Italian Catholic church 'mortified' by Berlusconi's scandalous private life

London, Aug 13 (ANI): The shocking revelations surrounding the private life of Silvio Berlusconi have made Italy's Catholic church feel "uneasy" and "'mortified", the newspaper of the Italian Bishops' Conference has said.

Avvenire newspaper said the church had sent clears signals over Berlusconi's alleged womanising, reports The Telegraph.

"Have people been able to identify the church's reservations?" wrote Avvenire's editor Dino Boffo.

"It seems to me that ... people have understood the unease, the mortification, the suffering that such an arrogant abandonment of a sober style has caused us," Dino added.

The 72-year-old media mogul's private life came under the spotlight when his wife Veronica announced she wanted a divorce, accusing him of "frequenting minors".

This was in context of Berlusconi's relation with 18-year-old model Noemi Letizia, to whom he gave a 6,000-euro necklace at her birthday party, before other girls came forward claiming to have been paid to attend his extravagant parties.

One of them, 42-year-old escort girl Patrizia D'Addario, claimed she slept with Berlusconi at one party and posted tapes of their supposed conversations on the internet. (ANI)