Pope John Paul II Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Organised crime === John Paul II was the first pontiff to denounce [[Organized crime in Italy|Mafia]] violence in [[Southern Italy]]. In 1993, during a pilgrimage to [[Agrigento]], Sicily, he appealed to the Mafiosi: "I say to those responsible: 'Convert! One day, the judgement of God will arrive!'" In 1994, John Paul II visited [[Catania]] and told victims of Mafia violence to "rise up and cloak yourself in light and justice!"<ref>{{cite web |author=Filip Mazurczak |url=http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2013/05/the-priest-who-stood-up-to-mafia |title=The Priest Who Stood Up to the Mafia |publisher=[[First Things]] |date=24 May 2013 |access-date=2 November 2013}}</ref> In 1995, the Mafia bombed two historical churches in Rome. Some believed that this was the mob's [[Feud|vendetta]] against the pope for his denunciations of organised crime.<ref>{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |url=http://www.spokesman.com/stories/1995/mar/05/the-mafia-vs-pope-john-paul-ii/ |title=The Mafia Vs. Pope John Paul II |newspaper=The Spokesman-Review |date=24 May 2013 |access-date=15 November 2013}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page