Church 'mortified' by Berlusconi

The Roman Catholic Church has expressed "unease" and "mortification" over revelations surrounding the private life of Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi. In some of the strongest Church criticism to date, the newspaper of the Italian Bishops' Conference condemned Mr Berlusconi's "arrogant" behaviour. His political party relies heavily on the support of Catholic voters. However the prime minister's reported dealings with younger women have not greatly damaged his approval ratings. The editor of the Avvenire newspaper, Dino Boffo, wrote in an editorial: "Have people been able to identify the Church's reservations? "It seems to me that... people have understood the unease, the mortification, the suffering that such an arrogant abandonment of a sober style has caused us."

Sex allegations

There have been a series of allegations about Mr Berlusconi's private life over the past few months. Media attention first focused on an alleged relationship between the prime minister and 18-year-old Noemi Letizia. Mr Berlusconi attended her birthday party, bringing a 6,000 euro (£5,160; $8,500) necklace, prompting his wife Veronica to seek a divorce and accuse her husband of "consorting with minors". The prime minister initially said he had only gone to Ms Letizia's party because she was the daughter of a family friend, but photographs later emerged of them together at social events last year, when she was 17. He also confirmed she had stayed at his villa in Sardinia.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8198554.stm