Pope calls for defence of traditional marriage

In his first official foreign state visit, Pope Benedict told Italy yesterday the separation of Church and state was "legitimate", but urged lawmakers to defend traditional marriage and the right to life.

"A healthy secular state is legitimate," Pope Benedict told Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi during a meeting at the presidential palace after driving through the historic centre of Rome in an open-top black Mercedes.

The 12-car motorcade was flanked by mounted soldiers and greeted by hundreds of Romans who waited along the route.

Pope Benedict said a lay state should not, however, "exclude ethical references that have their base in religion".

"I want to refer to the problem of the protection of the family based on marriage, which is even recognised in the Italian Constitution, (and) the problem of the defence of human life from its conception to its natural end," he said.

He also called on the state to help finance families who send their children to religious schools.

"I trust that Italian legislators, in their wisdom, know how to give the problems 'human' solutions," said the German Pontiff, who was elected in April.

The comments come amid a row over the Roman Catholic Church's role in Italian political life.

The Vatican won a significant victory earlier this month when a referendum aimed at dismantling the country's strict law on assisted fertility and embryo research failed, thanks in part to the Church's call for a boycott.

Some Italian politicians fear the Church will try to make capital out of that victory and eventually try to overturn the country's abortion law.

In his speech, Mr Ciampi underlined the importance of keeping Church and government separate. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he believed the Pope was conscious of the need to support a secular government.

"The Pope seems very aware of this principle," he said.

Pope Benedict stressed the importance of "independence and autonomy" in Church-state relations but called on Italians to remember their Christian roots.

"My hope is that the Italian people not only don't reject their Christian heritage which is part of their story, but they look after it with particular care," he said.

Earlier this month, in his first book published since his election, Pope Benedict said the Catholic Church could never accept laws allowing abortion because there was no such thing as "small murders".

He has also condemned same-sex unions as expressions of "anarchic freedom" that threatened the future of the family.