At WYD, ex-gangster plans to tell pope God's love changed his life

Published: 2008-07-02

LONDON (CNS) -- An ex-gangster who once almost beat a man to death with a pair of knuckle-dusters said he's planning to tell Pope Benedict XVI how "God's love" inspired him to turn his back on a life of crime. John Pridmore, 44, a former "enforcer" in the London gangland scene in the 1980s and '90s, will speak at the World Youth Day evening vigil Mass at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney, Australia, July 19. The pope will be there when the former criminal speaks for 10 minutes on how discovering God changed his life dramatically. Pridmore told Catholic News Service July 1 in a phone interview from Sydney that he considered the opportunity an honor. "With the Holy Father being the voice of Christ on earth, it is a privilege to be at an event that he is attending let alone to be on the same platform that he will be speaking from," he said. Pridmore is the author of two books, "A Gangster's Guide to God," and his best-selling autobiography, "From Gangland to Promised Land."

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