When he was offered the chance to become Italy's candidate for the European Commission in July, Rocco Buttiglione was understandably proud. "I may be a nobody in Italy, but in Europe I am someone," he told the Milan newspaper, Corriere de la Sera.

Today in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Signor Buttiglione certainly was someone. He was the ghost at the feast, the butt of all the jokes as MEPs celebrated victory over José Manuel Durão Barroso, the incoming European Commission President.

Only an hour before MEPs were due to vote on Senhor Barroso's line-up of commissioners, and facing certain defeat, the former Portuguese Prime Minister was forced to announce that he was withdrawing his entire team and no vote would needed.

The man at the centre of the storm sat in stony silence, staring angrily at the cheering MEPs ranked in front of him. It was a dramatic end to a very short career in European politics.

A right-winger with strong Catholic credentials - he is a close friend of the Pope and is even said to have written some of his papal encyclicals - Signor Buttiglione was considered a surprise choice for Italy's single post on the commission.

But in Silvio Berlusconi's coalition Government he had served as Minister for Europe, so at least he should have known what to expect.

When it came to Signor Buttiglione's nomination hearing two weeks ago for the post of justice commissioner, left-wingers in the European Parliament were lying in wait, ready to turn his Catholic beliefs back against him.

Quizzed about his attitude to homosexuality, Signor Buttiglione told MEPs: "Many things may be considered immoral which should not be prohibited."

He added: "I may think that homosexuality is a sin, and this has no effect on politics, unless I say that homosexuality is a crime."

When asked why he was opposed to gay marriages, he said that "the family exists to allow women to have children and be protected by their husbands."

Signor Buttiglione tried to clarify his beliefs, telling the MEPs: "The state has no right to stick its nose into these things and nobody can be discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation... this stands in the Charter of Human Rights, this stands in the Constitution and I have pledged to defend this constitution."

However he couched it, the damage was done. Describing homosexuality as a sin was a sin in itself for the Parliament's liberal majority, especially coming from the person whose portfolio was to include fighting discrimination and promoting human rights in the 25 EU member states.

Signor Buttiglione, an urbane professor of politics and philosophy, knew as well as anyone the power and meaning of his words, but refused to compromise on his religious beliefs. "If I said that I loved children they would accuse me of being a paedophile," he said later of his treatment at the hands of MEPs.

Still, the 56-year-old father of four refused to restrain himself, telling a conference in Italy last week: "Children who don't have a father but only a mother are children of a mother who is not very good."

Clemente Mastella, a former Berlusconi minister now in opposition, said that the polyglot professor had only himself to blame: "Buttiglione speaks too many languages. If he spoke a little less, he wouldn't say such eccentric and indefensible things."

What happens next is far from clear. Italian newspapers reported this morning that Signor Buttiglione, 56, received a telephone call from Signor Berlusconi yesterday in which the Italian Prime Minister asked him to resign as a commissioner even before his appointment. Signor Buttiglione refused.

Although Signor Berlusconi is lining up possible replacements, including Franco Frattini, the Foreign Minister, he can ill afford to sack his candidate if he refuses to go quietly - not just because it would look bad politically to sack a man for his Catholic beliefs, but because he still needs the support of Signor Buttiglione's Christian Democrats to govern.

EU leaders are due to meet in Rome on Friday for the formal signature of the European Constitution, and may well meet early to find a solution to the crisis. The negotiations are expected to take several weeks.

So far, Signor Buttiglione has refused to be part of any compromise solution. As he wrote in a letter to Senhor Barroso: "The only thing I cannot do is to change my principles against my conscience for political convenience."

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