Catholic church ‘mortified’ by Berlusconi’s private life

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,” Boffo was quoted as saying by the Daily Telegraph in a report on Thursday.

There have been a series of allegations about Berlusconi’s private life over the past few months. He has courted controversy after media reports of his “relationship” with Noemi Letizia,an 18-year-model,was splashed in the media. It forced his wife Veronica to announce she wanted a divorce,accusing him of “frequenting minors”.

42-year-old Patrizia D’Addario,an escort girl at the centre of the scandal involving Berlusconi,claimed she had a sexual relationship with Berlusconi and posted tapes of their supposed conversations on the Internet.

The scandal involving escort girls and sex tapes seems to have also taken their toll on the embattled Italian Prime Minister,who has planed a stress-busting holiday that will include hydrotherapy and a strict diet.

However,the weeks of scandals have not greatly damaged the Prime Minister’s approval ratings. A survey late last month showed that Berlusconi’s approval had slipped to 49 per cent,down just four points since May despite Italy’s worst economic downturn since the Second World War.

“I deserve to be left in peace: enough violations of privacy,” Berlusconi was quoted as saying by Il Giornale newspaper.