Pope uses historic address for veiled dig at Berlusconi

In the first address by a Pontiff to the Italian parliament, Pope John Paul II launched a stinging attack yesterday on modern Western values, including consumerism, greed, immorality and a reluctance to have large families.

Italy's billionaire Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, the richest man in the country, who is still facing charges of corruption, including allegedly bribing judges, was quick to hail the Pope's historic address, calling it "a high and noble speech, full of love for Italy".

But when the Holy Father remarked, "to the eye of the wise, man counts for what he is, not for what he has; the human value of a person is ... related to what he is, not to what he has", it was hard to avoid the impression that he had in mind the relentlessly acquisitive man sitting immediately below the dais.

"A democracy without values is converted easily into open or covert totalitarianism," said the Pope, in a guarded reference to Italy's decade-long struggle, far from over, to rid its political system of corruption.

The Pope also fulfilled the hope of many when he called on the government to reduce the sentences of prisoners. Italy's most celebrated prisoner, an intellectual and journalist called Adriano Sofri, in jail for many years in Pisa for what his supporters believe to be trumped-up murder charges, said laconically: "Parole has arrived."

But the Minister of Justice, Roberto Castelli, in one of the day's few discordant notes, said: "As a Christian and a Catholic it is impossible not to share his feelings; as a minister, I think differently."

One Mafia boss was reportedly so moved by the Pope's comments on family values that he surrendered to prison authorities in Rome.

The Pope's journey from Vatican City to parliament covered two miles and more than 100 years of history. It ended the breach between Church and State that opened in 1870, when unification robbed the Popes of Rome.

Meanwhile, Mr Berlusconi appointed Franco Frattini Foreign Minister, ending 11 months in which he has performed those duties as well as those of Prime Minister.