By Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY, March 21 (Reuters) – Pope Francis on Sunday urged people to fight organized crime groups like the mafia around the world, warning that criminals were using the COVID-19 pandemic to further enrich themselves.
In December, Paris-based Interpol police coordination issued a global warning that organized crime networks were targeting COVID-19 vaccines. In March, South African police seized hundreds of fake vaccines and arrested four suspects.
“Mafias are present in various parts of the world and, taking advantage of the pandemic, they are enriching themselves with corruption,” said Francisco, speaking in his Sunday noon speech on the day that Italy remembers the victims of organized crime .
Italian police say crime clans are using the pandemic to buy favors from poor families facing financial ruin, offering loans and food. Moneylenders who demand exorbitant interest rates are bailing out companies hit by the pandemic, police said.
“These structures of sin, structures of mafia, are against the gospel and confuse idolatry with faith,” added the pope.
In Italy, many members of organized crime consider themselves part of a religious group similar to a cult, invoking the help of saints and using religious statuettes or statues in initiation rites.
The southern city of Oppido Mamertina made headlines in 2014, when residents carrying a statue of the Madonna deviated the route of a procession to pause at the home of a mafia boss and tilted the statue slightly as if they were kneeling. as a sign of respect.
“Today, we will remember all the victims and renew our commitment against the mafias,” said Francisco.
In recent years, ‘Ndrangheta, based in Calabria, has overtaken Sicily’s Cosa Nostra as the most feared and profitable Italian criminal group, obtaining most of its money from drug trafficking. It has spread across the world. (Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Pravin Char)
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