(ANSA) Vatican City, July 7 - A Calabrian bishop denied
Monday reports that convicted mafia inmates at a prison in the
region had refused to attend Mass following a warning by Pope
Francis that mobsters will be excommunicated.
"There was a dialogue but there was no mutiny nor was
there a desire not to go to Mass," the bishop of Larino
Gianfranco De Luca, told Vatican Radio.
"I was received with joy and brotherhood when I went to
see them," the prelate said of a visit to the Larino prison
where many members of 'Ndrangheta, the Calabrian mafia, are
serving sentences.
"It is true that questions were put to the chaplain before
the mass. They asked 'what is this excommunication? Why? What
does it mean for us?'" the bishop said.
Pope Francis during a recent visit to Calabria warned that
members of 'Ndrangheta risk excommunication.
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