Pope Francis lambasts Mafiosi on Italy trip: 'They are excommunicated'

Pope Francis took a day trip to Italy's Calabria region, an area of the country overrun by organized crime syndicate 'Ndrangheta, Reuters reported.

He addressed the global drug trafficking group during a mass earlier today, saying that "those who in their lives follow this path of evil, as Mafiosi do, are not in communion with God. They are excommunicated."

The impromptu comments to a crowd numbering in the thousands come from a pope who has spent time with drug addicts, and he has warned that the Catholic Church will do its part to combat organized crime.

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"This evil must be fought against," he said. "It must be pushed aside. We must say no to it."