Protection for anti-gay bishop
2007-04-30 14:08
Rome - The head of the Italian Catholic Church has been placed under police escort after being targeted by death threats for speaking out against homosexual couples.
According to reports on Monday, Genoa archbishop Angelo Bagnasco received an envelope containing a bullet and a swastika drawn over a photograph of the prelate.
The envelope was delivered to his office on Friday and was immediately handed over to the police.
Bagnasco, who on March 7 became the new head of the politically influential Italian Bishops Conference, was assigned a police escort earlier this month after being targeted by threats in the form of graffiti written on walls in Genoa, Bologna and Naples.
Security measures were strengthened on Sunday, when two bodyguards escorted him during a service in the Genoa cathedral while several plain-clothed policemen mingled among the faithful.
Bagnasco's first act as the new head of the Italian Catholic Church was to issue a document urging Catholic politicians to oppose government plans to grant new rights to same-sex and de facto couples.
His predecessor, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, told Corriere della Sera on Monday that the Church would not be intimidated and would continue to "speak out even more clearly and loudly than before".
Experts are so far inclined to rule out left-wing terrorists for the threats, blaming them on isolated hotheads instead.
Sapa-dpa
- SAPA