The new year began very badly for Fr Rosario Badolato, parish priest in the little town of Cessaniti in Calabria, southern Italy. On the feast of the Epiphany, when Italian children traditionally receive presents, his car was set alight near the church. The culprits will probably never be found, but nobody doubts it was a warning from individuals involved in organised crime. Fr Badolato had begun to prepare for the celebrations to mark the feast of St Basil the Great, which in Cessaniti are held in June. He intended to follow the new guidelines of the regional bishop’s conference, “purifying” the procession of the patron saint from all “undue” influence. It was for this reason that the Mafia punished him.A silent war has broken out between the Mafia and Franc