Reggio Calabria city
prosecutor Federico Cafiero De Raho said Wednesday that mob
bosses who deem themselves to be above the pope himself are
pagans.
De Raho was speaking after a Calabrian bishop last week
suspended religious processions in his diocese after a group of
faithful following a statue of the Madonna purportedly paid
their respects to a notorious crime boss.
"The true 'Ndrangheta boss believes he is above the pope,
as if he were God. This is paganism and the Church must condemn
it as such," the prosecutor said, referring to the powerful
Calabria-based mob.
"The role of priests is fundamental. They must observe the
Gospel and isolate the 'Ndrangheta," De Raho went on.
"Deviating a procession and making the Madonna bow in front
of a mobster's house is blasphemy," he added.
A furore erupted when police reported the July 2
incident in which parishioners allegedly bowed in front of the
house of Peppe Mazzagatti, an 82-year-old kingpin of the
'Ndrangheta.
He is serving a life sentence under house arrest for
health reasons.
The incident occurred two weeks after Pope Francis publicly
excommunicated the Mafia.
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