 Following the presentation of the bill on the "" (DiCo) presented by the ministers Rosy Bindi and Barbara Pollastrini and the criticisms coming from the ecclesiastical hierarchy, on 13 February 2007 Alberigo promoted a public appeal in which he invited the Episcopal Conference of Italy to not intervene in a proposal for an official vote among Italian Catholic politicians.The bill has never been approved.On 20 April 2007, after his admission to the hospital Policlinico Sant'Orsola-Malpighi, Alberigo's relatives were informed by the Bologna Prefect Vincenzo Grimaldi that the President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano had conferred on him the honor of a Knight of the Grand Cross of the Italian Republic, saying that his was "an authoritative voice emphasizing with critical awareness the importance of the contribution of Catholic culture in the debate on ideas in our country.