Pope excommunicates the Mafia

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11279439

Whom else do you think the Pope should excommunicate? The triads? Cigarette companies?

admin: I would not suggest making jokes about this subject. It won't be funny if the Cosa Nostra decides throw a bomb in a duomo in retaliation.

There have been multiple priests and bishops that have denounced the Camorra and Cosa Nostra only to be attacked or have there duomos bombed. The Pope is not Italian, nevertheless Neapolitan or Sicilian. I am 75% sure there will be a violent backlash against the Catholic Church for this.

admin: It may seem silly to people in the English speaking world that the Pope would do denounce Cosa Nostra. But I ask, what is a Catholic in former Commonwealth countries? I am incapable of thinking of any former Commonwealth country or were once part of the British empire aside from Canada(Quebec) that has a significant Catholic population. Most Cosa Nostra are devout Roman Catholics. The Pope is merely stating that their kind who kill for profit and "live the life of honor" is unacceptable in the Catholic Church.

Tophatdoc: I think my point was in general the use of excommunication on moral, as opposed to religious, issues. Jesus dining with the tax collectors would be a bit like if the pope went out to lunch with the Mafia. It's the sick who need a doctor etc. I wasn't trying to mock the gravity of it, just wanted to run a slippery slope line.

admin: Understood, my sincerest apologies I misunderstood what you were saying. I thought you were trying to make humor out of something that could end up having grave consequences.