Due
to considerable bewilderment occasioned in Italy by the replies
of the various member countries of the United Nations regarding
the proposal to adopt the new calendar, it was decided that
before initiating any real activity on behalf of the adoption
of The World Calendar, it would be well to await a more favorable
time or the commencement of fresh activity or a new policy on
the part of The World Calendar Association, International.
ITALY
1953
SUSTAINED
progress toward the international enactment of calendar reform
was reported at the Seventh Annual Meeting 15 January
1954 of The World Calendar Association,
International, held in the International Building, New York
City. Published highlights (JCR Vol. 24, April 1954)
for ITALY:
Despite
many years of quiescence due to war and postwar difficulties,
the Italian National Committee on Calendar Reform still retains
its identity under Professor Amedeo Giannini and his son-in-law.
The latter finds a special interest in calendar reform because
he is a Moslem and understands how important this movement is
to the 300,000,000 people who use the lunar calendar of Mohammed.
The latest brochure published by the Italian committee is more
that a dozen years old, and nothing more recent is available
in the Italian language. In English, however, the quarterly
issues of the Journal of Calendar Reform have a fairly
wide circulation in Italy and are found in all important libraries.
Because Italy is not yet a member of the U.N., its favorable
attitude toward a revised calendar is not likely to play an
important part in current legislative programs.
The
Italian committee received a visit in November from Dr. Hashim
Amir Ali who was in Rome for a United Nations meeting. He is
an educator from Hyderabad, India, and a leading Moslem authority
on calendar reform. During his stay in Rome he conferred with
India Ambassador, Mr. B. R. Sen, who will probably be in charge
of calendar matters for India at the July meeting of the U.N.
Economic and Social Council in Geneva.
At
the Vatican, calendar reform is being re-examined. According
to a statement issued through the Apostolic Delegate in Washington,
"the Holy See now has the question under study and will
make known its conclusions in the matter at the proper moment."
CONTACT
The World Calendar Association