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Godfather's Daughter Marries in Corleone

By PHIL STEWART
,
Reuters
posted: 45 DAYS 2 HOURS AGO
comments: 84
filed under: World News
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ROME (July 24) - When Don Corleone's daughter got married in the film "The Godfather," the guests kissed his hand and he dispensed favors because no Sicilian Mafia boss could refuse a request on his daughter's wedding day.
But when the real thing took place in Corleone, the Sicilian hill town made famous by the movie, the Mafia's former "boss of bosses" Salvatore "Toto" Riina could only read about it in newspapers on Thursday from inside prison.

Mafia Wedding Evokes 'The Godfather'

Lucia Riina leave church after marrying Vincenzo Bellomo, July 23, 2008Reuters

Lucia Riina, daughter of the Mafia's former "boss of bosses," Salvatore "Tito" Riina, was married Wednesday in Corleone -- the Sicilian hill town made famous by Francis Ford Coppola's Oscar-winning movie, 'The Godfather.' Here, the bride leaves the church with her new husband, Vincenco Bellomo.

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Lucia Riina, his 28-year-old daughter, was married on Wednesday and, in the absence of her father, given away by her brother Giuseppe.
Besides her father, other members of Lucia's extended family also could not attend, including brother Gianni and uncle Leoluca Bagarella, who were also Mafia bosses and are also behind bars.
"Our thoughts go to those who could not be here," the groom, Vincenco Bellomo, told the guests, according to reports in Italian newspapers.
Giuseppe, who was freed from jail in February after serving time for Mafia crimes, also thanked their father, whose Mafia nickname was "the Beast" because of his ruthlessness.
"You should be paying for the (media) rights," Giuseppe joked to reporters, according to La Repubblica newspaper.
The wedding, which took place in a church in Corleone, enticed the media but shocked Mafia victims.
"Whoever marries them becomes an accomplice," Sonia Alfano, daughter of a Sicilian journalist killed by the Mafia, told La Repubblica.
"The newlyweds never disassociated themselves from the barbarous mobsters, but instead thanked them."
Corleone Mayor Antonino Iannazzo was neutral, describing the couple as "two private citizens" who followed the rules to marry publicly and who should be respected.
Salvatore Riina's arrest in 1993 after nearly a quarter of a century on the run ended a violent reign which saw a clan war and challenge to authority dramatized by the murders in 1992 of anti-Mafia magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino.
Copyright 2008, Reuters
2008-07-24 16:19:12
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STaRgAzEr33154

08:16 PMJul 28 2008

this has nothing to do with America outside of the reference to the movie the "Godfather"..none of the Politicians had anything to do with any of this..some of you seriously have nothing intelligent to say but smear the other political party for everything that happens..pretty sad

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Forgetfulwitch67

11:32 AMJul 26 2008

think bushisacancer needs a little nap, but it's correct, the southerners icked mob's a$$ when they tried to encroach on the moonshine business in georgia

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CamelotTwo

09:38 AMJul 26 2008

I am always amazed at how some liberal nut can ALWAYS relate EVERY story back to George Bush. How someone takes this story and makes it about George Bush is just beyond me. OK, let's blame him for the mob now. Geeeez. You know, if you had a humane place in your soul, you'd realize that everyone, even George Bush, holds the light of God within him. You may disagree with him, but he is following the light that leads him. Just as we all should. We don't have to agree, but we should respect. And why should this young woman be made to pay the price for her father's sins? She is not the killer, the mobster, the evildoer. Her father is in jail. That's the price being paid. She should not have to pay it. And even her father has the light of God in him somewhere too. He is her father and she loves him, even though others may have their reasons to hate him. Let's all try to see the good in others, not just the bad. He is behind bars where he belongs......does that mean he doesn't l...

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BushIsACancer

11:39 PMJul 26 2008

"The whole mafia thing only works because folks up north won't stand up to it. Down south the bullshit would be dealt with quickly....good old boys wouldn't be pushed around like that"==============================You southern boys are pathetic. Stupid as the day is long. With your sickening drawl, your grotesque wives and those hideous pink necks, I don't know whether to feel sorry for you scum or shoot you and put you out of your misery.

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ABUDJ

10:12 PMJul 26 2008

acc hi sheriff who runs new orleans--st. louis-biloxi-maimi.

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ACC HI SHERIFF

09:51 PMJul 26 2008

The whole mafia thing only works because folks up north won't stand up to it. Down south the bullshit would be dealt with quickly....good old boys wouldn't be pushed around like that.

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jesusvotesrepub

11:18 AMJul 25 2008

the mafia are like the democraps, just trying to look for a easy way to make a living without working, they are welfare bums, why do they have to do illegal stuff to make money? lots of people have made money and fortunes by working hard. they didnt have to steal like mafia dogs

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jesusvotesrepub

11:14 AMJul 25 2008

the mafia are scum who tax the poor and then take the money to live the high life. yet somepeople look up to them, like they are heros. some knuckle heads even try to claim they could run this country better. lol. if you think the people we have now are bad and crooks, you put the mafia in charge and you will really be getting taxed to death

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MRSMONTEPENNY

11:04 AMJul 25 2008

What's wrong with the Mafia ? Jessee Jackson , Al Sharpton NAACP are no better but we tolerate them and they are crap. If you just leave the Mafia alone there would'nt be so much trouble. GO MAFIA !!!

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Kidderfamilycomp

09:39 AMJul 25 2008

Italians getting married in Italy? Shocking! What is really shocking is that the only time we hear of Italians it is negative or stereotypical. There is more murder and intrigue in the US in sanctuary cities like San Fransisco, we are inviting the criminals to work us over and we give them a pass.

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