Bossi under fire after insults Pope

Leaders across Italy's political spectrum attacked Reforms Minister Umberto Bossi yesterday after the outspoken politician took a swipe at Pope John Paul and said "thieving" cardinals should go back to being barefoot monks.

Bossi, the firebrand leader of the federalist Northern League party, regularly stirs Italy's political waters, but now he has taken aim at the Catholic Church and Polish-born John Paul.

After the Pope improvised a message in Roman dialect to visiting priests, Bossi ridiculed him and said he was sending the pontiff three dictionaries of northern Italian dialects so he could speak something other than Polish and Roman.

He kept up his attacks at the weekend, telling reporters Italy should get rid of the voluntary tithe taxpayers can earmark for the Catholic Church and should make priests "go barefoot again".

He also referred to "cardinals who speak in the name of the money God" and to "thieving monsignors and cardinals".

The comments drew wide condemnation in deeply Catholic Italy, including Bossi's partners in Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right coalition.

"Bossi has exceeded the limits of decency," Deputy Prime Minister Gianfranco Fini told ANSA news agency, urging Berlusconi to take a long, hard look at the consequences of keeping such an unruly ally.

European Affairs Minister Rocco Buttiglione said Bossi's comments could undermine Italy's image in the rest of Europe. The Vatican has maintained a stony silence over Bossi's attacks, but Catholic newspaper Avvenire dismissed his comments.

"There is no sense in wasting words and running after the ignorant when they are happy to be that way," the paper said in an editorial.

Bossi has clashed with the Vatican in the past, once accusing Pope John Paul of meddling in domestic politics and saying the Catholic Church had taken a step backwards under the leadership of a Polish-born pope.

"Yet again, like so many times before, Bossi has confirmed he is the champion of vulgarity," said Marco Rizzo, leader of the Communist party.

The Northern League has built its support on frustration with high taxes, illegal immigration and central government bureaucracy, which Bossi says robs the north of its riches.