A Catholic priest in Calabria was forced to interrupt Mass after finding that his Communion wine had been poisoned with bleach in an effort at intimidation attributed to the mafia.
Father Felice Palamara, parish priest of the church of San Nicola in Pannaconi, a hamlet near Vibo Valentia in the toe of Italy, noticed that the consecrated water and wine he was about to drink from the chalice had a strange odour. He halted the liturgy, telling parishioners that he felt unwell.
Laboratory analysis confirmed the presence of bleach, prompting a police investigation and a decision to place the priest under round-the-clock protection. Investigators are examining security camera videos to determine who may have had access to the wine and water cruets used on Saturday evening.
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Suspicions have focused on the ’Ndrangheta, Italy’s most powerful organised crime group, which dominates cocaine trafficking in Europe. A former senator, two police officers and 200 mobsters were convicted of crimes in a trial in Vibo Valentia in November.
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Local media suggested that Palamara and colleagues in the area had been targeted for speaking out against the mafia. He had received death threats and his car vandalised twice before the attempted poisoning. Father Francesco Pontoriero, the pastor of San Basilio Magno in neighbouring Cessaniti, has also received threats and returned from dinner in the town to find a dead cat on his car.
Cessaniti is governed by a commissioner appointed by the regional state representative after police uncovered interference by the ’Ndrangheta in local government affairs, forcing the resignation of the mayor.
Palamara, who suffers from heart problems and asthma, said: “My revenge is called love, my shield forgiveness and my breastplate mercy. I am serene, although beyond forgiveness and mercy, I hope there will also be justice.”
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Attilio Nostro, the diocesan bishop, expressed support for his priests. “The diocese is experiencing a period of suffering because of intimidatory actions that have nothing to do with the normal Christian life of the parishes,” he said. “I appeal to the Christian communities not to allow themselves to be discouraged by this language of violence. We must not give in to this logic, or allow ourselves to be tempted by despondency and rage.”
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On Monday, in the battle against the crime gangs that have dominated southern Italy for decades, police arrested more than 130 people on the opposite coast of Italy. Among them was Tommy Parisi, a singer and son of the powerful boss Savinuccio Parisi.
