Priest handed bullet during Mass

An Italian Catholic priest was handed an envelope containing a bullet during Mass this Sunday.

Fr Maurizio Patriciello, known for his outspoken opposition to organised crime, was celebrating Holy Mass in Caivano, a town in the province of Naples (southern Italy) known as a hotbed of mafia activity.

Caivano is considered territory of the Moccia clan, a powerful faction of the Camorra, one of the four main mafia groups in Italy, alongside the Cosa Nostra (Sicily), 'Ndrangheta (Calabria), and Sacra Corona Unita (Puglia). The clan is known for drug trafficking, racketeering, and political corruption, with some studies estimating its illegal annual revenue at around €3.3 billion.

Italy has long battled the scourge of mafia violence, with 6,681 murders attributed to organised crime groups between 1983 and 2018.

In 2014, shortly after the mafia-related murder of a three-year-old boy and his grandfather, Pope Francis declared: “Those who in their life have gone along the evil ways, as in the case of the mafia, they are not with God — they are excommunicated.”

Fr Patriciello has been particularly vocal about the damage mafia culture is causing in his parish. The night before the incident, he had reported two shootings near his church.

The following morning, he wrote on social media that the “terrorists” behind the shootings were very young. Appealing directly to them, he said: “Guys, in God’s name, just stop! Enjoy your beautiful youth. The road you have taken is a dead end.”

The man who handed him the bullet during Holy Mass is believed to be a local criminal.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned the incident, calling it “unacceptable.” Meloni, who visited Fr Patriciello in his parish the previous year, posted a photo of herself with the priest. In her message, she wrote: “We stand with Father Patriciello and all those who refuse to bow to crime. The State is with you, and we will never take a step back.”

(Photo by ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP via Getty Images)