Vatican could ban mafia from going to church

THE VATICAN is considering excommunicating mafia mobsters to crack down on corruption in Italy.

Church leaders say it is time to put excluding criminals from church services on the table as a legal sanction for ‘corruption and mafia association’.

It follows an international conference at the Vatican attended by 50 dignitaries, including ambassadors to the Holy See, magistrates and representatives from the police.

There is no legal framework for the sanction but the meeting agreed on the importance of deeper co-operation.

‘The (expert) group raised the problems of Colombian and Mexican drug traffickers, so we need a penal decree, a formal legal act at the national and global level,’ said Monsignor Michele Pennisi, archbishop of Monreale in Sicily.