Pope Francis backs Vatican calls to stop Mafia bosses using 'hijacked' Virgin Mary symbol

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Motherwit

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POPE FRANCIS has written a letter backing a Vatican City academy in their calls to stop mafia bosses from using the Virgin Mary as a ‘hijacked’ symbol of their faith in God.

The Pontifical International Marian Academy has set up a department to tackle the mafia’s usage of the Virgin Mary. The department plans to teach children and families the true theology of Mary, and aims to “restore the purity of the image of Jesus and Mary which comes from the Gospels”. Francis has previously been outspoken against crime families using Christian imagery.

In the letter to the academy’s president, Francis offered his support to the “important initiative”.

The Pope praised it for opening a department on mafia and criminal phenomena.

He wrote he hoped it would help “free the figure of the Madonna from the influence of criminal organisations”

Francis also claimed Mary needed to be removed from “superstructures, powers or conditioning that does not correspond to the Gospel criteria of justice, liberty, honesty, and solidarity”.
 
Pope Francis will need lots of prayers in aid of his intention here. Good on him.
 
Pardon my ignorance…but how are the mafia using Mary that’s inappropriate? Is it just that have pictures of her in their headquarters kind of thing or are they suggesting Mary approves of their organization? Sorry, I’m clueless on this.
 
Here is another article which goes into more detail.

Early in his papacy, Pope Francis responded to a particularly gruesome double murder in Calabria by travelling to the region and issuing a ringing condemnation of ’Ndrangheta, the local mafia-type organisation responsible. Addressing an audience of 200,000 people in June 2014, he said: “The ’Ndrangheta represents the adoration of evil and contempt of the common good … they are excommunicated.”

The following month, with the pope back in Rome, an officially sanctioned religious procession through the streets of the Calabrian town of Oppido Mamertina halted outside the home of Giuseppe Mazzagatti, a local ’Ndrangheta boss. There, a giant statue of the Virgin Mary was made to bow in homage and obedience to Mazzagatti. Outraged police officers refused to accompany the procession as it then moved on through the town.

He is now backing a theological offensive to disentangle acts of veneration from criminal influences.

Such acts of defiance, described by Rome as “deviant spirituality”, continue to take place. This autumn, exasperated Vatican officials have decided to mount a theological counter-offensive. With the enthusiastic backing of Pope Francis, the Pontifical International Marian Academy (Pami) has set up a new department with the title: “Freeing Mary from the mafia and from criminal powers”. The intention, said Pami’s president, Father Stefano Cecchin, is to teach and disseminate a “true theology of Mary”, disentangling acts of veneration from local networks of political corruption and mafia influence.
 
No Italian-American I know in USA who was involved in any sort of activities (and I did used to know some) would ever be making a Virgin Mary statue bow to them. I cannot imagine such a thing going on in Little Italy back home. The people would riot. I’m not kidding.

Only thing I ever heard about was a story, possibly apocryphal, that they would put statues of Mary in the windows of certain houses as a signal. And that could have been a made-up story.
 
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