Pope Francis says mafia members 'excommunicated' from the Church
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SIBARI, ItalyJun 22, 2014 - 12:00 am GMT+3
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Jun 22, 2014 12:00 am
Pope Francis on Saturday issued the strongest attack on organized crime groups by a pontiff in two decades, accusing them of practicing the "the adoration of evil" and saying Mafiosi are excommunicated.
It was the first time a pope had used the word excommunication - a total cutoff from the Church - in direct reference to members of organized crime.
"Those who in their lives follow this path of evil, as mafiosi do, are not in communion with God. They are excommunicated," he said in impromptu comments at a Mass before hundreds of thousands of people in one of Italy's most crime-infested areas.
To sustained applause he told the crowd: "This evil must be fought against, it must be pushed aside. We must say no to it." He branded the local crime group, the 'Ndrangheta, as an example of the "adoration of evil and contempt of the common good" and said the Church would exert its full force in efforts to combat organized crime.
"Our children are asking for it, our young people are asking for it. They are in need of hope and faith can help respond to this need," he said.
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Research Associate at Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA) at Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University
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