Cautious Church blessing for Berlusconi

Italy's Catholic Church yesterday appeared to give a cautious blessing to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's new conservative government but said it had to tackle immigration, security and the Naples garbage crisis.

Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, head of the influential Italian Bishops Conference, said that the Church was expecting "a period of productive stability" after Mr Berlusconi's coalition won a clear majority at last month's general election.

Cardinal Bagnasco's speech appeared conciliatory towards the new government following years of Church clashes with the previous, centre-left, administration over issues such as homosexual rights and abortion.

Cardinal Bagnasco spoke a day after former Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema, a leftist, warned national Church leaders against succumbing to "the demoniacal temptation of seeking power" by entering into a pact with the new conservative government.

The cardinal did not mention Mr D'Alema's comments, which were given big play in yesterday's newspapers, but instead spoke of the need for political cooperation to solve pressing problems.

"In this new situation, we cannot but hope that everyone assumes a firmer responsibility to confront the great problems that afflict the country, and which must be dealt with wisely but also quickly," Cardinal Bagnasco said.

He warned of "irrational and self-destructive" bureaucratic delays and shirking responsibility that "offend citizens", making a specific reference to the long-running Naples garbage crisis that has tarnished Italy's image around the world.

The Naples area has been the scene of repeated clashes between police and demonstrators as the new government has tried to open new dumps to deal with tonnes of trash piled up on the streets. Several people were injured in weekend clashes.

Cardinal Bagnasco urged locals, who oppose the dumps in their areas, to show "responsible cooperation" with the authorities.

He also called on the government to integrate foreigners already in Italy legally so they would not wind up in "ghettos". But migrants had to respect Italian traditions and culture, as "the identity of our people was not born yesterday".

The cardinal made no specific mention of tough new measures approved by Mr Berlusconi's Cabinet last week to fight crime and illegal immigration which were criticised by some European countries and the UN refugee agency.

The emergency measures would make illegal immigration a jailable offence, make it harder to obtain asylum in Italy and punish Italians who rent housing to illegal immigrants.