VATICAN CITY
Irish Independent
NICK SQUIRES – 14 NOVEMBER 2013
Pope Francis is at risk of mafia retribution as a result of his determination to clean up corruption and cronyism within the Catholic Church, one of Italy’s best known anti-mob prosecutors said.
Nicola Gratteri, who has lived under police protection for nearly 25 years, said the Jesuit Pope’s campaign to tackle graft was upsetting powerful crime organisations in Italy, which have in the past enjoyed a cosy relationship with the Catholic hierarchy.
“Those who have up until now profited from the power and wealth deriving from the church are now nervous, agitated. The Pope is dismantling centres of economic power in the Vatican,” said Mr Gratteri (55), who has spent his career fighting the ‘Ndrangheta mafia of Calabria in the far south of Italy.
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