Published time: June 22, 2014 01:32
Pope Francis waves to the crowd from the popemobile on
June 21, 2014 as he arrives in Cassano allo Ionio in the southern Italian
region of Calabria for a one day visit. (AFP Photo / Vincenzo Pinto)
Calling the practices of Italian 'Ndrangheta crime
group the “adoration of evil,” Pope Francis said the Mafiosi “are
excommunicated” from God and the Catholic Church, in his address to tens of
thousands of people in Calabria, southern Italy.
“Those who in their lives follow this path of evil, as
Mafiosi do, are not in communion with God. They are excommunicated,” Pope Francis said as cited by Reuters.
“This evil must be fought against, it must be pushed
aside. We must say no to it,” Francis
said, promising that the Vatican would apply all efforts to combat such
activity.
Francis condemned 'Ndrangheta as the “adoration
of evil and contempt of the common good.”
“Repent! There is no time to avoid ending up in hell,
which is what awaits you if you do not change course,” the Pope stated after holding a vigil as he
visited Castrovillari prison in Calabria, a region infested by organized crime,
Il Sole 24 Ore reports.
‛Ndrangheta activity is centered in Calabria. The
group became the most powerful syndicate of Italy in the late 1990s and early
2000s. Although tied to the Sicilian Mafia, 'Ndrangheta operates independently
from the Sicilians. It is believed that drug trafficking, extortion and
money-laundering activities of the organization equate to least 3 percent of
Italy's GDP, with a revenue of 53 billion Euros annually.
“If it were not part of Italy, Calabria would be a
failed state. The 'Ndrangheta organized crime syndicate controls vast portions
of its territory and economy, and accounts for at least three percent of
Italy's GDP (probably much more) through drug trafficking, extortion and
usury,” Patrick Truhn,
US Consul General in Naples said previously in a confidential report, revealed
by WikiLeaks.
International links of the organization particularly
with Latin American countries helped the 'Ndrangheta dominate global cocaine
trade.
Nicola Gratteri, a prosecutor tracing the
organization's international reach, told the Guardian that some 80 percent of
cocaine in Europe is smuggled by Calabrian mobsters. “Altogether in the
world, I would say it has maybe 10,000 members,” he added.
“The 'Ndrangheta,” Enzo Macri from National Antimafia Directorate
says, represents the “globalisation”of Italian organised crime. “The
Colombians prefer to deal with the Calabrians,” says Macri. “They are much more
reliable. They don't talk. And they pay on time.”
This attack on one of Italy’s most dangerous crime
syndicates is Pope Francis' latest effort in his crusade to fight corruption.
The pontiff is also trying to reform the Vatican Bank after two years ago
reports emerged implicating the secret banking institution of laundering
Sicilian mafia bosses’ riches.
Following the disclosure, Pope Francis' predecessor
Benedict appointed a five-person papal commission to investigate the activities
of the bank, just before his resignation. Last year, the Vatican Bank, known as
the Institute for Religious Works, for the first time released its annual financial report to the public with
an aim to create more financial transparency. Francis later reshuffled the commissionwhile the ongoing probe resulted in closure of several
hundreds of accounts and vetting thousands more.
The roots of Italian organized crime date back to the
1500s. Presently, there are five main known mafia-style organizations in Italy
– the Cosa Nostra of Sicily, 'Ndrangheta of Calabria, Camorra of Naples, as
well as relatively new Stidda and Sacra Corona Unita of Puglia.
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