Why Joe Profaci gave so much to religious causes?

I have read that Joe Profaci gave a large amount of money to the church and religious based causes BUT, when it came to his own men who made his money for him, he was viewed as stingy.

The stinginess I understand. It has been going on for centuries and will never go away as long as we have a capitalist society BUT, what I do not understand is Profaci's reasoning for contributing so heavily to the church......Did he actually think that when his time came to die and he had to meet his maker, these actions would have any significance?
Money is man made and doesn't leave this world.....Now if he personally did good things for other humans, maybe that stuff could hold some weight in the afterlife....Right?....All the Gallo crew wanted was some more bread for their personal family :o). They were hungry!

Maybe, Joe went through the same type of mental problems that the famous Al Capone went through....As in, the people he killed, haunted his mind every day and he began to see ghosts and hear voices.

Nevertheless, I just find it rather odd that a man who gives orders to kill, does sucha thing. I actually am surprised that the other bosses did not have him whacked out for such strong public ties to religion.....Wasn't there a Bonanno soldier, who's only violation was going to church regularly?.....He was killed out of fear that he might flip....His name evades me at the moment.

if my memory serves me, I think I read where someone stole an artifact from a church, and profaci found out about it and had the man killed. am I right about this? anyone?

true

Back then the Church had enormous influence in Italian neighborhoods. And Irish, and Polish neighborhoods as well. Legitimate businessmen gave to their own church, (and sometimes other churches nearby) as a matter of course. Getting in good with the Church meant passing for a respectable member of the community.

thank you Bronx, you are always spot on.

He probably found the cancer early and starting getting real religious. Some of the other dons of the 50tys weren't so much. Vito Joe b Carlo Albert even out of towners Ray p. Or every other boss. Think he did a good thing for that church. But he wasn't stopping them sicko priests that after all the lawsuits today bankrupted the Catholic church all over. Maybe one of the bosses should have hung one of them skinners back then in time sq. Send a message to the Vatican. Boom shots fired. New true detectives kinda all over the place.

He probably thought he was buying respectability ("a pillar of the Church and the community") if not absolution. Gangsters, crooked businessmen, dirty politician, are always trying to get right with their church.

If you read Joe Bonnanno's self-serving autobiography, "A Man of Honor," you'll see it's loaded with photos of him schmoozing with clergy and judges.

There's a picture of whitey Bulger and one of the worst pedo priests floating around the web n books. Think he's wearing a nhl championship ring in it the guy from Montreal or somewhere up there. Early 80tys?

When you get made a picture of a saint is burned in your hand,,

One sentence sums up the whole hypocrisy.

correct..michael greco , the pope he was called, had a hundred saints in his house..candles. ect. mass murderer..people have killed in the name of the lord forever..

Yeah Bronx,just like the boss of boss's bernardo provensano who was also a deeply devout man ,when he was caught in a tiny shack overlooking corleone after 43 years on the trot,he had 70+ religious pictures and he ended all communications with a God protect you or bless you. And he wasn't alone ,I've no doubt profacis religious beliefs were real cause he was an old school Sicilian and in sicily it almost go's hand and hand.

Maybe his wife or mom was religious? Just speculation... Thats the case with my parents. My dad basically couldnt give a shit but donates because my mother goes like 3 times a week.

very true..O.C.

Joe Bonanno mentions in his book that Profaci story about returning the jewels from the Church in Brooklyn, maybe the Regina Paci Church?

Anyway I believe Joe B mentions that Joe P had a bother who was a priest.

Also Joe Bonanno had according to Bill Roemer a blessing from the Pope guaranteeing him ascension into Heaven upon death...

It could be true about Bonanno. However that man made up a lot of bullshit, he even called himself the angel of peace for some reason.

Yeah, if he was so worried about his soul, why did he have guys clipped, and why did his family import so much H?

According to himself he never had anything to do with drugs

Ugh, Joe Bonanno was an ego maniac, such a bitter man after he lost power.

Profaci seeks out people who robbed the church, yet he stole from church goers all his life, what a scumbag.

If I had God's job for just one day, I'd take every single person who ever killed in my name and send him straight to Hell.

Back on topic, Profaci's hardly alone here. I've known of plenty of wiseguys who gave money to Churches to rebuild or make renovations. Or, in some cases, used their own construction companies to make said renovations for free. They think they're buying their way into Heaven and getting a tax write-off at the same time .

Off the top of my head, I can tell you that Saint Ann's up in Yonkers, Saint Frances de Chantal here in Throggs Neck, and Our Lady of Fatima up in Scarsdale, all received some very nice renovations gifted to them by wiseguy owned construction companies.

I'm sure that in some cases the intent was pure. But more often than not I'd have to call it guilt money.

on point

Because they know they should burn in hell for the life they've lived.

P.s I don't really believe in hell.

Are there Italian Jews?

And would they have an issue getting a badge?

what would they burn in their hands if they were jews? being a jew is not the religion.if you are a jew you can not be made. italian hebrew?

Cheers Bronx.

Didn't think so.

That is possibly the stupidest question ever asked on these forums.

Im off to kill myself.

the church was the only place profaci gave money. he was notoriously cheap. he was the largest olive oil importer in the US.

he was once fined 50,000 by the government for watering down his olive oil. trying for a higher profit, even though he was worth over 100 million dollars.

up until he died he was still charging all the made guys under him 25.00 dues a month, he was the only family to do so.

don't do it sonny, you are a gentleman, and a good poster.

I guess he didn't ask why guys were giving him envelopes full of money? Yeah, I am sure he would be SHOCKED to find out his guys were dealing. Just like the cop in this video finding out about gambling. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjbPi00k_ME

LOL