Euronews reports:
Pope Francis appealed to Sicily’s Mafia on Saturday to abandon a life of crime and violence, saying the island needed “men and women of love, not men and women ‘of honor,’” using the term mobsters apply to themselves.
Francis, in the Sicilian capital, said organized crime members – many of whom go to church and worship openly – “cannot believe in God and be Mafiosi” at the same time. In his appeal, he referred to them as “dear brothers and sisters”.
“A person who is a Mafioso does not live as a Christian because with his life he blasphemes against the name of God,” Francis said in the sermon of a Mass from some 80,000 people in the port area of the Sicilian capital.
“You cannot believe in God and be a member of the mafia,” #PopeFrancis declared Saturday at #Mass in the Italian city of #Palermo. https://t.co/HN7Y5kJKHg
— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) September 15, 2018
As #Catholic hierarchy is battered by scandals of clergy sexually abusing kids, #Pope Francis goes to #Sicily to honor priest slain for keeping young from Mafia’s evil clutches. @fdemilio https://t.co/681HZ5ykyo
— Frances D’Emilio (@fdemilio) September 15, 2018
Pope at Mass in Palermo: ‘God and the mafia are not compatible’
In his homily at Mass in the Italian city of Palermo, Pope Francis contrasts belief in God with mafia membership, saying true victory comes from the loving gift of self. https://t.co/8PlFcxnp7S
— Father Edward Beck (@FrEdwardBeck) September 15, 2018