Conservative priest Father Gianni Baget Bozzo, known for political activism, died in his sleep here during the night at age 84, it was announced Friday morning.
Baget Bozzo's funeral will be celebrated Monday by Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, the archbishop of Genoa and chairman of the Italian bishops' conference CEI.
Born in Savona in 1925, Baget Bozzo earned a degree in law and his interest in politics led him to seek and win election as a city councillor in Genoa for the Christian Democrat (DC) party in 1956.
However, after a few years he decided to enter a seminary and he was ordained as a priest in 1967.
In 1970 he once again became active in politics but his positions differed with those of the DC, especially over a power-sharing accord with the Italian Communist Party (PCI), and in 1980 he shifted his alliance to the Italian Socialist Party (PSI).
Baget Bozzo's political activism frequently put him at odds with Church authorites.
After several reprimands from the Curia, he was first banned from celebrating Mass and preaching and then, when won a PSI seat in the 1984 European elections, he was suspended 'a divinis' for violating a Church rule against holding political office.
He remained in the Strasbourg assembly until 1994, after which the Church lifted his suspension.
After the Clean Hands political corruption scandal led to the downfall of the DC and PSI in the early 1990s, Baget Bozzo joined the fledgling Forza Italia party of media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi and became one of the most influential advisors of the future premier.
In 1997 he was made head of Forza Italia's training sector and in 2000 he was once again reprimanded for his political activism and outspoken views by the then-archbishop of Genoa, Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi.
A frequent guest on political talks shows and newspaper commentator, Baget Bozzo drew criticism for his support of the recognition of same-sex couples.
He even once admitted that while he had homosexual tendencies, as a priest he abstained from any sexual activity.
