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(Rome) A meeting between right-of center Prime Minister Silvio
Berlusconi and Pope Benedict was cancelled Tuesday after Italy's left coalition
accused the Vatican of trying to use influence the
outcome of this spring's election.
The opposition leftist party of Romano Prodi is
ahead in the polls and poised to win the election next month.
Prodi said the meeting between the Pope and Berlusconi, just weeks before
the election, was little more than a photo-op for the conservative Prime
Minister.
The Vatican has already voiced its opposition to Prodi over his support for civil partnerships, similar to
those in Britain and other parts of the European Union.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's right of
center party coalition is against any recognition of same-sex couples.
The Italian general election will be held April 9-10.
The meeting was condemned by other members of Prodi's
coalition. Greens' Party leader Alfonso
Pecoraro Scanio said that he respects "the right of the Church to address questions of
values, but it is very serious to receive only one of the candidates for prime
minister just ahead of the ballot."
Communist leader
Fausto Bertinotti, whose party is also a member of the coalition called for
the Vatican to cancel the meeting.
In the end it was Berlusconi who cancelled but he
accused Prodi of playing politics.
"As usual, in its hysteria, part of the Left
sees threats to its election victory everywhere. I won't visit the pope, but
we'll win elections anyway," Berlusconi said Tuesday.
Prodi's coalition holds a 4.5 percentage lead
over Berlusconi's bloc, but leftists feared that could be whittled away with Papal support.
In January Pope Benedict warned Italian
politicians that the Catholic Church would use all of its power to thwart any
move to legalize same-sex unions.
Prodi has been a supporter of moderate rights for
same-sex couples since July when he met with gay activists, but he opposes gay
marriage.
©365Gay.com 2006
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