DT Max on an underground rescue network for mafia women

In today’s newsletter, within an Italian activist operation, and then:

Ciotti says a woman takes a great risk when she leaves a mafia family: “If they find her, they will kill her.”Photo by Filippo Barbero for The New Yorker

The priest who helps women escape from the crowd

Don Luigi Ciotti heads an anti-mafia organization and has been leading a secret operation for decades to free women from the criminal underworld.

Don Luigi Ciotti, a 79-year-old priest, has become a household name in Italy for his life’s work as an anti-mafia activist. But he also has a much lesser-known sideline, helping women escape the mafia and protecting them from the often deadly reprisals that come when someone tries to escape. Over the past two decades, he has developed an informal network of safe houses, burner phones and cooperating police officers to help those women who don’t qualify for the country’s witness protection program but desperately need to escape.

In a remarkable report for this week’s issue, DT Max travels to Italy to meet Ciotti and see his covert operation in action. Because of his notoriety among members of the Mafia, Ciotti travels in an armored car, is protected 24/7 by a security team of five bodyguards, and never sleeps in the same place two nights in a row. Max also interviews several women who, with Ciotti’s help, have tentatively built new lives for themselves but still face enormous danger from husbands and other family members from their past. “Women are the generators of life,” Ciotti says, explaining why he’s drawn to this work. “In the city squares of the world, it’s women who are fighting for freedom.”

The Lede

Aid workers clear rubble at the site of Friday’s Israeli attack in Beirut.Photo by Hassan Ammar / AP

Are Israel and Hezbollah Heading Towards an ‘Open-Ended Fight’?

Airstrikes in LebanonOn the heels of last week’s pager and walkie-talkie explosions, the country has been in a state of fear. The death toll from these incidents has reached the hundreds and is still rising, with several thousand wounded. Few in Beirut are pinning hopes on American mediation, as Washington’s calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and caution in Lebanon have been accompanied by continued military, political and diplomatic support for Israel. Rania Abouzeid, writing from Beirut, reports on whether Israel and Hezbollah are headed for an “open-ended battle.” Read the story »

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Daily cartoon

“Pay no attention to the men behind the curtain who deny you the right to abortion!”

Cartoon by Adam Douglas Thompson

More fun and games

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PS Sally Rooney’s new novel“Intermezzo” is out today. Waiting for your copy from the library? Read an excerpt and our interview with the author about how she developed the main characters. A tale of two brothers and the intersection of desire and desperation, the book is well-timed for the season. “Rooney’s voice is clear and bright,” Lauren Collins wrote in 2018. “There’s something autumnal about her.” 📖