Rome's most prominent anti-mafia priest, known for his efforts to rescue young people from the drug trade was attacked during a march against organised crime by a 28-year-old man on a scooter who was found to be carrying a hammer and cleaver.
Father Antonio Coluccia, 48, pastor of St Philip the Apostle parish in Rome's Grottarossa, is known for walking the streets of neighbourhoods known to be centres of drug trafficking, talking to young people who work as lookouts and street sellers, encouraging them to consider other ways of life.
The priest was surrounded by a police escort during the march because he's received numerous threats over the years, including an attack in April when stones were thrown at him from windows during one of his visits to the city's drug-trafficking centres.
The attacker, Del Prete, is a drug user with previous arrests for drug possession and damage to property. He tried to run over the priest with his scooter. Another policeman was injured in the incident when he tried to wrestle him off the scooter as it accelerated towards the priest.