A 50-cent euro coin bearing the image of Pope Benedict XVI is pictured in Rome on July 22, 2010. For eight years the Vatican City euros served only as popular collectors' items, initially featuring the face of Benedict's predecessor John Paul II, who died in 2005. (Daylife Photos-Getty)
Pope Benedict XVI (L) stands on a boat next to Vatican State Secretary Tarcisio Bertone during a trip from Kalkara ferry to the Valletta waterfront on April 18, 2010. Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday expressed his personal 'shame and sorrow' to victims of paedophile priests at a surprise meeting during a visit to Malta. (Daylife-Getty Images)
Pope Benedict XVI (R) is flanked by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone as he arrives to board a plane for Malta on April 17, 2010 at Fiumicino airport near Rome. Pope Benedict XVI heads to Malta on Saturday for his first foreign trip since a wave of priest sex abuse scandals engulfed the Roman Catholic Church in Europe and the United States. (Daylife Photos)One of the eight victims of sexual abuse who met Pope Benedict XVI today in malta described the encounter as "very emotional," saying most of those present were crying, and even the pope had "tears in his eyes."Related Links:
"I made peace with the church," said Joseph Magro, one of the victims who met the pope.
Magro has been among the most outspoken of ten Maltese men who recently came forward to say they were abused by Catholic priests at a church-run orphanage in the 1980s and 1990s. The revelations shocked this tiny island nation, in part because another of the victims linked his abuse to a horrific murder he committed in 1991, in which he killed a homosexual man with a hammer and then cut his body into pieces with a broken bottle.
Another victim who met the pope, who asked to be described as "Immanuel," said that the victims "will continue the fight for justice," and insisted that they do not want money from the Catholic church.
This was Pope Benedict's third meeting with victims, after previous encounters in the United States in April 2008 and Australia later that same year.
In a briefing today for reporters, the Vatican spokesperson, Fr. Federico Lombardi, described the meeting as "intense" but "serene." The eight victims in the meeting were all male, he said.
Lombardi said the session took place in the chapel of the residence of the papal nuncio, or ambassador, in Malta. It began with a moment of silent prayer, and then Benedict moved near the altar to meet the victims one-by-one, allowing them to say "whatever they wished to say," Lombardi said.
The pope also responded to the victims individually, in either English or Italian, Lombardi said, but did not offer any general remarks.
The meeting concluded with a common prayer in Maltese, and the pope gave each victim a rosary.
The victims were accompanied by two local Maltese bishops, while the pope was joined by a senior Vatican official, his private secretary, and his nuncio in Malta.
On previous occassions when victims have met the pope, their first-blush reactions are generally positive, but over time some have argued that the promise of those meetings has not yet resulted in sufficient policy changes.
Recently two of the victims who met Pope Benedict in Washington in 2008 announced plans to bring a large delegation of victims to Rome in late October. They're calling the event a "Day of Reform, and intend to press the Vatican to embrace a new set of tough global policies on sexual abuse.
The Vatican also issued a formal written statement after today's meeting. It reads:
"On Sunday 18 April 2010, in the Apostolic Nunciature in Malta, the Holy Father met a small group of persons who were sexually abused by members of the clergy."
"He was deeply moved by their stories and expressed his shame and sorrow over what victims and their families have suffered. He prayed with them and assured them that the Church is doing, and will continue to do, all in its power to investigate allegations, to bring to justice those responsible for abuse and to implement effective measures designed to safeguard young people in the future."
"In the spirit of his recent Letter to the Catholics of Ireland, he prayed that all the victims of abuse would experience healing and reconciliation, enabling them to move forward with renewed hope."
Santiago, April 6 - Vatican No.2 Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone on Tuesday said he was tired of hearing about an alleged cover-up by himself and Pope Benedict XVI of the case of a US priest who abused 200 deaf boys.Jesus The Angel:
"Basta, basta on this subject," exclaimed Bertone, currently secretary of state, who was also No.2 to the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger during the future pope's 14-year tenure at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which deals with abuse cases.
Bertone was responding to a fresh charge from German weekly Die Welt, which echoed the New York Times in claiming the pair refused to heed appeals from Milwaukee bishops in the late 1990s about the abuse committed by Father Lawrence Murphy at a Wisconsin school for deaf children between 1950 and 1974.
"It's not true, we have produced documentary evidence of the contrary," Bertone said, reiterating that the Murphy case was only brought to his then office's attention in 1998, a few months before the priest died.
Quizzed by reporters why the pope did not take advantage of his Easter message to touch on the widening abuse and cover-up scandals, Bertone added: "Let's not talk about this subject now, otherwise we'll be here all day verifying with precision the actions of myself and His Eminence (the pope)".
Bertone, who was bringing Benedict's support to the quake-stricken people of Chile, adamantly refused to be drawn on why the pope did not speak out on widening abuse cases around Europe, and has not personally responded to a claim that he knew about a predator priest who returned to pastoral work when Benedict was Munich Archbishop in the mid-1980s. "Let's talk about Chile, let's talk about the future. The Pope is strong, and he is all the people".
Bertone stressed that Benedict had been seen to enjoy the unequivocal support of the massed faithful on Easter Sunday, "including many young people", and added: "He is a strong Pope, the Pope of the third millennium".
Two days before, at a Good Friday Mass in the Basilica, Papal Household Preacher Raniero Cantalamessa angered Jews by apparently comparing the criticism the Church has undergone with the anti-Semitism that fuelled the Holocaust.
He later apologised and the Vatican said he had not meant to draw such a comparison.
But the impression that the Vatican hierarchy is closing ranks around the pope was reinforced when Bertone's predecessor as secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, made an unprecedented encomium of the pope at Easter Mass, saying "all the Church" was behind him and would ignore the "idle chatter" of the alleged media campaign.
'CULTURE CLASH'.
On Tuesday Sodano, who is now Dean of the College of Cardinals, returned to the theme in an interview with Vatican daily l'Osservatore Romano.
"The failings and mistakes of priests are being used as weapons against the Church," Sodano said.
"It is a culture clash. The Pope embodies moral verities that are not accepted".
The cardinal compared media reporting of the abuse cases to 19th-century criticism of Pope Pius X, who refused to accept the unification of Italy, to longstanding allegations that WWII Pope Pius XII did not speak out against the Holocaust, and to criticism of 1960s Pope Paul VI for his stance against birth control.
"In the face of these unjust attacks we are told that we are adopting the wrong strategy, that we should react differently. (But) the Church has its style and does not adopt the methods that are being used against the Pope. The only strategy we have comes from the Gospel," Sodano said, echoing Benedict who in an Easter Thursday sermon said "Jesus did not respond when he was insulted".
Vatican Radio on Tuesday said "there are those who fear that the media campaign of anti-Catholic hate may degenerate," citing among "the first worrying signs" an attack by a mentally unstable man on a German bishop; anti-Catholic slogans daubed on a church near Viterbo; and attempts by "several groups and individuals" to disrupt Easter services across Europe.
The broadcaster recalled that the first Christians were accused of terrible crimes and lynched.
It praised the Wall Street Journal for being among the few media outlets who have noted that "Cardinal Ratzinger did more than anyone else" to force paedophile priests "to answer for what they had done". The Vatican has insisted that, starting with new abuse guidelines as doctrinal chief in 2001, Benedict has done all he can to rid the Church of "filth" he referred to after he became pope in 2005.
But critics say a new, strong and detailed statement of strategy is needed in the face of scandals in Ireland, Austria, the Netherlands, Germany and, most recently, Italy itself.
CASTEL GANDOLFO (AsiaNews) - All Christians have the mission to be "angels", heralds of the message of love, brought by Jesus through the sacraments of baptism and confirmation announced the Pope. This was Benedict XVI´s message this Easter Monday to two thousand people present for the Regina Caeli in the courtyard of the Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo, where the Pope arrived yesterday afternoon for a short period of rest.Related Links:
"As you know - said Benedict XVI - "the Monday after Easter Sunday is traditionally called 'Angels´ Monday'. It is very interesting to deepen this reference to the Angels. Naturally, our thoughts turn immediately to the Gospel accounts of Jesus' resurrection, which refers to the figure of a messenger of the Lord ", who announced the resurrection to the women who came to the tomb".
"But the Angel of the Resurrection" - Pope Benedict XVI continued - "has another meaning. It must be borne in mind that the term 'angel' in addition to defining the Angels, spiritual beings endowed with intelligence and will, servants and messengers of God, is also one of the oldest titles attributed to Jesus himself.
"We read, for example, in Tertullian: 'He – that is Christ - was also called "angel of good council" that is the herald, which is a term denoting an office, not nature. In fact, he had to announce to the world the Father's great plan for the restoration of man '(De carne Christi, 14). Thus says the ancient Christian writer. "
"Jesus Christ, the Son of God, therefore, is also called the Angel of God the Father: He is the messenger par excellence of his love. Dear friends - said the Pope – we now think of what the Risen Jesus told the Apostles: 'As the Father has sent me, so I send you' (Jn 20:21) and he communicated to them his Holy Spirit. This means that, as Jesus was the herald of the love of God the Father, we too must be the love of Christ.
"We are messengers of his resurrection and victory over evil and death, the bearers of his divine love. Of course, we are by nature men and women, but we receive the mission of the 'angels', messengers of Christ. It is given to all in Baptism and Confirmation. Especially through the Sacrament of Holy Orders it is received by priests, ministers of Christ, I like to emphasize this in this Year for Priests."
VATICAN CITY, VATICAN - MARCH 26: Pope Benedict XVI , flanked by his personal secretary Georg Ganswein, attends a meeting with Guatemala's president Alvaro Colom Caballeros at his library on March 26, 2010 in Vatican City, Vatican. (Daylife-Getty)
Pictures courtesy of DaylifeFACT #1Analysis by Riccardo Cascioli-Avvenire:
The Catholic Church has ALWAYS taught that sexual abuse of minors is a damnable sin, of the worst kind, in which Jesus Christ himself said it would be better for someone who does this to tie a millstone around his neck and be thrown into the deepest part of the sea. Catholics involved in sexual abuse have not only failed in morality, but they have also failed in Catholicism, in that they are not practicing the Catholic Christian faith at all.
FACT #2
The total number of all priests accused of sexual abuse of minors is less than 5% of all Catholic clergy. That means more than 95% of Catholic clergy have never been accused and are doing their jobs correctly, living quiet and holy lives in service to their parishes.
FACT #3
In spite of what people say about clerical celibacy being a "cause" of these problems, actual statistics indicate that the majority of sex-abuse of minors is perpetrated by married men; step-fathers, uncles, cousins and live-in boyfriends. Statistically speaking, being a celibate man in the Catholic priesthood actually REDUCES your odds of sexually abusing minors. That's just a matter of statistical FACT.
FACT #4
In the overwhelming vast majority of cases where sexual abuse was reported in the Catholic Church, the alleged victim was a male between the ages of 12 and 18. Victims younger than 12 were almost never reported, and sexual abuse of females was also rare. This is not the clinical definition of pedophilia. It is however a type of predatory homosexuality that seeks to take advantage of underage young men. Therefore the term "pedophile priests" is a misnomer and not based on hard statistical data. A more accurate term should be "predatory homosexual priests."
FACT #5
Homosexual men are not allowed to become priests in the Catholic Church. In order for a homosexual to become a priest he must lie about his homosexuality just to get into seminary and remain "in the closet" indefinitely. If he is ever discovered to be gay, he would be fired and laicized (defrocked).
FACT #6
Sexual abuse of minors is slightly higher in Protestant churches according to data released by insurance agencies that underwrite them.
FACT #7
Sexual abuse of minors is significantly higher in non-religious institutions that deal with children, particularly public schools, where according to a U.S. government report, a child is literally over 100 times more likely to be molested in a public school than in a Catholic church.
FACT #8
The reforms implemented in the US Catholic Church after the sex-abuse scandal of 2002-2003 have been hailed by child protective services as the most comprehensive ever seen in a public institution and have been cited as a model for other institutions to follow.
It all began on May 15, 1974, when a former student of St. John's School for the Deaf presented a denunciation on abuses done to him and to other boys by Father Lawrence Murphy between 1964 and 1970, but -- as has been reported -- after an investigation, the judge in charge filed the case. The Diocese of Milwaukee instead immediately removed Father Murphy, with a temporary permission for reasons of health (until November 1974) which, however, became definitive.
A letter of the Diocese of Superior in 1980 explains that Father Murphy lived in Bounder Junction, Wisconsin, in his mother's house, continuing, however, to exercise his priestly ministry helping the local parish priest.
In the meantime, however, the denunciations to the Diocese of Milwaukee multiplied and between July and December of 1993. Father Murphy was subjected to four long interrogations by those in charge of the archdiocese assisted by expert psychologists in pedophilia. A clinical picture emerged of a "typical pedophile," recommending psychological treatment for sexual obsessions and also pastoral/spiritual support, in addition to a restriction in his ministerial activity.
Evident from the reports of the interrogations is that there were 29 denunciations of boys: Father Murphy admitted "contacts" only for 19 of the boys involved. Demonstrated in subsequent documents is that the Archdiocese of Milwaukee continued in its investigations seeking to speed up the reality and the breadth of the facts, and on July 17, 1996, Bishop Rembert Weakland wrote to the then prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, requesting help with the case of Father Murphy and of -- not connected -- another priest, accused of sexual and financial crimes.
Bishop Weakland made reference to the denunciation of 1974 and explained, however, that only recently had he come to the knowledge of the fact that certain sexual crimes occurred during the sacrament of confession, so he officially asked a priest of the diocese, Father James Connell, to conduct an in-depth investigation (the decree is of December 1995).
An obstacle to ascertaining the facts -- said bishop Weakland -- was the understandable reticence of the boys and of the community of St. John's School to make public embarrassing circumstances. Bishop Weakland turned to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to have clarification on the jurisdiction in this case of "crimes of solicitation" (canon 1387), whether it belonged to the diocese or to the congregation.
From subsequent documents it would seem that the letter never arrived on Cardinal Ratzinger's desk and of the then Archbishop [Tarcisio] Bertone, secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In any case, in the absence of a reply, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee went ahead and on Dec. 10, 1996, informed Father Murphy that on Nov. 22, ecclesiastical criminal proceedings were opened against him with a court-created ad hoc. The request of the accusation was the "destitution of Father Murphy from the clerical state."
The problem that was posed, however, was that of the prescription of crimes committed, for which the norm of Canon Law would have impeded to proceed. But the archbishop of Milwaukee was determined to single out an exception to the canon taking into account the physical and psychological situation of the victims, an intention endorsed later by Archbishop Bertone in the letter of March 24, 1997.
At the end of 1997, the process then passed to the Diocese of Superior, but the president of the court was the same as that of Milwaukee, Father Thomas Brundage. Evidenced clearly from the documents presented by The New York Times was the intention of the ecclesiastical authorities of Milwaukee and Superior to proceed in the most expeditious way possible to come to an act of justice and reparation for the victims and the community of St. John's School.
In the meantime, Father Murphy wrote a letter to Cardinal Ratzinger (Jan. 12, 1998), requesting the annulment of the process entrusted to him because the Instruction of 1962 provides for undertaking criminal action within a period of 30 days from the moment in which the accusation is presented. Father Murphy asserted, among other things, in addition to being repentant that he was gravely ill and in any case had been living in retirement for 24 years, for which he requested at least not to be reduced to the lay state.
On April 6, 1998, Archbishop Bertone wrote to Bishop Fliss of Superior, in the name of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, explaining that -- after having examined the affair carefully -- there was no fixed period for criminal action as invoked by Father Murphy, so that the process could continue even if -- added Bertone -- it is right to take into account article 1341 of the Code of Canon Law according to which a criminal sanction must be commuted only after having verified that it is not "possible to obtain sufficient reparation for the scandal, the re-establishment of justice, the emendation of the offender" with other means.
Bishop Fliss answered Archbishop Bertone on May 13, affirming that, in keeping with what the congregation indicated, there was the necessity of a prosecution of Father Murphy taking into account the gravity of the scandal and of the great pain inflicted on the Catholic community of St. John's School.
We arrive then at May 30 when there was a meeting in the Vatican between Archbishop Bertone, the undersecretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Father Gianfranco Girotti, and the American prelates concerned with the case. Evident from the minutes of the meeting is that in the congregation there were doubts about the feasibility and opportuneness of the canonical process, given the difficulty of reconstructing the events that happened 35 years earlier, above all that which concerned the crime in the confessional, and given that no other accusations resulted for the period from 1974 onward.
Hence Bertone, at the conclusion of the meeting, summarized the two essential lines to be held: a territorial restriction for the priestly ministry (in practice, Father Murphy had to stay in Superior) and decisive action to obtain the priest's repentance, including the threat of "resignation from the clerical state."
The bishop of Milwaukee wrote again on Aug. 19 to Archbishop Bertone to update him on the measures taken to activate the lines indicated by the congregation, and to inform him of the fact that his diocese would continue to be responsible for the expenses to maintain the therapies for the victims of sexual abuses. In the end, Father Murphy died on Aug. 21, closing the case definitively.
Ludicrous and egregious ruling from an EU entity:Vatican City, (CNA) - Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, said on Wednesday that the ruling by the European Human Rights Court in Strasburg, Germany ordering the removal of crucifixes from classrooms in Italy is “truly a loss” as it is necessary “to conserve the signs of our faith for those who believe as well as for those who do not.”
“This Europe of the third millennium has left us only with the pumpkins of the recently celebrated feast and has eliminated the most beloved symbols.”
After voicing his support for the Italian government’s decision to appeal the ruling, Cardinal Bertone stressed that the crucifix “is the symbol of universal love, a symbol of welcome and not exclusion.”
“I wonder if this ruling is a sign of rationality or not,” he questioned.
It its edition today, L’Osservatore Romano (LOR) recalled statements made on March 22, 1988, by Natalia Ginzbug, published in l’Unita, the newspaper founded by Communist party member Antonio Gramsci, who said, “The crucifix does not lead to any discrimination. It is the image of the Christian revolution which has spread the idea of equality between all men all over the world.”
“More than twenty years later,” LOR reported, “these words express a sentiment that is still widely shared in Italy.” “The political world has almost unanimously testified to the lack of common sense in this ruling, reiterating that the secularization of institutions is a value quite distinct from the denial of the role of Christianity,” the paper stated.
After emphasizing that in 2006 the Italian government ruled it was lawful to have crucifixes in the classroom, LOR said that the EU court’s ruling is part of a tendency towards a “not-too-distant future of public places without religious or cultural references out of fear of offending the sensibilities of others.”
The Vatican newspaper said the State should be accepting and respectful different identities rather than denying them.
Berlusconi discusses state-church relations:
Update 1:(ANSA) - Rome, September 7 - Relations between the Italian government and the Catholic Church are ''excellent,'' Premier Silvio Berlusconi said Monday, denying reports of tensions after a Church paper editor who criticised the premier quit alleging a smear campaign by a Berlusconi family daily.
The premier also repeated charges there was a defamatory campaign about his private and political life and claimed most Italians identified with him. Speaking on one of his three TV networks, Berlusconi described reported tensions with the Church over last week's resignation of Dino Boffo, editor of the Italian bishops daily Avvenire, as ''a lie''.
Berlusconi also denied that he had ever planned to see Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone on the day Berlusconi family daily Il Giornale reported Boffo had paid a harassment fine to a woman with whose husband Boffo allegedly had a relationship.
''I never asked for meetings with Bertone,'' the premier said.
Berlusconi was due to attend a traditional Catholic forgiveness ceremony on August 28, the day Il Giornale broke its story on Boffo, accusing the Avvenire editor of double standards in criticising the premier's private life.
His attendance was cancelled hours after Il Giornale hit the press, with a Vatican announcement later confirmed by the premier's office.
Several sources said he would meet Bertone, the Holy See's highest official, after the ceremony in what some observers saw as a bid to calm Catholic worries over allegations on the premier's friendship with a teenage girl and an escort who claimed to have slept with him.
But Berlusconi stressed Monday that relations with the Church had ''always been excellent,'' ruling out the need to see Bertone, then or now.
These ties would be ''consolidated,'' he said, over the coming months with the government continuing to back pro-life moves like a restrictive living will currently going through parliament, sparked by the case of a young woman who was dubbed by some ''Italy's Terri Schiavo''.
Eluana Englaro's case split Italy for years until her death earlier this year, with some churchmen and Catholic politicians claiming she had been murdered.
Englaro, 38, died after 17 years in a permanent vegetative state since a 1992 car crash despite last-minute government efforts to save her with the new legislation.
Her feeding tube was removed according to what her father said were her wishes, a claim pro-life campaigners contested.
Berlusconi told the TV show Monday: ''The defence our government made of certain basic principles...which underpin Catholic doctrine, principles like the defence of human life and the defence of the family, demonstrate the excellence of the relations between the government and the Church''.
Leftwing critics have suggested the premier would step up his government's pursuit of a pro-life agenda to dampen Catholic concerns about his private life.
Critics have claimed the centre-right majority will also fight the recent approval of the so-called 'abortion pill'.
In mid-August Boffo, the Avvenire editor who resigned last week, accused the premier of an ''arrogant'' departure from ''a sober lifestyle''.
A weekend poll in Italy's leading daily Corriere della Sera indicated the premier's popularity among practising Catholics had dropped only 5% from 55% to 50% since the case of aspiring showgirl Noemi Letizia, 18, erupted when the premier's wife Veronia Lario sued for divorce claiming Berlusconi ''frequented minors''.
Berlusconi on Monday said he had his own polls showing a 70% popularity rate for his government among all Italians, about 40% of whom, according to the Corriere poll, could be defined as practising Catholics.
Berlusconi critics claim many Italians are ill-informed about the allegations against the premier because of spotty TV coverage.
As well as controlling his three Mediaset commercial stations, the premier has influence over the three-channel RAI public TV corporation.
The premier claims never to have interfered with their working but two top journalists were blackballed a few years ago after criticism from the premier.
There has also been controversy after an anti-Berlusconi comedienne's show was pulled and, more recently, when both RAI and Mediaset declined to run trailers for a documentary, which premiered at Venice and opened at No.4 in the weekend box-office charts, accusing the premier of creating an alleged 'videocracy' in Italy.Italian journalists are staging a demonstration in defence of press freedom on September 19 after Berlusconi sued two leftwing dailies, La Repubblica and l'Unita', which have led campaigns on the sex allegations and the premier's alleged promises, first cited by his wife and later attributed to Letizia, to help showgirls enter politics.
On Monday Berlusconi levelled a fresh broadside against the press, claiming there had been a ''ferocious campaign'' against him and alleging that ''90% of newspapers'' were controlled by Communists and progressive Catholics whose ''Poor Italy'', he repeated, claiming the press was trying to install ''a police state'' and that he had been forced to defend himself.
He described protests against his libel suits as ''a joke''.
''Most Italians would like to be like me and they support my behaviour,'' said the premier.
Observers have suggested many Italians identify with the 72-year-old premier's flamboyant lifestyle and his admission that he is ''no saint''.
The premier has admitted sleeping with escort Patrizia d'Addario but said he didn't know she was a prostitute.
On Monday, Berlusconi claimed most Italians weren't interested in his private life but in the performance of his government and his political integrity.
He repeated a longstanding claim that, as Italy's long-richest and now second-richest man, he was in no danger of falling victim to graft.
''(They know) Silvio Berlusconi doesn't steal,'' he said.
The premier, who has been accused of a conflict of interest and allegedly overseeing laws in favour of himself and his media empire, stressed that ''Italians know Silvio Berlusconi is not stealing and is not using his powers for his personal advantage,'' unlike ''almost all'' his predecessors, ''especially'' on the centre-left.
He also reiterated a charge that the left-wing opposition was allegedly in league with a politically motivated judiciary which has succeeded in bringing him to trial several times but never securing a definitive sentence.
The premier has been convicted in a handful of graft trials but has either been acquitted on appeal or seen charges dropped because of the statute of limitations on fraud, shortened by one of his governments.
A remaining trial has been suspended because of a new law shielding the state's four highest officials from persecution while in office.
The Constitutional Court is set to rule this autumn on the law, which critics claim breaks the constitution's provision for equality before the law.
On Monday's show, Berlusconi accused his opponents of seeking to set up ''a judicial and police state'' from which he said he was protecting his supporters.
The premier accused his rivals of waging a ''subversive campaign'' to bring him down, claimed he had been ''forced'' to issue libel suits to defend his reputation against newspaper reports on his private life.
''Italian aren't stupid, as the Left thinks, and they prefer my government,'' he said, citing in-house polls showing the government's approval rating ''sailing towards 70%''. Despite his influence over most of Italian TV, the premier noted that most Italian newspapers - ''90% in his view - were controlled by ''a Catholic and Catholic-Communist'' minority, terms conservatives sometimes use to describe the main opposition Democratic Party formed by former Communists and mostly liberal Catholics.Rejecting notions that the alleged scandal had been poorly covered by Italian TV, Berlusconi said: ''I repeat with force, with this news set-up, poor old Italy''.
A handout photo provided by the Osservatore Romano shows Pope Benedict XVI greeting a mother and her child during his vacation in Les Combes on July 23, 2009. The 82-year-old pontiff fell last week and broke his wrist. (Daylife-Getty Images)
Pope Benedict XVI (R) and Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone segretary of Vatican States bless pilgrims gathered for the Sunday Angelus prayer on July 19, 2009 in Romano Canavese, near Ivrea, in north-western Italy. The Pope celebrated mass yesterday with his broken wrist in plaster but bemoaned an inability to clasp his hands together in prayer, his closest officials said. (Daylife-Getty Images)
