Pope Excommunicates Mafia: They Are ‘The Adoration of Evil’

During a visit to the heart of a Mafia stronghold in Italy, Pope Francis unequivocally excommunicated all members of the Mafia, calling a particular syndicate “the adoration of evil” for, among things, killing a 3-year-old boy.

Flying by helicopter into a town in Calabria, which Al-Jazeera describes as the home base of the ‘Ndrangheta crime syndicate, Francis made the dangerous trip partially to visit the father of Nicola “Coco” Campolongo, who was killed along with his grandfather in a mob attack last January.

“Never again violence against children,” he said in a statement. “May a child never again have to suffer like this. I pray for him continuously. Do not despair.”

The ‘Ndrangheta is one of the biggest Mafia syndicates in the world, with an economic turnover valued at “$72 billion in 30 countries, equivalent to about 3.5 percent of Italy’s total official economic output,” and nearly half of that comes from drug trafficking.

This is the strongest condemnation the Church has levied against the Mafia since 1993, when Pope John Paul II demanded that the Mafia repent for their crimes.

[Al Jazeera]
[Image via KIKA/WENN.com]

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