Rome, Italy - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who last month swore off sex until the April 9 elections, angered political allies as well as officials of the Catholic Church by likening himself to Jesus Christ.
``I certainly don't like the comments he made, nor would I ever make them myself,'' said Francesco D'Onofrio, Senate leader for the Christian Democrats, in a telephone interview. ``Knowing Berlusconi as well I do, though, I'm sure they shouldn't be taken as scandalously as they've been interpreted.''
Berlusconi, 69, told party supporters this weekend in Ancona, Italy that he felt like ``the Jesus Christ of politics, a patient victim who puts up with everything and sacrifices himself for all.''
Berlusconi, who is no stranger to making controversial comments, is trailing the opposition coalition led by former European Commission President Romano Prodi in the run-up to April 9 elections. Berlusconi has 47 percent of voter support, compared with the Union's 52 percent, according to an IPR Marketing poll published Feb 8. The poll had a margin of error of 2 percentage points.
Berlusconi ``showed the worst of himself'' with the comparison to Jesus Christ, said Clemente Mastella, head of the UDEUR party, a member of the center-left coalition led by Prodi. ``He shouldn't mix the sacred with the profane.''
The Vatican also weighed on Berlusconi's religious comments. ``Comparing oneself to Jesus Christ shows, at the very least, a missed opportunity, as well as a lack of sensitivity,'' said Cardinal Ersilio Tonini, in an interview with la Repubblica today.
His remarks came the same day he said that during his five years as prime minister he had accomplished more than Napoleon, a comment he yesterday brushed off as an ``obvious'' joke, Ansa said.
In July, 2003 while addressing the European Union Parliament at the start of Italy's six-month EU presidency, Berlusconi compared a German minister heckling him to a Nazi concentration camp guard.
The premier once told a group of prospective investors at the New York Stock Exchange to ``try to make investments in Italy. The secretaries are beautiful. At least you can take pleasure in working here.''
Noting that Italy had done away with inheritance taxes, Berlusconi urged the same investors that they should ``come and die in Italy.''