After four years of judicial investigation, Francesco Prete, the prosecutor of Brescia in northern Italy’s Lombardy, is convinced of having rounded up a gang serving the ‘ndrangheta. This crime organization originally comes from Calabria in southern Italy, but has managed to gain a strong position in northern Italy, and certainly in Lombardy, the region of the wealthy metropolis of Milan and one of the most prosperous regions in Europe. The police also seized more than 1.8 million euros in this anti-mafia operation at the end of last week.
It is not surprising that the group of 25 suspects includes several local politicians. The ‘ndrangheta has been eagerly infiltrating the Italian business world for years and deliberately approaches politicians to do business. But the fact that a Catholic nun would also be placed under house arrest on Thursday morning is much less common in Italy. Sister Anna Donelli (57), from Cremona in Northern Italy, worked for years as a volunteer in various prisons in Lombardy.
She developed good contacts with the detainees and acted as a referee during football matches among prisoners, which earned her the nickname ‘Collina’, after a well-known Italian referee. In February, Sister Donelli was honored for her volunteer work in Milan with a local prize for citizens and organizations that show special commitment and civic spirit.
Spiritual guide
But prosecutor Prete will try to demonstrate in court that that commitment was not nearly as Christian-inspired. According to his investigation, the nun abused her role as a spiritual guide and access to the prisoners and their families to act as an intermediary, resolve conflicts, and convey messages and instructions that helped plan criminal strategies. The nun is said to have formed a link between the prison and the outside world.
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Volunteers who have worked with the sister for years testify in the Italian media that they have great difficulty believing the accusations against Donelli. “It just can’t be true,” a volunteer told the newspaper La Stampa. “Sister Anna is very good at what she does and friendly, she has always behaved very correctly.” The sister herself hopes that she can soon tell her version of the facts to the judicial investigators who suspect her of collaboration with a mafia organization, which is a serious accusation in Italy.
Whether the sister is guilty has yet to be proven in court, but the file against her also includes wiretapped conversations. In an attempt to reassure a clan member, local ‘ndrangheta leader Stefano Tripodi describes the Catholic nun as “one of ours.” Then he repeats it again, explicitly: “If you need anything in prison, she is there, she is on our side.”