Pope Consoles Berlusconi After Attack

Pope Benedict XVI has sent a telegram through the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, condemning Sunday night’s physical attack on Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

According to L’Osservatore Romano, the Holy Father expressed his “paternal closeness” to Berlusconi, said he deplored the personal attack, and wished him “a speedy recovery.”

Massimo Tartaglia, a 42-year-old with a history of psychological problems, threw a metal souvenir into Berlusconi’s face after the Italian prime minister had addressed a rally outside Milan’s cathedral. The prime minister is currently still in hospital, suffering from a broken nose, cuts to his face and two dislodged teeth.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said the act of aggression was “very serious and worrying” and showed “the real risk of violent words becoming violent acts.” Without a doubt, he added, every act of violence must be “firmly condemned by all political parties and by all different sectors of society.”

Italy’s bishops called the episode “unique and appalling” and said that while they were sincerely close to Berlusconi at this time, they expressed hope for a “more peaceful and respectful cultural climate” in the country “in order to achieve social cohesion and political responsibility for the good of one and all.”

Tartaglia has told police he felt a “strong aversion and hatred” toward the policies of the country’s center-right ruling coalition, in particular the politics of Berlusconi himself.

The incident came amid increasing tension and polarization in Italian politics fueled by a renewal of corruption charges against Berlusconi and allegations he had links with the Mafia early in his career, which he firmly denies. Berlusconi recently had his immunity from prosecution overturned; he responded by issuing a strong attack on Italy’s Constitutional Court, judges and the country’s President Giorgio Napolitano. Earlier in the year, he faced allegations that he paid for a prostitute at his Rome residence, a charge he also firmly denies.

The Church also became embroiled in Berlusconi’s troubles when the former editor of the bishops’ newspaper, Avvenire, Dino Boffo, was forced to resign in September after one of the prime minister’s newspapers dug up scandalous allegations against him. Boffo had been an ardent critic of the Italian premier’s moral and political behavior.

The political left argues that the prime minister has enacted a “climate of violence” through his language and rhetoric, while right-wing politicians blame the attack on a “campaign of hate” against the Italian leader. Others blame media incitement, much of which is controlled by Berlusconi’s media empire.

“An alarm has sounded,” said an editorial in L’Osservatore Romano. “It is necessary that this be taken into account in the language and concepts expressed primarily by the protagonists of Italian politics, of whatever political color; for the good of the country.”

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