{"id":4275,"date":"2013-05-27T03:24:58","date_gmt":"2013-05-27T03:24:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disnaija.com\/nigeria-news\/pope-urges-mafia-embrace-god\/"},"modified":"2013-05-27T03:24:58","modified_gmt":"2013-05-27T03:24:58","slug":"pope-urges-mafia-embrace-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/pope-urges-mafia-embrace-god\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope urges Mafia embrace God"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Pope Francis on Sunday condemned the “mafias” that turned people into “slaves” and prayed for gangsters to turn to God, a day after a slain priest was proclaimed the first “mafia martyr”.<\/p>\n

“I think of all the pain of men, women and even children who are exploited by many mafias,” Francis told tens of thousands of followers in St Peter’s Square in a traditional weekly address.<\/p>\n

“They are forced to do work that makes them slaves, like prostitution,” he said. “Behind all this slavery, there are mafias.”<\/p>\n

“We pray that these mafia men and women convert to God,” he said in unscripted remarks. <\/p>\n

\"Pope <\/p>\n

Pope Francis<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Father Pino Puglisi, who was gunned down by the mafia in 1993 for turning children away from a life of crime, was beatified at a mass in Palermo on Saturday with tens of thousands in attendance.<\/p>\n

“He took young people away from the mafia, which tried to defeat him by killing him but in reality he is the one who won in the end,” Francis said.<\/p>\n

Puglisi has been given the status of “blessed” and “martyr of the faith” by the Roman Catholic Church, the first step towards full sainthood.<\/p>\n

His pleas for help from political and religious authorities were frequently ignored but since his death the Church has become much more critical of mafiosi, who are often outwardly devout.<\/p>\n

<\/img> <\/img> <\/img> <\/img> <\/div>\n

——————————————————————————————————————————————-
Posted in Nigeria News. <\/a>A DisNaija.Com<\/a> network.<\/p>\n

Source: PM News<\/p>\n

DisNaija.Com<\/b> publishes regular posts on Nigeria News,<\/a> Nigerian Newspapers,<\/a> Online Nigeria Gist.<\/a><\/p>\n

Follow us on Twitter<\/a> and Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

Nigeria News<\/a>
\n
\nFollow @Dis_Naija<\/a>
\n