Vatican Slams "Licentious Conduct" of Italian Elite

Hypocrisy has a name: The Vatican. After being implicated in a world wide plan of enabling and covering up the sexual molestation of tens of thousands of children and youths, the Vatican has slammed the behavior of Italy's political elite - including Benedict XVI's BFF Silvio Berlusconi- for their sexual improprieties. I'm no fan of Berlusconi who I consider to be a disgusting, nasty satyr (and homophobic bigot), but for the Vatican and/or the Catholic Church hierarchy to be casting stones in respect to sexual behavior is beyond ludicrous. Especially given the previous rumors about Benedict XVI and his personal secretary (pictured at right) who has followed Benedict everywhere throughout his rise in power. The New York Times looks at this Italian sh*t storm. Here are some highlights:

ROME — Over the last several years, the Roman Catholic Church in Italy has largely looked the other way as reports emerged of sex and corruption scandals among the country’s political elite, many of them centered on Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. But a recent published account of a party at Mr. Berlusconi’s home, where one female guest was said to have performed a striptease dressed as a nun, might have been more than the church could stand.

This week the church lashed out, issuing its strongest reprimands yet of Italy’s ruling class, deploring “behavior that not only goes counter to public decorum but is intrinsically sad and hollow.” Italians “look on their public leaders with consternation, and the image of the country abroad has been dangerously weakened,” Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, the head of the Italian Bishops’ Conference

Though Cardinal Bagnasco did not single out Mr. Berlusconi — who is in court fighting several corruption charges and accusations of having sex with a minor, and has lately become embroiled in a scandal involving prostitutes paid to attend parties at his villas — the cardinal spoke of “licentious conduct and improper relationships that damage society.” And he blasted a governing class preoccupied with itself while Italian citizens struggled to make ends meet.

Critics like Mario Staderini, a member of the Radical Party who has been fighting to eliminate fiscal privileges for the church, say that the church has treaded lightly in past years to avoid alienating a center-right government that has continued to offer tax breaks for church-owned properties and commercial activities, while supporting Catholic schools and Vatican positions on questions like common-law marriage, living wills and some forms of assisted fertility. All of those practices are illegal in Italy.

Officially, the government has not responded to the church’s criticisms. But on Wednesday, Umberto Bossi, the leader of the Northern League and a crucial Berlusconi ally, said that instead of faulting the government, “bishops should say more Masses.”

I do not like either the center right government and Berlusconi or the Vatican. Hence, it's fun to watch the two factions go at each other. Neither faction, in my opinion, could give a damn about average Italians. The Vatican is pissed that the Berlusconi government hasn't delivered on promises and/or has set up conservatives and Vatican boot lickers for condemnation.