Italy Gov`t Bridles at Catholic Mag`s Fascist Slur

Rather than backing off, the magazine hit back with a piece citing a report on racism in Italy in French magazine Esprit.

Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right government reacted angrily on Thursday to speculation in a Roman Catholic weekly -- one of Italy's top-selling magazines -- that Italy may be witnessing the re-birth of fascism.

The Vatican distanced itself from the editorial in Famiglia Cristiana's Friday edition, which was released to the media in advance. Papal spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said it "does not express the views of the Holy See" or of Italian bishops.

The government had already accused the magazine of being "Catho-communist" after its last editorial said tough new anti-crime measures would hurt the destitute.

Rather than backing off, the magazine hit back with a piece citing a report on racism in Italy in French magazine Esprit.

It concluded: "Let's hope the suspicion is unfounded that fascism is resurfacing in our country under another guise."

The magazine, which ex-President Francesco Cossiga termed "the publicity arm of the Catholic left", is sold at churches and news stands and has a circulation of 600,000 copies a week.

"BRUTAL TONES"

The centre right is often labelled "fascist" by opposition politicians and intellectuals like Nobel laureate Dario Fo -- partly because of the unapologetic former fascists in its ranks and partly because of its stand on illegal immigrants and crime, which has led it to put thousands of soldiers on the streets.

It has been accused of racism by rights groups and European Union politicians and officials for plans to fingerprint Roma children living in illegal camps, and one of the coalition's main partners, the Northern League, uses xenophobic rhetoric.

But the comparison stings more when made by a publication linked to the Catholic Church to which so many centre-right politicians and supporters swear allegiance.

The head of Berlusconi's People of Freedom party in the upper house of parliament, Maurizio Gasparri, said he would sue the editor of the magazine. Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa called the magazine "out of time".

The government's undersecretary for family affairs, Carlo Giovanardi, said "the only fascism present in Italy today are the brutal tones which Famiglia Cristiana uses".

The magazine's director, Catholic priest Antonio Sciortino, defended the editorial and said the magazine had no reason to feel chided by the Vatican response "because we have never dreamed of being the official organ of the Holy See".