Overview
- Vittorio De Luca, 75, delivered a live 9mm round to Don Maurizio Patriciello during Mass at San Paolo Apostolo in Caivano and was detained after journalist Marilena Natale intervened and alerted her police escort.
- Prosecutors ordered De Luca jailed on suspicion of acts of persecution aggravated by the mafia method, a charge that carries enhanced penalties under anti-mafia law.
- De Luca told authorities he was instructed to deliver the projectile and refused to identify who sent him, saying he feared being killed if he spoke.
- The priest said De Luca is the father-in-law of clan figure Mimmo Ciccarelli, and investigators are examining whether the gesture relates to local Camorra dynamics and recent power shifts.
- Reports note De Luca’s documented mental-health history and a 2024 knife episode in the same church, while security around the parish has been reinforced and national officials voiced solidarity with the priest.