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Article: Andreotti's trial run in papal guise
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- August 10, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1995 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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ANDREW GUMBEL
Ferentino
It was such perfect casting that it seemed too good to be true:
Giulio Andreotti, on stage, as the Pope.
And yet it really happened, at a summer arts festival in the
hills south of Rome a few nights ago. Mr Andreotti, that most
furtive and priestlike of Italian politicians, who always smelt of
rosewater and incense as he went about his daily scheming, appeared
before a packed audience in his old parliamentary constituency to
take on the role of the medieval pontiff Boniface VIII.
You have to admire the chutzpah of the man. After all, the
76-year-old godfather of Italian politics, omnipresent in
government since the Second World War and seven times prime
minister, is ...