Tens of thousands of Italian opposition activists demonstrated in central Rome on Sunday to call for the resignation of embattled Prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Opposition protesters were bolstered by the presence of Ukrainian feminist activists Femen, who also demonstrated topless in the Vatican to protest against the Roman Catholic Church's "misogynist policies".

Berlusconi is set to face a confidence vote in parliament - the 54^th of his career - on Tuesday amid Italy's spiralling debt crisis.

One Femen activist was able to escape the crowds and begin a very vocal protest in St Peter's Square, central Rome before being arrested by police (see video).

Activists of FEMEN, a Ukrainian protest group against discrimination on women, perform during a protest by the centre-left PD party against Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, in front of the San Giovanni Basilica in Rome

An activist of FEMEN, a Ukrainian protest group against discrimination on women, performs during a protest by the centre-left PD party against Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, in front of the San Giovanni Basilica in Rome

FEMEN activists paint their bodies before participating in a protest by PD party against Italian PM Berlusconi, in Rome

An activist from the Ukrainian women's group Femen prepares before her performance at San Peter Square in Rome

An activist from FEMEN, a Ukrainian protest group against discrimination on women, holds up a sign in front of a crowd in Saint Peter's Square in Vatican City November 6, 2011