Italian bishop stops parades in anti-mafia move

ROME: An Italian bishop in the mafia-heavy Calabria region on Thursday suspended all church processions in his diocese until further notice after a parade earlier this month paid homage to a local mobster boss under house arrest.
Much-loved church parades — usually involving statues of the Virgin Mary — are usually held in the summer months in villages and towns across Italy and the bishop of Oppido-Palmi immediately defended the move.
“This is a gesture of caution, an invitation to the reflection and silence that we need right now,” Francesco Milito said in a statement to the local clergy, adding: “This is an act of love for our church.”
The unusual edict comes after a religious procession in the town of Oppido Mamertina on July 2 in which a statue of the Madonna was made to bow outside the home of 82-year old Giuseppe Mazzagatti, a convicted murderer and mobster.
The tradition of such homages to local mafia bosses, who often help finance the processions, is strong in southern Italy and is frequently criticized by Catholic authorities.
The homage was also an act of defiance to Pope Francis, who traveled to the Calabria region in June and launched a scathing attack on the mafia for its “adoration of evil” and excommunicated its members from the Catholic Church.
The ‘Ndrangheta mafia, which is headquartered in Calabria, plays a leading role in the global cocaine trafficking trade and the region is a major transit point for drug shipments from Latin America to the rest of Europe.