Religion: The Priest on Via Veneto

Giovanni (Decameron] Boccaccio, whose medieval priests seemed seldom far from a girl or a glass, would have been surprised at what happened to the Rev. Lino Gussoni in Rome last week. Born and raised in Italy but a longtime U.S. citizen. Father Gussoni. 39, was on leave from a welfare post in New York City's archdiocese, living in Rome for his health (a throat condition). After dinner with three lay friends from the U.S., he dropped in for a nightcap at a relatively unexciting nightspot, Club 84. "We're all Americans," said one of them. "We didn't think anything about it."

U.S. informality...