Pope Benedict XVI sparked a protest Saturday by campaigners angry at the Catholic Church's powerful influence in the country as he flew into northern Italy for a two-day trip.Around 1,000 people marched through the industrial outskirts of the city of Genoa, where the pope made a brief stop, to denounce "daily interference by the Vatican in Italian public debate and daily life."
Organised by far-left, feminist and gay rights groups, the rally was called in defence of secularism and in protest at a speech Monday in which the pope lashed out at abortion, legalised in Italy 30 years ago, as an offence before God.
"I have been a feminist since 1963, and I still have to march for the same things as 40 years ago," said Silvana, an elegant woman in her 70s.
It was the second protest to erupt during a visit in Italy by Pope Benedict, after a demonstration by students and faculty at Rome's La Sapienza university caused him to cancel a visit to the prestigious school in January.
The demonstrators were also calling for a review of Italian state funding for the Roman Catholic Church, which they evaluated at nine billion euros (14 billion dollars) per year.
Pope Benedict headed straight from Genoa to the nearby town of Savona, where some 20,000 faithful had rallied to hear him deliver an open-air mass in tribute to the 19th-century pope, Pius VII.
The pope was put under house arrest in Savona in 1809 after standing up to Napoleon over the annexation of the Papal States, one of the territories that made up Italy before its unification in 1861.
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