Baluarte
05-25-2013, 12:49 PM
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PALERMO, Italy (AFP) - Tens of thousands of Catholic faithful attended a mass on Saturday putting on the path to sainthood a priest shot dead by the mafia 20 years ago, the first victim of organised crime to be declared a martyr.
The open-air service for the Rev Pino Puglisi was held in a stadium on the waterfront of Palermo, the regional capital of Sicily, where he worked in a crime-heavy working-class neighbourhood. His killing shocked the nation, helping turn public opinion in Sicily against the mafia and leading to a clear rejection by the Catholic Church of the pious gestures made by mobsters.
Father Puglisi was shot in the street on his 56th birthday on Sept 15, 1993, as he was returning home in the Brancaccio quarter in Palermo. He was approached by a kill team of four people, and the priest initially thought it was an armed robbery. When he realised who the criminals were, he smiled and told them: "I have been expecting you."
Two of the perpetrators, who were all caught and given life sentences, later turned against the mafia and became key witnesses in trials that put dozens of gangsters behind bars. One of the two is now a devout Catholic, and the second, the trigger man, told investigators he has been haunted by Father Puglisi's smile ever since.
PALERMO, Italy (AFP) - Tens of thousands of Catholic faithful attended a mass on Saturday putting on the path to sainthood a priest shot dead by the mafia 20 years ago, the first victim of organised crime to be declared a martyr.
The open-air service for the Rev Pino Puglisi was held in a stadium on the waterfront of Palermo, the regional capital of Sicily, where he worked in a crime-heavy working-class neighbourhood. His killing shocked the nation, helping turn public opinion in Sicily against the mafia and leading to a clear rejection by the Catholic Church of the pious gestures made by mobsters.
Father Puglisi was shot in the street on his 56th birthday on Sept 15, 1993, as he was returning home in the Brancaccio quarter in Palermo. He was approached by a kill team of four people, and the priest initially thought it was an armed robbery. When he realised who the criminals were, he smiled and told them: "I have been expecting you."
Two of the perpetrators, who were all caught and given life sentences, later turned against the mafia and became key witnesses in trials that put dozens of gangsters behind bars. One of the two is now a devout Catholic, and the second, the trigger man, told investigators he has been haunted by Father Puglisi's smile ever since.