Comedian Who Satirised Pope Could Face Prosecution

Italian politicians of right and left, comedians and even some priests yesterday deplored a move by prosecutors in Rome to put a satirist on trial for contempt of the Pope.

Sabina Guzzanti, known for her take-offs of the prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, risks being jailed for up to five years. The prosecutors recommended to the justice ministry that she be indicted because of a speech she made to a leftwing rally in July.

Referring to the attitude to gay people of the Catholic church and Pope Benedict - the former cardinal Joseph Ratzinger - Guzzanti said: "In 20 years Ratzinger will be dead and will end up in hell, tormented by queer demons - not passive ones, but very active ones."

The 1929 Lateran treaty that created the Vatican city state describes the Pope as a "sacred and inviolable person". It makes insulting him an offense in Italy on a par with contempt for Italy's president, punishable by between one and five years in jail. Indictment, however, requires an endorsement from the justice minister.

The minister, Angelino Alfano, has not yet replied to the prosecutors' request.

Roberto Castelli, who held the justice portfolio in Berlusconi's last government, said Guzzanti had committed no crime.

"I don't agree with anything at all that Sabina Guzzanti says - much less what she says about the Pope - but I stand by her right to say whatever colossal nonsense she wants to," he said.

Father Bartolomeo Sorge, editor of a Jesuit monthly, condemned the attempted prosecution. "I am sure the Pope has forgiven those gratuitous offenses," he said.

As for Guzzanti, she said she felt "honored".