Archbishop Paglia appears to criticize pro-life ‘Bell for Unborn Children’

SAN REMO, Italy (LifeSiteNews) — Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia has publicly expressed disapproval of a bell dedicated to unborn children that was inaugurated by fellow Italian Bishop Antonio Suetta.

On January 18, Paglia, in an interview given after a local conference, signaled veiled disapproval of an initiative by Suetta, who had inaugurated a bell dedicated to unborn children to promote reflection on the value of human life and offer spiritual support to women affected by abortion.

READ: Italian diocese installs ‘Bell for Unborn Children,’ sparking backlash from leftist politicians

“I would rather that bells were rung for the elderly, so that they may be accompanied with serenity and love, and so that no one is left alone,” Paglia said when asked about the initiative.

In response to a question from a journalist concerning the bell inaugurated by Suetta in the Diocese of Ventimiglia–San Remo and the tensions and controversies that erupted at both regional and national levels, Paglia did not address the initiative directly but shifted the focus to the pastoral care of old people.

Riccardo Cascioli at Italian news outlet La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana commented: “It is a classic clerical strategy: shifting the focus to another theme in order to avoid expressing explicit dissent.”

As of that date, Paglia has been the only Italian bishop to have spoken publicly about Suetta’s pro-life initiative. No other members of the Italian episcopate have yet issued statements expressing support for the bell dedicated to unborn children.

Paglia’s remarks in San Remo are consistent with positions he has previously expressed in public settings regarding Italian abortion law. In 2022, during an appearance on Italian TV, Paglia spoke about Law 194, the Italian legislation that legalized abortion. “I think that this law is by now a pillar of our social life,” the prelate stated. When asked by the journalist whether Law 194 was being questioned, he replied: “No, absolutely.”

Paglia, a member of the liberal Sant’Egidio Community, was appointed by Pope Francis on August 15, 2016, to serve as president of the Pontifical Academy for Life until May 27, 2025. The academy, founded by Pope John Paul II in 1993, is tasked with studying, promoting, and defending human life from conception to natural death.

The controversy about Suetta’s initiative began on December 28, 2025, when the Italian bishop inaugurated a bell dedicated to unborn children in the Diocese of Ventimiglia–San Remo, located in the Liguria region of northwestern Italy. According to statements released by the bishop, the initiative was intended to encourage reflection on the sacredness of human life, to raise awareness of abortion as a moral, scientific, and legal issue, and to offer spiritual support to women who have experienced abortion.

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Following the inauguration, the bell became the subject of political and social debate at both local and national levels. Several representatives of centre-left political parties and institutional figures criticized the initiative, describing it as an inappropriate moral intervention and as a stigmatization of women’s choices.

Among the critics was Laura Amoretti, the equality councillor of the Liguria region, who sent a formal letter to Pope Leo XIV requesting him to take a position against the initiative promoted by Bishop Suetta.