Bishops’ editor quits
after scandal
By Will Heaven

11 September 2009

Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has denied a fresh rift with the Vatican despite the attack on editor Dino Boffo

Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has said relations between the Holy See and his government remain "excellent", despite the resignation of a high-profile Catholic newspaper editor.

After a top aide visited the Vatican Berlusconi told Mediaset TV that rumours of a rift were "a lie, because my government's and my own personal relations with those who guide the Catholic Church... have always been excellent".

Dino Boffo, the 57-year-old editor of Avvenire - a newspaper backed by the Italian bishops' conference (CEI) - was forced to resign after what has been described as a "brutal" personal attack on him appeared in Il Giornale, a newspaper owned by Paolo Berlusconi, the younger brother of the Italian PM.

Il Giornale published a front-page story which claimed Mr Boffo was a homosexual who had been accused of harassing a married woman. It also said that he had paid a fine in a plea bargain to avoid a jail sentence in 2004.

Although the Church quickly expressed its support for the editor - with the bishops' conference saying he worked with "indisputable professional ability, balance and prudence" - Mr Boffo resigned, saying the attacks had damaged his family and the newspaper he edited. In an article published in Avvenire he denied that he had ever harassed a woman and said someone else had used his phone to contact her at the time.

In his letter of resignation to Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, the head of the Italian bishops' conference, Mr Boffo said: "For seven days my name has been at the centre of a storm of gigantic proportions.

"I cannot accept that a war of words that is upsetting my family and increasingly startling Italians... keeps developing around my name for days to come."

He also thanked the Church for its support but said it "has better things to do than strenuously defend one person, even if unfairly targeted".

The letter also claimed that it was "clear the sexual scandal initially used against [Boffo] was a colossal fictional set-up which was diabolically engineered".

A communiqué issued by the Social Communications Office of the Italian bishops''conference confirmed that Cardinal Bagnasco accepted the resignation "with regret".

Avvenire has been an outspoken critic of Mr Berlusconi, particularly in the wake of allegations of sleaze which have plagued the Italian PM this year. This has led to accusations that the Berlusconi family engineered his downfall using Il Giornale in a tit-for-tat media war.

Mr Boffo had used pages of Avvenire to call for "a premier who, with sobriety, is able to be the mirror of his country's soul".

He wrote: "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."

The editor also accused Mr Berlusconi of "embarrassing much of the country".

In April the media tycoon attended the 18th birthday party of Noemi Letizia, a lingerie model, to whom he gave a gold and diamond necklace. Mr Berlusconi's wife, Veronica Lario, lashed out in an open letter to the media. She accused him of having never attended one of his own children's 18th birthday parties, despite having been invited.

Miss Lario, 52, also complained that her husband's plans to choose models and TV stars to be members of the European parliament were "shameful trash".

Since then, Mr Berlusconi has been accused of paying for escorts who attended his parties and for one who supposedly spent the night with him, although his lawyer has consistently denied the claims, saying that Berlusconi has "great respect for women".

Miss Lario has filed for divorce, saying she could not be with a man who "frequented minors". She said: "I think I have no other choice than to separate."

Although the Vatican has remained quiet over the allegations surrounding Mr Berlusconi, on the day Il Giornale published the attack on Mr Boffo he had been due to attend a traditional Mass for the forgiveness of sins in L'Aquila. He was then expected to have dinner with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, but the event was cancelled.