Pope Francis urged members of Italian organised crime groups yesterday to repent, saying the Catholic Church would welcome them if they promised to stop serving the cause of evil.

He spoke during an audience at the Vatican for pilgrims and anti-crime activists from the southern region of Calabria, home to the 'Ndrangheta, mainland Italy's equivalent of the Sicilian Mafia. When he visited Calabria last June, he accused organised crime groups of practising "the adoration of evil" and said members had excommunicated themselves from the Church by their actions.