Even pedophiles get second chances! Mafia responds to Pope Francis' suggestion they be excommunicated

Mafia points out that even pedophiles get second chances.

The mafia has replied to Pope Francis' suggestion that members of the crime family be excommunicated. The mafia has suggested that they deserve a second chance too.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) -- Last week, the Vatican suggested that the next papal letter should deal with the mafia. The term mafia refers to any organized crime syndicate. In Italy and Sicily, organized crime has a long, and bold public tradition.

The mafia in Italy engages in a variety of criminal enterprises including drug trafficking, human trafficking, extortion, and corruption. Such activities are profitable and increase their power, but they harm countless others, many of whom are innocent of wrongdoing.

Still, the mafia is often romanticized. Hollywood movies portray the mafia as familial organizations, brutal to outsiders and those who are disloyal, but loving and traditional when it comes to their own families. They are portrayed as abiding by a code of ethics and honor that is stringently upheld despite their criminal nature.

Such depictions are romanticized, and actual members of the mafia run the gamut from godfather to simple thug. The harm caused by the mafia likely outweighs any good they do, such as protecting the Vatican from ISIS.

Giovanni Gambino, the son of a prominent mafia elite, spoke out against the possibility that Pope Francis may excommunicate members of the mafia. Many members of the mafia are Catholic and traditionally conservative.

Gambino pointed out that Pope Francis forgives pedophile priests in South America. He asked that members of the mafia be given a second chance too. He warned that without mafia protection, ISIS could overrun the Vatican and turn it into a mosque within 15 years. Gambino also spoke out against the influx of refugees and illegal immigrants into Sicily.

It should be noted that pedophile priests can be forgiven, but that does not mean they are free from the consequences of their actions. Such people belong in prison. The same goes for members of the mafia who commit crimes. These people can be forgiven, but there are also consequences.

Excommunication is the most severe penalty the Church can impose upon a person. It restricts a person from the blessings of Church Society. An excommunicated person cannot participate in Church activities, such as communion, marriage, Christian burial, and so on.

However, excommunication can be resolved by absolution.

So, members of the mafia have their second chance, as well as a third, fourth, and so on, ad infinitum, so long as they live. We know from Jesus' parables such as the prodigal son and the vineyard, Christ wants to save all people, including those who are members of the mafia. But to attain this, those members should rightly quit their criminal enterprise, repent of their since, and endeavor to lead Christian lives until their dying day.