(Palermo, ITA) - Tens of thousands of Catholic faithful attended a mass on Saturday putting on the path to sainthood a priest shot dead by the mafia 20 years ago, the first victim of organised crime to be declared a martyr.
The open-air service for Father Pino Puglisi was held in a stadium on the waterfront of Palermo, the regional capital of Sicily, where he worked in a crime-heavy working-class neighbourhood.
Puglisi's killing shocked the nation, helping turn public opinion in Sicily against the mafia and leading to a clear rejection by the Catholic Church of the pious gestures made by mobsters.
Palermo archbishop Paolo Romeo presided at the beatification with dozens of priests and officials -- in contrast to when Puglisi's pleas for help were ignored by religious and political leaders.
"Mafiosi often say and show they are believers, but they are behind mechanisms of exploitation and injustice, of hatred and bitterness, of violence and death," Romeo said in his homily.
"Killings by mafiosi reveal their true nature. They reject the God of life and love," he said.
Salvatore De Giorgi, cardinal emeritus of Palermo, said: "Twenty years after his murder, Don Puglisi is speaking again and louder than ever."
But his brother Gaetano was quoted as saying in recent book about Puglisi's life: "I would have preferred him alive instead of blessed.
"The Church is beatifying him now but when he needed help, no one helped Pino," he said.
Interior Minister Angelino Alfano and Justice Minister Annamaria Cancellieri were also at the mass, which revived memories of high-profile mafia killings and bomb attacks in the early 1990s.
The community centre that Puglisi founded is still regularly targeted by criminals. Last month there was an arson attack on the site where it is planning to build a new church in his honour.
Puglisi is the first mafia victim to be declared by the Vatican a "martyr of the faith" -- which makes him beatified, or blessed, and is the first step to official sainthood for the Church.
Puglisi was shot in the street on his 56th birthday on September 15, 1993 as he was returning home in the Brancaccio quarter in Palermo.
He was approached by a kill team of four people and initially thought it was an armed robbery.
When he realised who the criminals were, he smiled and told them: "I have been expecting you."
Two of the perpetrators, who were all caught and given life sentences, later turned against the mafia and became key witnesses in trials that put dozens of gangsters behind bars.
One of the two is now a devout Catholic and the second, the trigger man, told investigators he has been haunted by Puglisi's smile ever since.
The killing was ordered by the then godfathers of Brancaccio, the Graviano brothers, who are also serving life sentences for the murder.
The Gravianos were reportedly angry that Puglisi was turning young people away from a life of crime and was openly critical of their power.
"If God is with us, who will be against us! I am not afraid of dying if what I say is the truth," Puglisi once said in a homily.
The killing of a priest was particularly shocking in a society where known gangsters attend mass and are often benefactors of their local churches.
"There were churchmen who colluded with the mafia but then there were those like Puglisi who fought against it," said Palermo mayor Leoluca Orlando.
The proponent of Puglisi's beatification, archbishop Vincenzo Bertolone, said: "The mafia is a religion and not just a criminal phenomenon and it does not allow other faiths."
