Italian Premier Wants Church To Help With Tax Compliance

Italy's Premier Romano Prodi has asked the Catholic Church to help the government in its attempt to crack down on tax evasion. In an interview with a religious weekly, Prodi said: "A third of Italians heavily evade taxes.... Why, when I go to Mass, is this issue, which is ethically charged, almost never touched upon in the homilies?" The AP reported last week that Prodi's appeal has led his opponents to charge that he is violating the principle of secularism that he has strongly defended in the past.