A Puglia priest who
unsuccessfully tried to hold a Mass in memory of a Canadian
'Ndrangheta mafia boss killed in Quebec in May was holed up in
his house and refusing to talk to journalists after the local
bishop cancelled the service Tuesday. An aide to the priest told the media Father Michele Delle Foglie would shortly express his official position on the case, which has caused controversy in Italy.
The aide read out a note from Father Delle Foglie saying he would make "a statement to the faithful and not to the citizenry, to whom the invitation to pray in suffrage (for late boss Rocco Sollecito) was not addressed.
"There has been talk of a Mass in honour of the boss, and even a funeral, which is absurd! That poor man has been lying dead and buried in Canada since the end of May".
Father Dell Foglie also complained that the letter cancelling the Mass, written by the bishop of Bari-Bitonto, Msgr Francesco Cacucci, was handed over to the media "late yesterday evening before it came into the hands of the parish priest".