Giuseppe Diana
Encyclopedia
Giuseppe Diana also known as Father Peppino, was a Roman Catholic parish priest in Casal di Principe
. He was killed by the Camorra
.
to stop them being recruited by the Camorra in a direct challenge to their business practices.
On Christmas 1991, he published a letter urging his parishioners to shun the Camorra. The letter entitled "For the love of my people I will not stay silent", called on the church to resist the Camorra's rule, which he called "a form of terrorism". He also denounced the Casalesi clans
' business practices: "Extortion that has left our region with no potential for development; kickbacks of 20 per cent on construction projects; illegal drug trafficking, which has created gangs of marginalised youth and unskilled workers at the beck and call of criminal organisations."
for the feast of San Giuseppe
.
The same year, he had testified in an investigation of ties linking the Camorra, politicians and businessmen after the Government's decision to suspend the local council in Casal Di Principe because of its links to the Camorra. He had threatened to stop administering sacraments to camorristi, refusing to marry them. He also sided with the newly elected left-wing mayor of Casal di Principe, who was trying to prevent firms connected to the Camorra from tendering for public contracts.
, writer Roberto Saviano
, who personally knew father Diana, dedicated a chapter to the priest. The title of the book comes from a letter by Diana: "time has come to stop being a Gomorrah." "He decided to take an interest in the dynamics of power and not merely its corollary suffering," Saviano wrote. "He didn’t want merely to clean the wound but to understand the mechanisms of the metastasis
, to prevent the cancer from spreading, to block the source of whatever was turning his home into a gold mine of capital with an abundance of cadavers."
Casal di Principe
Casal di Principe is a comune in the Province of Caserta in the Italian region Campania, located about 25 km northwest of Naples and about 20 km southwest of Caserta....
. He was killed by the Camorra
Camorra
The Camorra is a Mafia-type criminal organization, or secret society, originating in the region of Campania and its capital Naples in Italy. It is one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy, dating to the 18th century.-Background:...
.
Defying the Camorra
In the mid-1980s, he set up a welcome centre for African immigrants in CampaniaCampania
Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...
to stop them being recruited by the Camorra in a direct challenge to their business practices.
On Christmas 1991, he published a letter urging his parishioners to shun the Camorra. The letter entitled "For the love of my people I will not stay silent", called on the church to resist the Camorra's rule, which he called "a form of terrorism". He also denounced the Casalesi clans
Casalesi clan
The Casalesi clan is a clan within the Camorra, an Italian criminal organization, operating from Casal di Principe in the province of Caserta between Naples and Salerno.Formed by Antonio Bardellino, it is a confederation of clans in the Caserta area...
' business practices: "Extortion that has left our region with no potential for development; kickbacks of 20 per cent on construction projects; illegal drug trafficking, which has created gangs of marginalised youth and unskilled workers at the beck and call of criminal organisations."
Murder
On March 19, 1994, he was shot twice in the head in the Church of San Nicola di Bari in the town of Casal di Principe while preparing to celebrate a MassMass
Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...
for the feast of San Giuseppe
Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph is a figure in the Gospels, the husband of the Virgin Mary and the earthly father of Jesus Christ ....
.
The same year, he had testified in an investigation of ties linking the Camorra, politicians and businessmen after the Government's decision to suspend the local council in Casal Di Principe because of its links to the Camorra. He had threatened to stop administering sacraments to camorristi, refusing to marry them. He also sided with the newly elected left-wing mayor of Casal di Principe, who was trying to prevent firms connected to the Camorra from tendering for public contracts.
Legacy
In his book GomorrahGomorrah (book)
Gomorrah is a book by Roberto Saviano published in 2006.-The book:The book describes the clandestine particulars of the business of the Camorra, a powerful Neapolitan mafia-like organization...
, writer Roberto Saviano
Roberto Saviano
Roberto Saviano is an Italian writer and journalist.In his writings, articles, television programs, and books he employs prose and news-reporting style to narrate the story of the Camorra , exposing its territory and business connections.Since 2006, following the publication of his bestselling...
, who personally knew father Diana, dedicated a chapter to the priest. The title of the book comes from a letter by Diana: "time has come to stop being a Gomorrah." "He decided to take an interest in the dynamics of power and not merely its corollary suffering," Saviano wrote. "He didn’t want merely to clean the wound but to understand the mechanisms of the metastasis
Metastasis
Metastasis, or metastatic disease , is the spread of a disease from one organ or part to another non-adjacent organ or part. It was previously thought that only malignant tumor cells and infections have the capacity to metastasize; however, this is being reconsidered due to new research...
, to prevent the cancer from spreading, to block the source of whatever was turning his home into a gold mine of capital with an abundance of cadavers."