Judge slain in Sicily by mafiosi put on path to sainthood

ROME — A magistrate slain by mobsters in Sicily and praised by two popes has been beatified by the Roman Catholic Church on Sunday in the last formal step before possible sainthood.

Rosario Livatino was gunned down on a Sicilian highway outside Agrigento as he drove to work in 1990. Three years later, during a pilgrimage to Sicily, Pope John Paul II hailed him a “martyr of justice and, indirectly, of the Christian faith.”

Livatino was beatified in a ceremony in a cathedral in Agrigento. Hours later, Pope Francis at the Vatican said Livatino worked to judge “not to condemn, but to redeem.” As an investigative magistrate, Livatino, 37, had been leading probes into the Mafia and corruption when he was slain. He was known for praying daily before entering court.

Francis also praised Livatino as a “martyr of justice and of the faith,” noting that the magistrate “always put his work ‘under the protection of God,’ ” a reference to Livatino’s motto. Describing Livatino as a “witness of the gospel until his heroic death,’’ Francis expressed hope that his example would inspire others to be ”loyal defenders of legality and of liberty.”

Four gunmen shot at Livatino’s car as he drove without bodyguards. The alleged masterminds and attackers were eventually arrested and convicted.