Pope ‘at risk’ from Italian crime gang

The Pope is under threat from one of Italy’s most feared crime groups because he has spoken out about corruption in the Vatican, it has been said.

A leading anti-mafia judge, Nicola Gratteri, said if the “godfathers” of the ’Ndrangheta could find a way to silence the new pontiff, they would “seriously consider it”.

The latest attack by Pope Francis on organised crime gangs came at a Mass on Monday when he quoted a passage from the Gospel of Luke in which Jesus says: “It would be better for [the corrupt man] if a millstone were put around his neck and he be thrown into the sea.”