Pope excommunicates all mobsters

Discussion in 'Religion' started by Magical Realist, Jun 22, 2014.

  1. Magical Realist Valued Senior Member

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    ROME — "Brushing aside worries about his health and safety, Pope Francis traveled to the heart of mob territory Saturday to comfort the family of a 3-year-old boy gunned down in a January shootout and declared that all mobsters are automatically excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church.

    The underdeveloped Calabria region that the pope visited is the power base of the `Ndrangheta, a global drug-trafficking syndicate that enriches itself by extorting businesses and infiltrating public-works contracts.

    During his homily at an outdoor Mass, Francis denounced the `Ndrangheta for what he called its "adoration of evil and contempt for the common good."

    "Those who go down the evil path, as the Mafiosi do, are not in communion with God. They are excommunicated," he warned.

    Francis turned his attention to Italy after a period of focusing on international issues — including war-torn Syria, a trip to the Holy Land, Vatican visits from the leaders of Israel and Palestine, plus a recent visit from President Obama.

    He traveled by helicopter to Cassano all'Ionio, around 275 miles southeast of Rome. The town earned headlines in January, when 3-year-old Nicola "Coco" Campolongo and his grandfather were hit by stray bullets and killed during a shootout involving the 'Ndrangheta — the organized crime organization that exercises a commanding influence in Calabria, the area at the toe of Italy's boot-shaped peninsula.

    Local organizers of the pope's one-day pilgrimage said the pontiff first spoke to about 200 men and women held in the prison in the town of Castrovillari. He then spoke separately with the father and two grandmothers of "Coco" Campolongo.

    A Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Ciro Benedettini, said Francis told the father: "May children never again have to suffer in this way."

    "The two grandmothers were weeping like fountains," Benedettini added.

    The Vatican said Francis was using the trip to address two of southern Italy's most endemic problems: the influence of organized crime and unemployment among young people.

    However, the trip comes amid speculation about Francis' health. While the Vatican says he is fine, the 77-year-old pontiff canceled a handful of obligations this week and doctors have said he should scale back his schedule to conserve his strength.

    Calabria is the source of alleged mob threats against Francis. Last year, anti-mob prosecutor Nicola Gratteri said the pope's reform agenda was making the 'Ndrangheta "very nervous" and that Francis could become a target for the group.

    "For many years, the mob has laundered money and made investments with the complicity of the church," Gratteri said, noting those activities have become more difficult due to recent reforms. The Vatican has downplayed the threats.

    According to retired church historian Fr. Alistair Sear, it is unlikely any of that was taken into consideration when Francis planned his trip.

    "I think we have seen enough to know that the Holy Father is a man who decides to do something and then does it, whatever the circumstances," Sear said.

    For the faithful in Rome, there was a tinge of worry as the pope headed south.

    "He is a holy man who knows what he is doing and who is surrounded by smart people, but I still pray for him and his mission," said Sister Maria Theresa Nuñez, 30, a Venezuelan nun living in Rome.
     
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  3. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    What defines "mobster"? People taking advantage of others like stock brokers, lawyers, religious people and on and on.
     
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  5. Magical Realist Valued Senior Member

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    mob·ster (mbstr)
    n. Informal
    "A member of a criminal gang or crime syndicate."
     
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  7. Yazata Valued Senior Member

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    I think that I like it.

    (Now if the Pope excommunicates all the child-molesting priests and the bishops who protected them, he'd be on to something.)

    I suppose that one can argue that the church exists for sinners. In Christian terms, everyone is a sinner to a greater or lesser extent, and the church exists to reach out to them and to provide a path for human beings as they exist in real life.

    But sometimes bad behavior becomes so egregious that the church perhaps should just tell those committing those acts to either change course in their lives immediately... or you're on your own. Continuing to welcome the worst evil-doers into the church kind of puts the church in the morally-ambiguous position of at least seeming to excuse the inexcusable.
     
  8. sculptor Valued Senior Member

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    "I'll say it again--it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!
     
  9. Medicine*Woman Jesus: Mythstory--Not History! Valued Senior Member

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  10. Medicine*Woman Jesus: Mythstory--Not History! Valued Senior Member

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  11. zgmc Registered Senior Member

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    Seems like the Catholic church has been a crime syndicate themselves for a number of years.
     
  12. StrangerInAStrangeLand SubQuantum Mechanic Valued Senior Member

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    There are not & can not be any sinners until some god(s) comes out of hiding & shows itself.
     

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