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Friday, August 22, 2008

Pope drawn into row over racism

Pope drawn into row over racism

Robert Mickens


Pope Benedict XVI has found himself in the midst of a heated debate over Italy's controversial new security measures - which some say unfairly single out Gypsies and foreigners - after he warned against the rise of "new and worrying signs of racism" in "some countries" around the world.

The Pope never mentioned Italy in remarks he made last Sunday before praying the Angelus at Castel Gandolfo, but some Italian commentators and politicians were quick to link his comments to stinging criticism that the country's most popular Catholic magazine has been levelling for weeks against Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right Government.

Famiglia Cristiana, a mainstream family-oriented publication that sells up to two million copies a week, preceded the Pope's remarks with its latest critique, insinuating that the Berlusconi Government was verging on fascism.

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