A Sicilian accused of murdering his parish priest allegedly told police he couldn’t stand to listen to any more of his sermons.

Michele di Stefano, the padre of a small hamlet in Western Sicily, used his homilies to comment on the abundant misdeeds of his parishioners, which he knew of from their confessions.

The elderly priest reportedly barely bothered to conceal the identity of the offenders, raising heckles among villagers in Ummari, near Trapani.

He was found dead in his bed in the church rectory, after being beaten with the handle of a hoe.

Antonio Incandela, 33, allegedly told prosecutors that he had come up with the idea ‘to teach the priest a lesson’ after a sermon in which the priest described ‘bad apples’ in the community.

The father-of-one insists he did not mean to kill the priest, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.

He allegedly claimed he had been aiming for his legs but missed in the dark, only realising his mistake afterwards.

He then stole the priest’s bank cards to make it look like a robbery, he is alleged to have said.

Incandela, who is unemployed, was caught after he used the priest’s bank card at a cashpoint, police said.

He has been formally charged with his murder.