Novae Terrae Foundation

From 2016 to 2019, Volontè was the chairman of the Dignitatis Humanae Institute and he has also served on the board of CitizenGo, a petition platform set up by the far-right group Hazte Oír.^{[1][2][4][12][13]} Matteo Cattaneo was coordinator of Novae Terrae in 2013, and also the head of fundraising for Hazte Oír and for CitizenGo.^[9][12][14]

In 2015, Volontè left the presidency to Emanuele Fusi. Massimiliano Codoro, who'd been on the board for 10 years, left the organization and was replaced with Simone Pillon, who renounced the chair after the first investigative article by L'Espresso.^[1][6] In 2019, the Foundation registered a new statute which named as founding members Fusi, Volontè, Gianfranco Amato (founder of Nova Civilitas and a leader of The People of the Family, an Italian political party), Flavio Felice, Giuseppe Zola, and Nicola Abalsamo.^{[2][5][6][15]}

Novae Terrae redistributed funds it received to right-wing fundamentalist lobbyists in Italy, Spain, Great Britain, the United States, Poland, and Hungary.^[1][16]

In November 2012, Volontè persuaded Monsignor Rino Fisichella to host an exhibition from the Aliyev Foundation, headed by the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, inside the Vatican. Later, the Monsignor's secretary sent Volontè a bank account number for Institute for the Works of Religion, the Vatican bank, which Novae Terrae paid 20 thousand euros to in January 2013.^[1]

In 2014, Novae Terrae began to work more globally due to the influx of offshore money. They recruited lobbyists in Brussels, reimbursing travel and entertainment expenses. They also gave 8 thousand euros to Franciso Javier Borrego, a Spanish magistrate and former judge of the European Court of Human Rights.^[1] In January, Novae Terrae transferred 12 thousand euros to Benjamin Harnwell, a British ultra-conservative politician who founded the Dignitatis Humanae Institute, a Catholic organization whose most famous member is Steve Bannon. L'espresso notes that a few months after the transfer, Dignitatis organized a conference in the Vatican.^[1] In February, Novae Terrae donated 12 thousand euros to CitizenGo, pledging the same amount annually, renewable year to year, as well as 2 thousand to a Madrid communications company specializing in anti-abortion campaigns. In addition, they paid 33 thousand euros to two fundraising managers for CitizenGo. Later in 2014, Novae Terrae donated 25 thousand euros to the Iona Institute, a socially conservative organisation that advocates the advancement and promotion of the Christian religion and what it sees as the religion's social and moral values, based in Dublin.^{[17][1][3][14]}

The same year, Novae Terrae created a pledge which called for an EU plan for families that would only recognize heterosexual marriage. Notable signatories include Antonio Tajani, who has opposed LGBT rights for decades and was elected president of the European Parliament shortly after, and the German Association for a Christian Culture (DVCK), which campaigns against LGBT rights.^[18]

Novae Terrae was an integral player in Agenda Europe, until Volantè was investigated.^[19] They also funded the European Citizen’s Initiative Mum, Dad & Kids against equal marriage.^[1][3] Pink News identified the Center for Bioethics and Culture (CBC) and Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) as part of a network set up by Novae Terrae, then issued a correction as the CBC had been included in the network without their prior approval or knowledge and were subsequently removed.^[20]

In 2016, Novae Terrae gave 24 thousand euros to the Catholic University of Milan for the creation of the "Human Dignity Index", a modification of the Universal Humans Rights Index that defines "dignity" as the "universal right to be born" as part of a larger campaign to strategically reframe opposition to abortion rights as promotion of human rights.^[1][4][6]

Novae Terrae occupies a top position in the World Congress of Families.^[1] In 2014, the World Congress of Families was to be held in Russia, and Volontè was supposed to attend. The event was canceled due to sanctions on Russia following the invasion of Crimea. A parallel and unofficial congress was organized titled "Large Families - The Future of Humanity".^[21] Luca Volontè was photographed at the 2015 World Congress of Families in Salt Lake City, United States. The photograph appears on the homepage of Novae Terrae.^[5] In 2016, Volontè, speaking for Novae Terrae at the World Congress of Families, argued against same-sex marriage.^[22] In 2019, Novae Terrae, ProVita, and Generazione Famiglia invited the World Congress of Families to Verona. Novae Terrae had financed nearly all the organizations present: the Sutherland Institute, CitizenGo, former organizer of Family Day Gianfranco Amato, Don Fortunato di Noto, and the European Federation of Large Family Organizations.^[1][6]