Buttiglione Says He is Victim Of "Hate-Campaign"

Speaking to Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Rocco Buttiglione said MEPs were trying to block his nomination to become commissioner because of his religious beliefs. He said this meant having "to conform to a new orthodoxy, accompanied by a new inquisition, but this time anti-Christian." "There is a hate-campaign being waged against me," claimed the conservative Catholic. His comments come after he caused a fresh storm of protest on Saturday by reportedly saying that single mothers were "not very good" people. Buttiglione then said that his words had been taken out of context and on Sunday said that that single mother are the "heroines of our time". The Italian has appeared regularly in print over the last two weeks after telling a European Parliament Committee that he thought homosexuality is a sin. The same Committee then rejected his nomination to be a commissioner, sparking a tussle between the incoming Commission President Jose Barroso and the Brussels assembly. The issue has come to a head with the Socialist group in the European Parliament threatening to veto his nomination if he is not given another portfolio -- he is supposed to take on justice and home affairs from Nov. 1. (EUobserver.com)