Pope Francis To Visit Mafia Stronghold But Won't Compromise On Anti-Organized Crime Message
Religion News Service | By Josephine McKenna
VATICAN CITY (RNS) It began with the murder of an innocent 3-year-old boy who burned to death in his grandfather’s car in a Mafia ambush in January. Pope Francis was so shaken by the death of Nicola “Coco” Campolongo that he spoke out against the ferocity of the crime and those behind it.
But he didn’t stop there. In June, the outspoken pontiff traveled to the southern Italian town where the murder took place and accused Mafia members of pursuing the “adoration of evil.” Then he went one step further.
“They are not with God,” Francis said during his visit to the nearby town of Sibari in the region of Calabria where the global crime syndicate ‘Ndrangheta is based. “They are excommunicated!”
At a local prison there, Francis embraced Coco’s father and two grandmothers and declared “this evil must be fought and distanced.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/22/pope-francis-mafia_n_5607185.html?utm_hp_ref=religion