Residents were annoyed

“Bell war” ended: Church bells will be expensive

Although the ruling has not stopped the bells from ringing at St. Ulrich's Church, they will ring much less frequently in future.(Bild: Comune di San Dorligo della Valle / Občina Dolina (TS))

An unusual case for Catholic Italy: because residents felt disturbed by the ringing of the local church bells, a group of them went to court. The so-called "bell war" has now come to an end - but at the expense of the two priests concerned.

In San Dorligo della Valle, a municipality in Friuli-Venezia Giulia near Trieste, around 150 residents had complained about the ringing of the church of St. Ulrich. The dispute began in 2022, when the group felt the bells were too loud and, above all, too frequent.

According to the Italian newspaper "Il Piccolo", the situation escalated to such an extent that the bell tower was confiscated twice by the authorities. The priests of the church also faced criminal charges for three counts of disturbing the peace.

Bell tower sealed - dispute escalates
The bone of contention was the programming of the bell tower. The overzealous priests had set the bell to ring every quarter of an hour between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. - with two strikes on the first quarter of an hour, four strikes on the half hour and six strikes at three quarters.

The "dissenters", as the other side was called, considered this to be unreasonable harassment. The public prosecutor's office then intervened and opened proceedings.

Priests pay fine - no criminal consequences
Last Friday, the legal dispute finally ended with a fine. The two priests, Don Klemen Zalar and Don Roy Benas - now working in other parishes - were sentenced to pay a diversion of just over 400 euros. This means that the priests will no longer face criminal prosecution. They had been charged with "disturbing the employment or peace of persons".

Peace thanks to new rules
With the verdict, peace has also returned to the community. The judge accepted the fine in view of the minor nature of the alleged offenses. The courtroom was also attended by some of the residents concerned, who have since settled the conflict. New rules introduced by the diocese to prevent the ringing from disrupting residents' everyday lives in future have apparently also contributed to this.

Since April, the bells have been allowed to ring again - but in compliance with the new regulations. "It is important that the bell tower, which is a central point of reference for the entire community of San Dorligo, is back in operation," explained the priests' lawyer. He also emphasized that there is now a much more relaxed atmosphere than during the legal dispute.