Among the Latin-speaking nations, Italy is the only country in Europe that has not declared in its Constitution that Italian is the official language of the Republic, a declaration made instead by Spanish, French, Portuguese and Romanians. Everyone understood the meaning and beauty of remembering among the very first articles of their Constitutions that language is the primary identity of cultural and national heritage. In Rome for almost thirty years each legislature has tried to add to Article 12 that Italian is the official language of the Republic, but the constitutional amendment never reaches the fourth vote of Parliament and the Official Gazette. Italian is the language that integrates immigrants, and the one Pope Francis uses in his travels to the continents. It is one of the most studied languages in schools and universities abroad and is shared by over 200 million citizens among Italian-speakers, descendants of Italians around the world and foreigners interested in the Italian language for geopolitical, economic, cultural reasons as well as for the recognized musicality transmitted by its vowels at the end of the words. Today there is an opportunity to re-evaluate this linguistic richness at the highest level, for the benefit of the Italian Republic and Italians no less than humanity. An opportunity not to be missed again.
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