Pope Francis on Wednesday told members of the Mafia in Italy, where many go to Church and worship openly, that they cannot call themselves Christians because they "carry death in their souls". Francis' improvised words before tens of thousands of people at his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square was his strongest attack on organised crime in nearly four years. They call themselves Christians but they carry death in their souls and inflict it on others." When Pope Francis visited the Calabria region the same year, he accused organised crime members of practising "the adoration of evil" and said Mafiosi excommunicate themselves from the Church by their actions. In 1993 Pope John Paul sternly warned members of Sicily's Cosa Nostra that they would "one day face the justice of God".

Source: dna March 28, 2018 10:07 UTC