ITALY
National Catholic Reporter
Nicholas Collura | Jun. 24, 2014 NCR Today
It is hard to imagine a more perfect contemporary personification of human evil than the Italian mafia Camorra scattering carcinogenic trash throughout Naples or the ‘Ndrangheta, whose high-placed and diversified criminal activities did not put it above assassinating a 3-year-old in January.
This weekend, Pope Francis found a gesture to rival these mafia organizations’ power, declaring them excommunicated. His prophetic action set off a range of speculations.
Some fear the pope has placed himself in danger. Similar worries began circulating last year, when Calabrian state prosecutor Nicola Gratteri warned that “if the godfathers can find a way to stop” the pope from condemning corruption and reforming Vatican finances, “they will seriously consider it.” At that time, mafia expert John Dickie was more skeptical: “Even a rudimentary projection of the likely consequences of a hit on the head of the Catholic Church,” he said, “would show it to be catastrophic” to the mafia itself.
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