ROME—Italy has long been known for her strong families. But like all Western European countries, divorce is increasingly becoming a fact of life.

The Italian Parliament is discussing a bill to shorten the time it would take to get a divorce. Under current law, divorced couples must wait a period of three years after filling for divorce before the divorce is final. The bill under consideration would abbreviate the process to one year.

The bill was introduced by members of the Italian political left and supported by various left-wing organizations. Prime Minister Berlusconi's political party, Forza Italia, which comprises the Italian right, is opposed to the bill.

Pro-family organizations are concerned that reducing the separation period to one year would mean reducing the time given to spouses to reflect and find solutions.

“The reduction of the separation period contradicts the reasons that induced Parliament to wisely exclude the possibility of the immediate dissolution of marriage,” said Ciro Intino, vice president of the Family Forum, a pro-family association that represents 40 organizations. “The separation phase is in fact deemed necessary by Parliament so that spouses—and during this phase they are still spouses—can reflect on the effects of their decision and try to remove the problems that caused it.”

“It would be better to leave things as they are,” said Raffaella Bernardini, a divorce lawyer in Rome. “This bill is not positive because the three years are important. People who are separated can re-think their decision and maybe get back together. They have time to think about how their decision will affect their children. Once you divorce, it's permanent. You can' go back.”

Yet not all family proponents see the time reduction as the problem.

Grazia Sofferino, a canon law expert who has worked for the Roman Rota, the Church's central appellate court, explained, “It's clear that you don' help a family by changing the separation phase from three to one year. But it's not the passage of time that will help. The family as an institution needs help. But real help for the family from the state does not really exist.”

Part of the problem, pro-family advocates say, is that judges and lawyers are passive in the face of the increased demand for divorce.

“Judges should force people to get external help,” Sofferino said. “They should see specialists designated by the community: psychologists, child experts, etc.”

According to Bernardini, the Italian government introduced a program last year by which these types of specialists are made available to couples seeking to end their marriage. Psychologists and lawyers take a one-year course that teaches them how to handle the issues that arise in divorcing families. The idea is to follow a family through the proceedings.

“But it's not serious,” Bernardini said of the program. “What I have noticed is that some of the people who take the course are not prepared for the situations they face. We really need more specialized people. The idea is good, but it hasn' been that helpful.”

According to research compiled by the Heritage Foundation in 2002, Italy has 10 divorces out of 100 marriages, which is among the lowest in Europe. Frequently, this statistic hides the fact that many couples separate but never actually divorce for the children's sake. Others are “separated in the house”—not living as husband and wife, frequently in different rooms, but under the same roof.

The Italian divorce rate compares with 54.8% in the United States, 38.3% in France, 39.4% in Germany and 42.6% in the United Kingdom.

The real problem, according to some opponents of the bill, is not that the time period was shortened from five years to three several years ago, nor is it that some legislators want to shorten it now from three years to one.

“The real problem is the crisis of the family,” Sofferino said. “Faith is just window dressing. People use it how they want. People decide that they don' like some things the Pope says. It is total subjectivism. ‘I do what is right for me.'he sense of morality has been pulverized.”

Of those who work with divorcing couples or those who want to annul their marriage, all agree it is the children who suffer the most.

“Children are the least of those considered in divorce,” Sofferino said. “Parents use them to get more money.”

“The trend I have noticed is that people separate very soon after they get married with very little children,” Bernardini said. “It has a disastrous effect on the kids. It creates terrible tension and the children are often used as tools between parents for their own selfish ends.”

The Italian Bishops’ Conference has spoken out against the bill. Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the head of the Italian Bishops’ Conference and papal vicar of Rome, has made statements to the press asking why Parliament would want to approve a minefield for the family. When the bishops’ conference newspaper Avvenire took an editorial position that said the issue should be discussed, Cardinal Ruini immediately responded that there was no discussion.

For now the bill has remained in the justice committee, waiting to be introduced into the Parliament's calendar for future discussion. Opponents hope it will be shelved.

“The Italian culture has a major-itarian view which favors the family,” the Family Forum's Intino said. “Despite the crisis of divorce, the family is still strong. It is a public good, and the state must protect it.”

Sabrina Arena Ferrisi writes from Rome.