Italian government under pressure to address issue after number of people working together to protect migrants also spied on

An Italian priest who has a close relationship with Pope Francis and was previously in telephone contact with him was notified he had been a target of a sophisticated surveillance tool used by a government, a revelation that will increase pressure on Giorgia Meloni’s government following a slew of similar cases.

Father Mattia Ferrari is a chaplain on board the migrant rescue ship owned by the NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans, whose founder, Luca Casarini, revealed this month that he was a victim of a military-grade spyware attack.