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Pope excommunicates Italian mobsters

danarhea

danarhea

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(CNN) - Using his strongest language to date, Pope Francis told Italian Mafia members Saturday that they are excommunicated from the Catholic Church.
“Those who in their life have gone along the evil ways, as in the case of the Mafia, they are not with God, they are excommunicated," Francis said.
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Look out, folks. The Pope is gonna get whacked. But seriously, this has been a long time coming. Kudos to Pope Francis.

Article is here.
 
Good for him.

It's about time the Church took a definite stance against these organizations.
 
lol

Does anyone seriously believe that this has any effect whatsoever?!
 
Next stop, the Mexican drug cartels.
 
Perotista said:
No, but it was sure a good sound bite. It also was the right thing to do.
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Yeah I supose.

Like when the queen tells everyone to be nice each christmas in a TV speech in the UK.
 
Perotista said:
No, but it was sure a good sound bite. It also was the right thing to do.
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And even Italian mobsters don't want to be excommunicated by the Pope! I wonder what their reaction was/will be? :mrgreen:

Greetings, Pero. :2wave:
 
polgara said:
And even Italian mobsters don't want to be excommunicated by the Pope! I wonder what their reaction was/will be? :mrgreen:

Greetings, Pero. :2wave:
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I haven't the faintest idea. maybe if I asked myself what would Micheal Corleone do?
 
danarhea said:
Look out, folks. The Pope is gonna get whacked. But seriously, this has been a long time coming. Kudos to Pope Francis.

Article is here.
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Does the Pope traditionally excommunicate people without cause? Can these mafia members be re-united to the church if they leave the mafia? I guess I don't exactly understand the Catholic tradition. :thinking

What sin do mafia members commit that is unforgiveable?
 
Hollow gesture is hollow.


And besides, you can't dictate salvation.

Excommunicated =\= Hell.
 
danarhea said:
Look out, folks. The Pope is gonna get whacked. But seriously, this has been a long time coming. Kudos to Pope Francis.

Article is here.
Click to expand...

I presume he will also give back all of the Mafia tainted money the Vatican has received over the decades.
 
Ray410 said:
Next stop, the Mexican drug cartels.
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I have a feeling this pope will be long dead before he goes to that next step.
 
polgara said:
And even Italian mobsters don't want to be excommunicated by the Pope! I wonder what their reaction was/will be? :mrgreen:
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Some people think that John Paul I was murdered by the mafia for his intention to stop the Vatican Bank from laundering money on their behalf.
 
nota bene said:
Why do you think so? Since his elevation, Pope Francis doesn't seem to have been cooling his jets.

One challenge will be the fairly common heretical belief in Santa Muerte. Santa Muerte - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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I think the Sicilian and Neapolitan mafia is gonna go after him, Catholicism is very important to the Cosa Nostra and the Camorra, many of their rituals center on it so for him to "excommunicate" them is a very major insult.
 
There is no Mafia.
And there always is forgiveness in the last rites.
 
PoS said:
I think the Sicilian and Neapolitan mafia is gonna go after him, Catholicism is very important to the Cosa Nostra and the Camorra, many of their rituals center on it so for him to "excommunicate" them is a very major insult.
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I was responding to your point on the Mexican drug cartels.
 
CRUE CAB said:
There is no Mafia.
And there always is forgiveness in the last rites.
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Crue, there is a "Cosa Nostra," even here in the United States.
 
I think people seriously misunderstand the effect that this may have on organized crime. The mob and Catholic church have always been tied together. You'd be hard pressed to find any old school Italian mobster today who isn't overly religion. Even the younger generations pay homage. Though this won't necessarily end organized crime, it sure sets a precedent and definitive stance from the church on such issues. I think the pope should go a step further and deny them any rites. We'll see the mob retaliate in a few months for sure.
 
The German said:
lol

Does anyone seriously believe that this has any effect whatsoever?!
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I think it might have a noticeable effect, actually. Many mobsters have a pretty screwy set of beliefs when it comes to the Church. The Church has always been a sort of moral safety net. They are essentially what I call "buffet Catholics" taken to the extreme. Many Catholics do whatever they want, take the parts of the faith they like and leave the rest behind, on the assumption that they will always get their last confession and last rights when they die and therefor be spiritually clean. Being excommunicated strips mobsters of that safety net.

What will be more interesting is to see what happens in Italian Churches. What happens when an excommunicated mafioso gets in line for Communion, or sits down in a confessional? Will the Italian priests have the intestinal fortitude to deny them the sacraments?

The closest analogy to this is if there was a standing, recognized, Caliphate who declared all Islamic terrorist to be apostates. it wouldn't end terrorism, but it would definitely have an effect.
 
Hatuey said:
I think people seriously misunderstand the effect that this may have on organized crime. The mob and Catholic church have always been tied together. You'd be hard pressed to find any old school Italian mobster today who isn't overly religion. Even the younger generations pay homage. Though this won't necessarily end organized crime, it sure sets a precedent and definitive stance from the church on such issues. I think the pope should go a step further and deny them any rites. We'll see the mob retaliate in a few months for sure.
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Excommunication does sever them from the Church and the Church sacraments. It's hard for people without a religion to understand, or even non-Catholics to understand, but this announcement has the potential to be a hammer blow to the Mafia. So much of their culture is tied to their Catholicism and their erroneous belief in salvation through support of the Church. The Pope just erased this misconception in one definitive statement.

The hard core mafia will just gravitate to Evangelical Churches that teach that believing in Christ is all you need for salvation. ;)
 
Ray410 said:
Next stop, the Mexican drug cartels.
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Actually...consider them served...

“Those who in their life have gone along the evil ways, as in the case of the Mafia, they are not with God, they are excommunicated," Francis said.
 
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