Man sets himself on fire at the Vatican

Police in Italy say a man opposed to the Vatican's ban on homosexual relations set himself on fire in Saint Peter's Square.

Vatican guards put out the flames and the man was taken to hospital, where he's in a serious condition.

The police say he had documents which said he was setting fire to himself because he no longer supported the Church's view on homosexual relations.

The protest comes a week after the killing in Rome of a man who had close links to the Vatican.

Gay activists in Italy believe he was the latest victim of a serial killer targeting gay men.

Since 1990 there have been twenty other suspected gay killings in and around Rome, of which eight have been solved.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service