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	Italian Priest Accused of Sexual Assault by Ex-Clients By Peter Kiefer The New York Times August 4, 2007 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/04/world/europe/04italy.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin Rome, Aug. 3 — A prominent Italian priest who is close to some of Italy's most powerful politicians has been accused by men who were once clients of his drug rehabilitation charity of sexually abusing them, his spokesman confirmed Friday. The priest, the Rev. Pietro Gelmini, 82, is the founder of Comunità Incontro, which has nearly 200 centers in Italy that care for drug addicts and homeless people. Father Gelmini's spokesman, Alessandro Meluzzi, discussed the investigation after a newspaper report made it public on Friday. Mr. Meluzzi, a former senator, pointed out that Father Gelmini had not been charged by prosecutors with any crime. "For an American this probably seems bizarre, but this kind of thing happens in Italy, that this can be revealed on the front page of a newspaper without ever formalizing the accusations," he said. He said that the accusations, by two men who were in their late 20s during the period covered by their complaint, were unfounded and that they had been kicked out of one of the centers after breaking rules. The article appeared on the front page of La Stampa, based in Turin. According to the article, the investigation has been going on for six months. It is unclear how many accusers are involved or who they are. Investigators did not return a telephone call on Friday. On a television news broadcast, according to the wire service ANSA, Father Gelmini said, "I am suffering, but on the inside I am very serene because you cannot cancel 44 years of work with insinuations." Father Gelmini is often on television, and his work has been praised by high-ranking politicians in Italy's center-right coalition. When he turned 80 in 2005, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi flew to his birthday celebration and gave a speech. On Friday, several politicians quickly came to his defense. Rocco Buttiglione, the former Italian culture minister and a conservative Catholic intellectual, called the accusations "an attack against the Italian church that is guilty of not bending to the powers of the moment."
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