PALERMO – After the news of the boss’s wedding in Falcone’s church in Palermo, the Dominicans respond to the controversy by condemning the mafia and explaining that they had given their consent to the celebration without knowing the “criminal” depth of those involved.
The Dominicans’ clarification
“As rector of the church of San Domenico I would like to clarify some aspects of this affair in order to provide definitive clarity, stating that I am – together with the community of Dominican friars of Palermo – deeply shocked and saddened by what happened. It seems clear that on the part of our community there was no choice of acquiescence towards the reality of the mafia or – worse – of connivance with it: we did not take into account the people who showed up to ask to celebrate the religious rite in our church , if we had known in time what reality they represented, we would never have followed up on their request”, states the rector of the church of San Domenico, Father Sergio Catalan, in agreement with the prior of the convent Father Giuseppe Saturday.
The charity offering
The religious, regarding the 400 euros donated by the couple, explain that “it will be made available – as happens with all the other offers we receive – for social purposes. I believe that this is the only possible ‘restitution’, by analogy. with what happens for assets seized from the mafia and destined for civil society. In this sense, to give further symbolic strength to this ‘restitution’, in coordination with the authorities, we will allocate the sum in question to initiatives in support of the fight against the mafia”.
The boss’s silver wedding
What embarrassed the Dominicans was the controversy surrounding the news that on April 15th the Tommaso Lo Presticonsidered by the investigators to be a leading exponent of the city mafia, celebrated his silver wedding in the church of San Domenico, which houses the remains of Giovanni Falcon like those of many other illustrious Sicilians.
