In Mafia region, pope declares mobsters 'excommunicated'

Eric J. Lyman, Special for USA TODAY 4:58 p.m. EDT June 21, 2014
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.