Former Italian President Scalfaro dies

ROME, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, whose lengthy career in politics was capped by seven years as president of Italy from 1992 to 1999, died Sunday. He was 93.

At his death, Scalfaro was a senator for life, La Repubblica reported. A member of the conservative Christian Democrats, he entered politics as a magistrate in 1943 and was elected to the Constituent Assembly three years later.

Pope Benedict XVI, in a message of condolence read on Vatican Radio, called Scalfaro "an illustrious Catholic statesman" "and said he "did his best to promote the common good and the perennial ethical and religious values of Christianity that is proper to Italy's historical and civic tradition," The New York Times reported.

Scalfaro remained in the Legislature until 1992. He was minister of the interior from 1983 to 1987, working to create international accords on terrorism and organized crime.

When Scalfaro became president, both his party and Italy were in crisis. The Christian Democrats, which had dominated the political scene since World War II, was dissolved in 1994 after being caught up in a corruption investigation.

Italy's powerful criminal organizations were also on the rise. A few days before he was elected, the Sicilian Mafia killed a leading prosecutor.

While the Italian president has little formal power, observers said he helped hold the country together. The presidential Web site said that he "made a tremendous effort to hearten the country, and reassure international observers of the solidity of Italian institutions."

Scalfaro never remarried after his wife, Maria, died in 1944 at the age of 20, leaving him with a daughter.