The issue of legal rights for unwed couples including same-sex ones returned to the political agenda on Thursday, setting the stage for renewed Church-State wrangling.
A revised version of a previous draft bill known as DICO was presented to the Senate Justice Committee, which will begin examining the text next week.
The new bill, dubbed CUS for 'contratti di unione solidale' (joint union contracts), would allow cohabiting heterosexual and homosexual partners to register their union privately with a judge or notary.
Having done this they would be able to obtain certain financial and 'next of kin' rights if their loved one dies, is seriously ill or is sent to prison.
Such couples currently have no shared rights to social benefits, property and inheritance - a situation which critics say is increasingly anomalous in a European state.
Centre-left Premier Romano Prodi promised to remedy this in his election programme.
But the CUS bill is certain to generate the same level of controversy as the original DICO version.
The Catholic Church is fiercely opposed to any such legislation, saying it will undermine the institution of marriage and traditional family values.
The Church has expressed particular alarm over the extension to gay partners.
In March, the Italian Bishops Conference (CEI) went as far as issuing a directive telling Catholic MPs to vote against the DICO or any similar legislation.
Catholics on both sides of the political divide applauded the CEI's action.
REACTIONS TO CUS BILL.
The centre-right opposition headed by former premier Silvio Berlusconi immediately slammed the CUS bill.
Isabella Bertolini, a top member of Berlusconi's Forza Italia party, said that "whether it's DICO or CUS, the results are the same. This is the umpteenth attempt by the secular Left to destroy the family... They are trying to turn every individual's whim into a right".
A senator with the rightist National Alliance said that "the DICO was no good and the CUS is no better".
While noting that the contract of union outlined in the CUS bill was of a more private nature than that contained in the DICO, the senator said it was "still too general" and would create "do-it-yourself families".
But Democratic Left lawmaker and veteran gay rights' campaigner Franco Grillini, whose party is the largest in government, said the new bill was "very positive" and offered hope to millions of cohabiting couples.
However, not all secular-minded lawmakers in the governing coalition were happy with the bill.
Hard-left MP Vladimir Luxuria, a transsexual who has been at the forefront of the fight for rights for unwed couples, said the bill did not go far enough.
Luxuria criticised in particular the bill's inheritance clauses.
Under the terms of the bill, inheritance rights would only be acknowledged after nine years of registered cohabitation.
A person would then be able to bequeath a quarter of his or her inheritance to their CUS partner with the rest going to surviving children, parents or siblings.
The CUS partner would receive the entire inheritance if there are no surviving relatives.
Gay rights' groups also expressed doubts over the bill.
The Mario Mieli association said the CUS bill was based on "private contracts" and "therefore reinforces seriously discriminatory conditions between citizens".
"We demand full, legal recognition of gay couples," the association said.
Premier Prodi did not comment on the CUS bill.
The premier will need the full support of his coalition if the bill is to pass the Senate without opposition help.
Prodi holds only two more Senate seats than the opposition meaning the bill could be sunk there by rebel Catholic allies.
One of the most vocal opponents of the previous DICO bill was Justice Minister Clemente Mastella, who heads the centrist, Catholic UDEUR party.
