Pope Francis pays homage to Sicilian anti-mafia priest

15 September,2018 06:52 PM IST |  Rome  |  IANS

The priest was renowned for working with young people to keep them away from drugs and the mafia

Pope Francis


Pope Francis was in Sicily on Saturday to mark the 25th anniversary of the killing of a priest at the hands of a local criminal organization.

Giuseppe "Pino" Puglisi was shot and killed on the orders of the local mafia "Cosa Nostra", ("Our Thing") on his 56th birthday in the city of Palermo in 1993. The perpetrators were sentenced to life in prison, the BBC reported.

The priest was renowned for working with young people to keep them away from drugs and the mafia.

The Pope addressed the faithful at Palermo's Piazza Europa and was scheduled to visit Puglisi's parish in the working-class neighbourhood of Brancaccio.

"Be afraid of the deafness of not listening to people. Listening to people is what Father Pino (Puglisi's nickname) did, poor among the poor of his land," he said.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella said: "The Republic recognizes in Puglisi the civil martyr, who died for those values of solidarity, justice, equality and respect for the inviolable rights of the person."

The priest's murder came at a time when mafia violence against opponents of their influence was of particularly grave concern. Puglisi was declared a "martyr" who was "killed by hatred of the faith" by Pope Francis' predecessor Benedict XVI in 2012. He was beatified five years ago.

Pope Francis has previously denounced the mafia, calling for the excommunication of mobsters.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also, download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Except for the change in the headline, the story has been provided "AS-IS," "AS AVAILABLE, without any verification or editing from our side. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.
"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
pope francis world news
Related Stories