The Archbishop of Naples, Italy is adding another transgression to the list of sinful activities:  environmental destruction.  Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe says that polluters could not receive communion.

Naples has a long-standing problem with pollution; it’s one of the most polluted cities in Italy.  The local mafia group encourages the closure of legitimate incineration plants in order to fan demand for its illegal dumping services.  Every night, gang members light hundreds of small garbage fires and release poisonous fumes into the atmosphere, ‘earning’ millions of Euros for getting rid of waste that can’t be rid of by legitimate means anymore.  Last year, research suggested that women in the Naples region were almost 50 per cent more likely to develop breast cancer than in other areas of Italy.

“Those who pollute are not in the grace of God and cannot take communion,” Cardinal Sepe said, adding that, “Our people have to be told the truth about what has happened.  It is time for everyone to unite and continue to free our earth of poisons.”

The Cardinal’s boss also has spoken out on the environment.  During his inaugural mass on 19 March, Pope Francis said, “I would like to ask all those who have positions of responsibility in economic, political and social life, and all men and women of goodwill:  Let us be protectors of creation, protectors of God's plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment.”

And he’s brought environmental messages into his sermons ever since.