Weird Story: Francis Wants to Free Our Lady From …. The Mafia
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Marian devotion must be liberated from “superstructures, powers or conditioning which don't meet the evangelical criteria" – Francis writes cryptically.
According to Avvenire.it, the Italian Bishops' gay daily, this refers to the use the Mafia makes of religious events, especially processions and patronal feasts, in order to mark their presence in the territory and to create consensus through popular piety.
Avvenire.it writes about processions during which the statues of Our Lady or of the patron saint which are carried along, “bow” towards the house of the local Mafia boss as a sign of homage and as a reaffirmation of his power in that territory.
Picture: © Mazur, CC BY-NC-SA, #newsHhsyufijyr
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