Berlusconi Celebrates Mussolini; Gal Pal Cashes In

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi commemorated the work of his predecessor, Prime Minister Benito Mussolini, in a ceremony at the Vatican yesterday. Mr. Berlusconi met with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone to mark the anniversary of the 1929 Lateran Treaty establishing 109-acre Vatican City within Rome. That’s the same Cardinal Bertone who urged “everyone, especially those who hold a position of public responsibility […] to commit themselves to a more robust morality, a sense of justice and legality.” The two officials may have shaken hands, and it is unclear whether the Cardinal wiped his off afterwards.

74-year-old Silvio Berlusconi has been indicted by a Milan court, and will be tried next month on charges that he paid to have intimate relations with an underaged  immigrant girl, Karima El Mahroug, aka “Ruby Rubacuori,” “Ruby Heartbreaker.” The teenager in question recently denied she’s a prostitute, then asked AP for $20,000 for an interview saying “I don’t do anything for nothing.” The principled young lady was recently paid $136,000 to have her clothes ripped off in a TV commercial.

The Italian Prime Minister faces a second charge, abusing the power of his office. When Ms. El Mahroug was accused of theft and held by police, he had her freed by claiming the Moroccan teen is a granddaughter of Hosni Mubarak, then Egypt’s President. Mr. Mubarak recently resigned after street demonstrations, much like those now occurring in Italy.

 

Image (“Berlusconi Seraglio, after Fernand Cormon”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Tags: Benito Mussolini, Berlusconi, Bertone, Cardinal Bertone, Catholic Church, El Mahroug, history, Holy See, Italy, Karima el-Mahroug, Karima Keyek, Keyek, Lateran Pacts, Lateran Treaty, Milan, Mussolini, Ruby Heart Stealer, Ruby Rubacuori, scandal, sex, Silvio Berlusconi, Stato della Città del Vaticano, Vatican