An Italian bishop has done what few dare to do and stood up to the mafia over their use of holy shrines.

Monsignor Giuseppe Fiorini Morosini demanded that the mafia stop using the shrines for their initiation ceremonies in an open letter to bosses of the N’drangheta crime group in southern Italy.

He is angry with the mobsters after seeing footage of a mafia boss being ‘sworn in’ before a statue of the Virgin Mary at Polsi near Reggio Calabria, according to The Telegraph.

The surveillance footage was released by police after they arrested more than 300 suspected mobsters.

Monsignor Morosini said in his letter: “We have seen images of your illegal gatherings and divisions of power at the shrine to the Madonna at Polsi.

“We had always thought that these meetings at holy shrines were folklore but now we have had to re-think.

“What sense is there in having meetings and ceremonies at a shrine to the Madonna, where while the faithful pray and reflect in God, you plan your activities which God and the Virgin Mary cannot bless?”

He ended his letter by saying the Church would always be willing to welcome in the mobsters “with open arms because it is the only institution that believes in the possibility of your conversion”.