captioning sponsored by cbs this is the cbs evening news. axelrod: good evening. i m jim axelrod. in the the 13 months since becoming the head of the catholic church, pope francis has developed a reputation for straight talk on issues he feehe feelsstrongly about and ns going to question that reputation after his trip to southern italy today to a stronghold of an especially brutal branch of the italian mafia. there at an outdoor maz, the pope declared the mobsters are now excommunicated. as allen pizzey reports, it s been more than 20 years since a pope took on the mob. reporter: stepping boldly where angels might, indeed, fear to tread, pope francis used a mass in the heart land of onest most violent mafia organization. they are not in communion with god, he said. they are excommunicated. pope john paul ii made similar condemnations of the mafia in sicily in 1993 and the mafia responded by bombing several churches in rome. the italian police say virtually everyone he
axelrod: good evening. i m jim axelrod. this is our western edition of the broadcast. in the 13 months since becoming the head of the catholic church, pope francis has developed a reputation for straight talk on issues he feels strongly about and no one is going to question that reputation after his trip to southern italy today to a stronghold of an especially brutal branch of the italian mafia. there in front of couple hundred thousand catholics at an outdoor mass, the pope declared the mobsters are now excommunicated. as allen pizzey reports, it s been more than 20 years since a pope took on the mob. reporter: stepping boldly where angels might, indeed, fear to tread, pope francis used a mass in the heart land of one of italy s most violent mafia organizations to brand the criminal network know as the ndrangheta, an example of the adoration of evil. they are not in communion with god, he said. they are excommunicated. pope john paul ii made similar condemnations of