Archbishop Domenico Battaglia was subject to an anonymous letter-writing campaign in the months before his surprise addition to the College of Cardinals, according to Italian media reports.
The Archbishop of Naples, who is due to receive a cardinal’s red hat from Pope Francis Dec. 7, was reportedly accused in the letters of failing to address alleged links to organized crime at an academic institution, despite his reputation as an outspoken mafia opponent.
The letters also appear to have claimed that he possesses an authoritarian streak and shows undue preference for collaborators from his native Calabria.
Battaglia, known in Italy as Don Mimmo, has not publicly addressed the allegations, but called a meeting of the Naples curia Oct. 14, to discuss “urgent and important matters concerning the life of the diocesan Church.”
At least six letters targeting Battaglia were reportedly circulated among priests of the Naples archdiocese, Vatican dicasteries, and members of the College of Cardinals, according to reports.
The letters were said to highlight the case of Fr. Antonello Foderaro, a Calabrian priest who was appointed dean of the St. Thomas Aquinas section of the Papal Theological Seminary of Southern Italy in Naples in September 2023.
Foderaro stood aside from the role in August amid a probe into the institution’s ties to an employee arrested in June who is said to be the son-in-law of an organized crime boss.
Pope Francis did not include Battaglia among 21 new cardinals he named Oct. 6. But following the surprise withdrawal of Indonesia’s Bishop Paskalis Bruno Syukur, the Vatican press office announced Nov. 4 that the pope had decided to include the Naples archbishop in the Dec. 7 consistory for the creation of new cardinals.
Battaglia told Vatican News that the appointment was “not a privilege but a responsibility.”
“Do not call me Eminence as someone already did, I am and will always be Don Mimmo,” he said.
The traditionalist website messainlatino.it wrote Oct. 17 that Battaglia was originally included on Pope Francis’ list of new cardinals, but removed “due to well-known events.” Other outlets have rejected the claim.
In April, Battaglia canceled long-standing Traditional Latin Masses in the Naples archdiocese, restricting Old Rite celebrations to two locations, in line with Pope Francis’ motu proprio Traditionis custodes and directives from the Dicastery for Divine Worship.
Local Catholics reportedly protested against the decision, submitting a petition with 250 signatures to the Naples curia.
In August, a lawyer representing the Naples archdiocese denied media reports that Battaglia was “isolated” within the local Church.
“From the very first day of his arrival in the city, Archbishop D. Battaglia has built up relations of closeness and proximity with the diocesan clergy and the Neapolitan faithful, as evidenced by the fact that all the priests and many people from civil society have his personal cell phone number,” the lawyer said.
“In this way they have direct contact with the archbishop, who is available daily, within the limits of human possibilities, to meet with them, listen to them, advise them, and help them.”
Battaglia was born in Satriano, a town in Italy’s southern Calabria region, in 1963. He was ordained a priest of the Catanzaro-Squillace archdiocese in 1988.
In 2016, he was named bishop of Cerreto Sannita-Telese-Sant’Agata de’ Goti, in Italy’s Campania region, whose capital is Naples.
Battaglia gained a reputation as a “street priest,” dedicated to serving youth and people struggling with drug addictions.
He was named Archbishop of Naples in 2020, succeeding Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, a former senior Vatican official.
The Naples archdiocese, which dates back to the 10th century, serves more than 1.4 million Catholics in 287 parishes.
