League leader takes swipe at Italian Church over immigration

(ANSA) - Rome, September 1 - The head of Italy's anti-immigrant Northern League took another swipe at the Italian Bishops Conference CEI on Tuesday, ridiculing its leader in an ongoing feud with the Italian Church over immigration policies.
    CEI Secretary-General Monsignor Nunzio Galantino has criticised politicians who fuel anti-migrant sentiments, and has complained about the government's response to the Mediterranean refugee crisis. His comments have prompted harsh replies from Northern League members.
    League leader Matteo Salvini continued the clash on Tuesday, telling Radio Anch'io that he did not view Galantino as a bishop, but as a "joke".
    "Luckily, the large part of the Church speaks very little and works a lot. I'm attacking those bishops that would want to run for parliament for the Communist party," Salvini said.
    He also renewed calls for the Cara di Mineo refugee reception centre near Catania to be closed.
    "There are countless investigations into that centre, and the local mayors all say it is an enclave of crime," he said.
    Catholic daily Avvenire also waded in on the immigration issue on Tuesday, calling for an end to "racist hysteria" but agreeing that the Cara reception centre in Mineo, Sicily - Europe's biggest migrant centre - needed to be closed after a string of incidents including a recent double murder allegedly by an Ivorian who escaped from it.
    "Keeping 3,000 people in a reception centre long-term is madness," the paper wrote in an editorial.