Pope Francis' crusade against corruption making mafia 'nervous'
Crusade against corruption leads prosecutor to warn he could be a target
Pope Francis' crusade against corruption has made him a target for Italy's all-powerful mafia clans, a leading anti-mob prosecutor has warned.
Nicola Gratteri, who has battled Calabria's 'Ndrangheta mafia, said on Wednesday that Pope Francis's attempt to bring transparency to the Vatican was making the white-collar mobsters who do business with corrupt prelates "nervous and agitated".
He told the Italian daily Il Fatto Quotidiano: "Pope Francis is dismantling centres of economic power in the Vatican. If the bosses could trip him up they wouldn't hesitate. I don't know if organised criminals are in a position to do something, but they are certainly thinking about it. They could be dangerous."
The pope, who has called for "a poor church", has backed reform at the Vatican bank, which has been suspected as a channel for laundering mob profits.
This week police impounded a luxury hotel on Rome's Janiculum hill - formerly a monastery - which the 'Ndrangheta allegedly purchased from a religious order.
In a fiery sermon on Monday, Pope Francis railed against corruption and quoted the Bible's advice that practitioners be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck.
The mafia ... has got rich for years from its connivance with the church