Vatican tells Berlusconi to control himself

A week after his estranged wife Veronica Lario attacked Silvio Berlusconi for being "someone who cavorts with minors", the Vatican - one of his biggest allies - has waded into the fray over the Italian Prime Minister's wandering eye. Senior Catholic Bishops have condemned the premier for his "weakness for young, flowing actresses".
 
In a stinging front-page editorial headlined 'Politics and showbusiness: a deadly embrace', the Avvenire, the official newspaper of the Italian Catholic Bishops Conference, called on the 72-year-old to control himself. "We know that a man of the Government is judged by what he achieves, for his programmes and for the quality of the laws that he contributes to passing," it said. "But neither should the quality of a leader, his style and his values be inconsequential - they cannot be. We ask that the Prime Minister be more sober, sombre and a mirror of the country's soul."
 
Earlier this week, Lario, who has been married to Berlusconi for 19 years, announced she was divorcing him because she was "fed up seeing him with minors". The final straw was Berlusconi's visit to Naples at the end of April to attend the birthday party of Noemi Letizia, an 18-year-old glamour model who calls the Italian premier 'daddy'.
 
Last night Berlusconi went on state-run television to defend himself. He repeated his calls for his soon-to-be former wife to apologise for embarrassing him and admit that she was wrong about the nature of his relationship with Letizia. ·