Church 'mortified' by Berlusconi

The Roman Catholic Church has expressed "unease" and "mortification" over revelations surrounding the private life of Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi.

In some of the strongest Church criticism to date, the newspaper of the Italian Bishops' Conference condemned Mr Berlusconi's "arrogant" behaviour.

His political party relies heavily on the support of Catholic voters.

However the prime minister's reported dealings with younger women have not greatly damaged his approval ratings.

The editor of the Avvenire newspaper, Dino Boffo, wrote in an editorial: