Mobster's daughter says he 'like pope'

(ANSA) - Rome, September 9 - The daughter of notorious mob boss Vittorio 'the pope' Casamonica has claimed her father was "good, like Pope Francis".
    "They called him pope because he was too good, like pope Francis," Vera Casamonica told State broadcaster RAI on Tuesday.
    Asked why his family plastered posters showing the dead crime boss wearing a white robe with a cross around his neck on church walls during his funeral, Vera said "he wasn't dressed like the pope, he had blue trousers even if you couldn't see them. Perhaps you have misinterpreted the image".
    The grandiose funeral held during the summer with a helicopter hovering overhead dropping rose petals on mourners and a police escort outraged Italy but Vera said: "I would do that funeral over again, also with the chopper and the petals".
    "It was hardly our fault if the pilot flew over the centre of Rome where he was not allowed? It was up to him to tell us it was forbidden".
    Asked why the music from the Godfather was played, she said "my father liked that song and we only carried out his wish".
    Insisting that her father was "not a boss" she dismissed Vespa's citing the criminal record of her father including handling stolen goods and extortion.
    "What other Casamonica's do in Rome doesn't interest me. I can't be stuck with the crimes of other people," she said. Several political parties, including Renzi's centre-left PD, blasted RAI for giving a platform to Casamonica's family.