ROME - When U.S. cardinals trooped to Rome en masse to talk to the pope about the sex abuse scandals wrenching American church, there was considerable consternation in Italy, where discretion usually prevails.
"Washing dirty linen in public," one commentator marveled.
In truth, Italy, like many countries, has had cases of priestly sex abuse. But they were handled quietly.
At least seven priests in Italy have been sent to prison for pedophilia, the Catholic magazine Famiglia Cristiana (Christian Family) revealed in the edition that hit the newsstands Wednesday.
Two other priests are under investigation, one had to pay civil damages to a victim and dozens more have been sent for treatment to Jesuit-run centers for troubled priests in northern Italy over the years.
The head of the program, the Rev. Giannantonio Fincato, told the magazine that he is currently monitoring six pedophile priests. "It's hard," he was quoted as saying. "A pedophile priest is like any other pedophile, he hides it."
Famiglia Cristiana did not provide any details of the abuse cases.