Scandal-hit Berlusconi attends event with Vatican

An annual celebration of the 1929 treaty that governs relations between Italy and the Vatican is taking an awkward turn, with Premier Silvio Berlusconi, engulfed in a prostitution scandal, due to mingle with the Vatican's No 2. official.

Berlusconi has come under criticism from the Catholic church as the scandal centering on his alleged encounters with a 17-year-old Moroccan girl have been unveiled. The 74-year-old leader was recently indicted on charges he paid for sex with the girl, and then abused his influence to cover it up.

Berlusconi denies the charges.

Berlusconi and Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican's secretary of state, will lead respective delegations at the ceremony Friday to mark the anniversary of the Lateran Pacts.