Northern League leader Matteo
Salvini said Wednesday that he did not need the pope's
forgiveness.
He was commenting after Pope Francis asked the faithful to
pray for forgiveness for those who "close the door" to refugees.
"How many refugees are there in the Vatican?" Salvini, who
has called for a hard-line stance in dealing with the
Mediterranean migrant crisis, told his party's Radio Padania.
"The problem is that the refugees are a quarter of those
who arrive (while the rest are economic migrants). We do't need
to be forgiven".
The League's governor of Lombardy, Roberto Maroni, has been
leading a drive to reject asylum seekers being relocated to
other parts of the country after arriving landing in southern
Italy.
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