Berlusconi's aides know that support from Catholic voters is crucial to their government — but they also know that Berlusconi hardly faces a viable alternative, let alone strong political opposition. He may be an old man in a hurry, but he still has the magic touch it needs to be the master of his house of cards. His virility may only be powered by verbal Viagra, but currently the appeal he creates with it is strong enough to divert attention from the political scandals which in any other Western country would put him on trial.

The one thing that Berlusconi might not reckon with is that the strongest opposition to his kind of politics could be the source of moral authority that he has always taken for granted: the Catholic Church. At a time when young Italians are fleeing the country in search of better education and job prospects, there is a yearning for someone to say: "Basta!" ("Enough!") Doesn't this call for the Church to recall its responsibility to stand in our way, to beseech us not to look away while continuing as we were?

On my last night in Rome I went to a party at one of the oldest estates in the city. "So, what are your views on your Prime Minister?" I asked a young Italian. "Well," he smiled, "what can you do? Life goes on." He shrugged his shoulders, but did admit to feeling slightly embarrassed and ashamed.

But Italy's real problem isn't Berlusconi's private affairs (which — if they didn't entail dire consequences — might be amusing material for an opera buffa). Rather, the problem is the culture he now represents. Berlusconi is suing various opposition papers, as well as El País and Le Nouvel Observateur and is threatening to sue British titles too. The last moderately critical television station, TG3, is now in his hands. In other words: it is now almost officially acceptable to have conflicts of interests, to not care about certain rules, to cross certain lines — all of which has created a climate in which indecency may be mistaken for common sense. Italy risks being stuck in apathy, if not in a conspiracy of silence. Why else was it so hard to find anybody who wanted to talk on the record? The question is how much longer this stifling silence will endure. In Italy, democracy seems suffocated or at least frighteningly silent. It might be peculiar to call on the Church to assist democracy, but if it takes its moral duty seriously, it is high time to break this silence.