Mafia jargon leverages religious metaphor to signal territory ownership

Evidence

A woman acquiring some land in Vicari was “encouraged” to pay for protection: “How can you enter the Casa Santa without asking permission?” she was asked rhetorically (VM-GdS, May 29, 1987). Casa Santa, the sacred house, stands here as a metaphor for mafia territory. The origin of the term is not clear: it echoes not so much the language of official religion as that of fraternal organizations and sects. But it matters little where it comes from so long as the audience finds it convincing. In another instance I was told of a man suspected of excessive curiosity who was threatened over the phone by means of a riddle of pseudoreligious inspiration. The anonymous caller proceeded point-blank to the incongruous question: “Do you happen to know where the Church of La Madonna del Riposo is located?” A polite denial was followed by a frantic search revealing that the church in question was “located” in the city cemetery—the “repose” alluded to being of the eternal variety. — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 336

Categorization

• SHARE: The ‘La Madonna del Riposo’ church-in-the-cemetery threat is a perfect macabre anecdote for someone into Italian organized crime lore.
• CANDY: The Madonna-del-Riposo riddle is a darkly funny, elevator-ready fact about how mafia threats encoded their menace.