The Vatican on Monday
defended anti-mafia priest Father Luigi Ciotti after a second
piece of graffiti against him in a few days was found Sunday in
Palermo.
"Father Ciotti (is) a prison guard", said the graffiti in
Palermo, after "Father Ciotti is a cop" was found in the
Calabrian town of Locri after an anti-mafia visit by President
Sergio Mattarella last week.
"Following the recent events in Locri and Palermo," a Vatican
official's statement said, "we wish to express our heartfelt
solidarity and full support for Father Luigi Ciotti for his
fundamental action against crime and organised crime, for the
construction of a citizenship of freedom and justice.
The statement was issued by Vittorio Alberti, Officer of the
Holy See's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development,
which was set up in August and became effective this January.
One of the problems in fighting Cosa Nostra in Sicily and
'Ndrangheta in Calabria is that they provide jobs to local
youths and have some support in communities where some elements
view institutions with hostility.
The Locri graffiti said "more jobs fewer cops, Father Ciotti
a cop" and the Palermo graffiti said "you are the cops, Father
Ciotti a prison guard".
Ciotti has been campaigning against Italy's mafias for more
than 20 years.
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