Pope John Paul endorses anti-Mafia campaign

Pope John Paul threw his full support behind the Roman Catholic Church's anti-Mafia campaign, urging Sicily's youth to build a future that would isolate and destroy ''the Mafia attitude.''

On a two-day visit to Sicily, the Pope endorsed the recent statement by Sicilian bishops which for the first time named the Mafia in threatening excommunication for armed robbery, kidnap, and murder. Criminal violence has claimed at least 127 lives in Sicily this year.