Marcello Pera is an Italian philosopher and politician. He was the president of the Italian Senate from 2001 to 2006. In the wake of the allegations of priestly sexual abuse and the accusations of inaction on the part of Catholic Church authorities, he sent this letter to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. In the letter, published on 19 March 2010 and republished in MercatorNet, he argues that beneath the façade lies an ongoing battle between secularism and Christianity. The abuses are only an excuse for this war.

The secularists know that a spot of mud on that white robe would mean that the church was sullied, and if the church were sullied so the Christian religion likewise. So they accompany their campaign with such refrains as “Who will take the children to church?" or "Who would send their children to Catholic schools?" or "Who would have our little ones cared for in a Catholic hospital or clinic?".