K
KyivAndrew
Guest
"Church officials were said to have gone “ballistic” over an attack by a newspaper owned by Mr Berlusconi’s family against the editor of a Catholic daily, Avvenire, who has criticised the prime minister over his eye for showgirls and starlets.
The cancellation dashed Mr Berlusconi’s hopes of a rapprochement with the Church, which has repeatedly criticised the 72-year-old premier’s moral conduct.
The 11th hour cancellation appeared to be linked to a stinging attack by Il Giornale, which accused the Catholic editor Dino Boffo of being “bereft” of morals and hypocritical in writing editorials about the sex scandals the prime minister has been embroiled in over recent months.
Mr Berlusconi was due to have taken part in a religious service for the remission of sins in L’Aquila, the mountain town which was devastated by an earthquake in April. He was supposed to have participated in the service alongside the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who is second in seniority only to Pope Benedict XVI, and then attend a dinner with him.
But less than three hours before the events were due to take place, and despite weeks of planning, the Vatican announced that it was cancelling them."
telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/6106925/Vatican-cancels-dinner-with-Silvio-Berlusconi.html
With Latizzia et. al., it seems the Vatican is now putting behind it its attitude of ignoring Berlucsoni’s private life (with young mistresses and all) because he shared the Pro-Life view. Seems, it was just one more young lady too much for the Vatican to bear.
The cancellation dashed Mr Berlusconi’s hopes of a rapprochement with the Church, which has repeatedly criticised the 72-year-old premier’s moral conduct.
The 11th hour cancellation appeared to be linked to a stinging attack by Il Giornale, which accused the Catholic editor Dino Boffo of being “bereft” of morals and hypocritical in writing editorials about the sex scandals the prime minister has been embroiled in over recent months.
Mr Berlusconi was due to have taken part in a religious service for the remission of sins in L’Aquila, the mountain town which was devastated by an earthquake in April. He was supposed to have participated in the service alongside the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who is second in seniority only to Pope Benedict XVI, and then attend a dinner with him.
But less than three hours before the events were due to take place, and despite weeks of planning, the Vatican announced that it was cancelling them."
telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/6106925/Vatican-cancels-dinner-with-Silvio-Berlusconi.html
With Latizzia et. al., it seems the Vatican is now putting behind it its attitude of ignoring Berlucsoni’s private life (with young mistresses and all) because he shared the Pro-Life view. Seems, it was just one more young lady too much for the Vatican to bear.