ROME – Matteo Salvini, leader of the right-wing League, has been accused of using religion to propel his election campaign after the creation of his new political slogan. 

 Salvini used the slogan ‘Credo’ (I believe) on his posters brandished around the country, promoting his party for the early Sept. 25 general election. 

 The daily Catholic newspaper Avvenire published an editorial by Don Giuseppe Lorizio, theologian of the Pontifical Lateran University who lambasted Salvini for the use of ‘Credo.’

 “It’s easy to say, ‘I believe’, but not without consequences," he said.

 “In order to avoid any possible populist drift, it would be good to try and distinguish the various meanings of ‘I believe’ when we read the slogan on the facades of our cities.”

 Salvini has branded the move “an expression of secular faith,” leaving a sour taste among the Catholic community, many of whom consider it a tactic to keep Catholic voters on his side in the run up to elections where a right-wing alliance is tipped to triumph. 

 No stranger to gestures and rhetoric of such kind, the leader of the League was chided in 2019 for using Catholic symbols at a political rally where he criticised Pope Francis and claimed the Virgin Mary was rooting for his political victory.  

 On this display, former Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte commented at the time, “Those with institutional responsibilities should avoid putting religious symbols alongside political slogans,” resonating with the current discontent for Salvini's new political slogan.

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