Pope Francis telephoned the Italian priest Maurizio Patriciello who works against the Italian Mafia.
“I am Pope Francis.” This is what Father Maurizio, the pastor of the church of San Apóstol de Parco Verde (Naples, Italy), heard after answering the phone.
According to the local press, this priest has become the symbol of the fight against the Camorra, the mafia of the Campania region (Italy), whose most influential groups are in the cities of Naples and Casal di Principe.
“I still have no words,” said Fr. Maurizio, who explained that “it was lunchtime, the phone rang and I saw that it was an unknown number. I answered and a voice told me: ‘I am Pope Francis’. It wasn’t announced by anyone, he spoke directly,” he said.
“I really can’t explain the joy I felt. Having received the phone call from him, from the successor of Saint Peter”, he expressed, still surprised.
The priest also indicated that this call “confirms my faith,” and reported that Pope Francis asked him about the situation in Parco Verde and in the so-called “Terra dei fuochi” (Land of fires), a term that refers to the thousands of illegal landfills that the mafia established throughout the Campania region.
Fr. Maurizio also said that Pope Francis asked him “how everything was going and encouraged me to continue with my commitment.”
“He repeated it several times in our short phone call. Then he asked me to pray for him. Indeed, it is a great joy to know that the Pope remembers you, that he knows you exist, just as it is a joy to know that he is close to us. But we have always known it,” he assured.
This priest, who has been threatened by the mafia, celebrated that “the story of the ‘Terra dei Fuochi’, of the Camorra, of the oblivion of politicians, has gone around the world and has also reached the halls of the Vatican. The Holy Father is aware of our battles for the environment.”
A bomb exploded in front of Fr. Maurizio’s church in last March, which he interpreted as a direct threat to him.