukrainian-Belgian
production in cooperation with the
public organization Kavalyer, the
Human Rights Without Frontiers
International organization (hrwf.eu),
and the Unsolved Crimes newspaper
(zlochiny.com).
Movements
Hare Krishna
The Italian Parliament hosted an
ISKCON 50 conference entitled Fifty
Years of the Krishna Consciousness
Movement: Srila Prabhupada,
Messenger of Peace and Spiritual
Knowledge at the Chamber of
Deputies, one of two houses in
the Italian Parliament’s bicameral
legislature, on October 5, 2016.
Approximately a hundred delegates
attended the prestigious conference,
which was introduced by the Vice
President of the Chamber of Deputies.
Speakers at the conference included
Madhusevita Das, President of
the ISKCON Italian Confederation
Parabhakti dasa, Vice President of the
Italian Confederation of ISKCON and
Massimo Introvigne.
Soka Gakkai
On June 27, 2015, Italian Prime
Minister Matteo Renzi visited Soka
Gakkai, the world’s largest Buddhist lay
organization, in Florence to solemnly
sign the concordat (Intesa) with the
movement. On June 14, 2016, the
concordat was approved by the Italian
Parliament (GU n.164 del 15-7-2016).
Soka Gakkai has been very successful
in Italy and currently has some 75,000
members.
While the Italian Constitution reserves
the name Concordato for the concordat
in force with the Catholic Church,
which has the peculiarity that its
interpretation is subject to Italian
courts of law and entrusted to the
International Court in The Hague
(it is regarded as a treaty with a
foreign State, the Holy See), the other
concordats, called Intese, function
like the concordats that exist in other
countries. Concordats include religions
in a special “club” of denominations
that the government consults on
certain occasions. These concordats
are allowed to appoint chaplains in the
army—a concordat is not needed for
appointing chaplains in hospitals and
jails—and, perhaps more importantly,
they are partially financed by taxpayers’
money. Denominations in Italy with
a concordat include Waldensians,
Assembly of God Pentecostals,
Seventh Day Adventists, Jews, Baptists,
Lutherans, Mormons, Greek Orthodox,
Apostolic Pentecostals, the Italian
Buddhist Union, the Italian Hindu
Union, and Soka Gakkai. Mormons,
however, on the basis of their doctrine
of separation of church and state,
refuse to receive taxpayers’ money.
Report From Slovakia
Piotr T. Nowakowski
On October 27, 2016, Plus 7 days,
the Slovak tabloid magazine and
most widely read weekly in Slovakia,
published an article, “Zvrhlý jogín má
u nás stále tisícky prívržencov!” (“Kinky
yogi still has thousands of supporters
here!”), which described the activities
of Swami Maheshwarananda, a
controversial yoga guru, born in India
as Mangilal Garg.
The authors write that, despite alleged
sex scandals he faced a few years ago,
reported by foreign magazines, the
yogi still “has thousands of followers in
Slovakia” and organizes yoga classes,
and the prices of his workshops are
rising. The Yoga in Daily Life system,
which he brought to Slovakia some
time ago, gained him the favor of
health professionals and politicians.
ICSA TODAYTODAY
Correspondents
,
Reports
