pope excommunicates mafia

[Avatar4321]

Pope excommunicates Italian Mafia members - CNN.com

First, can he really excommunicate them so easily?

Second, why wasnt this done decades ago?

 

[shart_attack]

He better hope they don't convert to Islam now.

 

[R.D.]

Now excommunicate pro abortion advocates

 

[Disir]

Money laundering. That's why it wasn't addressed before.

 

[Hollie]

But no concerted effort to "ex" pedo-priests.

 

[longknife]

Any priest can "excommunicate" anyone he feels is in sun and unrepentant. Go to CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Excommunication

And, this DOES play a big role. Mafiosos have always claimed close relationships with the Catholic Church, not only in Sicily, but worldwide. To be publicly shamed by not being able to partake of Communion is a very big deal.

The problem is going to be finding local priests in areas where the Mafia plays a big role who will go along with Francis' declaration.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

Since he doesn't mention any names, does it mean anything?

OTOH, it doesn't mean anything anyway. Just a lot of drama.

When is the church going to stop hiding their pedophile priests. Why haven't they excommunicated any of them?

 

[Disir]

I don't think he has to name names. The Ndrangheta are pretty notorious. There has been a crack down. They operate in the same way as gangbangers do. They appeal to the poverty base. Hell, that's how the "terrorists" gain support. Al Capone was the first to open soup kitchens.

From 2010
Italian police arrest 300 in raids on Calabrian mafia | World news | The Guardian

From 2012
A Growing Vatican Bank Scandal Threatens Catholic Church Image - SPIEGEL ONLINE

http://rt.com/news/vatican-mafia-laundering-money-716/

From 2014
Gambino, Bonanno family mobsters arrested in connection to Italian Mafia: FBI - NY Daily News

If the Pope's intention is to do a heck of a clean up for PR, he kinda doesn't really have a choice here.

 

[Noomi]

How about he excommunicate those pedophile priests he protects, first?

 

[September]

72 billion dollars is a lot of money tho

 

[Blackrook]

This is a very big deal. Traditionally, the Mafia dons have bought off the Church with large donations and public displays of religiousity. This is a breach of hundreds of years of tradition. This Pope is NOT Italian, so he has not been corrupted by Mafia connections.

 

[MaryL]

OK. I can't condemn the first non European pope for this, who can? Can the papacy prove who is a member of the MAFIA? How do they do that? Secondly, name names. Who did they excommunicate?

 

[September]

Actually

If they wanted to strengthen their ties to the mafia... giving the impression the Mafia was "excommunicated" could work to their advantage...

Just sayin'

 

[hjmick]

 

[Chuckt]

Pope excommunicates Italian Mafia members - CNN.com

First, can he really excommunicate them so easily?

Second, why wasnt this done decades ago?

Some things are so ludicrous that it isn't worth discussing.
Thank you for bringing it up though.

 

[Gracie]

This pope is not like all the other ones....which is why it has never been done before.

 

[I.P.Freely]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV_CQrHKna8]Father Ted | Hairy Hands - YouTube[/ame]