Poisoned chalice: Bleach smell alerts Italian priest to apparent mafia threat

Fr Palamara, who has often spoken out against the 'Ndrangheta', the mafia organisation that originated in Calabria, told local media that he had received several death threats during his time at the church

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A parish priest in southern Italy was about to take a sip from a chalice of wine when he realised it was laced with bleach in what is believed to have been a mafia-related threat.

Fr Felice Palamara had just consecrated the chalice of water and wine before celebrating the eucharist during evening mass on Saturday at San Nicola di Pannaconi church in Cessaniti, a small town in the Calabria region, and as he prepared to drink from it he notice a strange smell.