An Italian archbishop has proposed a 10-year moratorium on the naming of godparents in an attempt to stem the way mob bosses use the padrino system to spread their influence and authority to the next generation.

Monsignor Giuseppe Fiorini Morosini, archbishop of the southern city of Reggio Calabria, spoke with Pope Francis about the proposal last weekend while he was in Rome. In a statement on Monday, he said the pontiff asked the bishops of Calabria to discuss the idea and send him a written proposal.

Godparents are named when a baby is baptised and they promise to help raise the child in the Catholic faith. Fiorini Morosini has argued that, in Calabria at least, godparents are less theological role models than "points of reference" and mob friends.

Calabria is home to the 'Ndrangheta organised crime syndicate, considered the most powerful mob in Italy. As in The Godfather films, which depicted the influence of padrini in the Sicilian mafia, ties of blood, marriage and godparents help weave the tight, clannish bonds that keep the 'Ndrangheta almost impenetrable to outsiders.

Fiorini Morosini said he wrote to the pope proposing to abolish the naming of godparents for 10 years "to prevent the exploitation of the church and her sacraments by the 'Ndrangheta". The pope rejected the proposal initially but he appeared to have rethought the matter after visiting Calabria last month and seeing the reality of the land, the archbishop said.

During the pontiff's visit on the 21 June he issued his strongest denunciation yet of organised crime, excommunicating all mobsters for their "adoration of evil". During a meeting in March with victims of the mafia in Rome, Francis warned mobsters that they risked going to hell if they did not repent.