Archbishop of Florence targeted, his secretary shot.

Rather shocking news already echoed by Messa in Latino. If you read Italian, try also the usual Corriede della Sera.

Apparently, a man of around 70, not well-kept, has asked to speak to the Archbishop. When the Archbishop’s secretary said to him that this was not the moment, the man extracted a pistol and shot him; then he said something rather confused to the Archbishop and pointed the weapon towards him; at this point either the weapon jammed or the man changed his mind and disappeared.

Several suspects have already been arrested, man hunt in full swing, even the Digos (a division of the Polizia specialising in anti-terror activity) has been involved.

The Archbishop says he never received threats, the man was old and, I dare say, not entirely compos mentis.

Still, this is rather shocking news, particularly in a country like Italy where illegal weapon possession is treated very harshly and such episodes are extremely rare compared with the Anglo-Saxon standard.

The secretary is now out of danger, but he could have died.

Re-open the madhouse, say I.

Mundabor