Pope Francis appealed to Sicily's Mafia today (September 15, 2018) 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, according to the Euro News website.
Francis, in the Sicilian capital of Palermo, said organized crime members -- many of whom go to church and worship openly -- "cannot believe in God and be Mafiosi" at the same time.
He visited Palermo -- the headquarters of the Mafia -- to commemorate Father Giuseppe "Pino" Puglisi, a priest shot dead by Mafia hit men in 1993, because he challenged the organization's control over the city's toughest neighborhoods.
"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 a Mass with more than 80,000 people in the port area of Palermo.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment