While speaking a prayer vigil for victims of mafia murders on Friday, Pope Francis warned mobsters that Hell awaits them unless they change their ways, the Washington Post reported.
The ceremony was held at the Church of San Gregorio VII -- close to the Vatican -- and was created to remember the hundreds of people killed my mafia members since 1893.
Francis said "this life that you live now won't give you pleasure. It won't give you joy or happiness" during the ceremony in Rome, where the names of 842 victims were read aloud.
He added "blood-stained money, blood-stained power, you can't bring it with you to your next life. Repent. There's still time to not end up in Hell, which is what awaits you if you continue on this path."
"We pray for you, I am asking you on my knees to convert, it is for your own good."
Friday's event is not the first time Francis has spoken out against the mafia. In January, he decried the death of 3-year-old Nicolo Campolongo, whose burnt body was found alongside his grandfather's in Cassano allo Ionio.
"My thoughts go to Coco Campolongo. The anger taken out on this tiny boy seems unprecedented in the history of criminality. Let us pray with Coco for these people who have committed this crime, that they repent and be converted," the Pope said.
According to Al Jazeera, at least 1,000 people attended the event at the Church of San Gregorio VII.
"Men and women of the mafia... change your way of life. Stop doing evil, convert," Francis said.
