A letter with three handgun bullets addressed to Pope Francis, Vatican City, Piazza S. Pietro in Rome intercepted by a postal worker has become a subject of investigation by the Italian police.

According to reports, the mail was intercepted in Milan with stamps indicating it came from France, and the bullets – a 9mm Flobert-round bullets and also contain a message making reference to the Vatican’s financial operations.

The envelope was flagged by employees at a mail sorting facility near Milan in the early hours of Aug. 9 and was handed over to Italy’s military police as authorities coordinated their investigation.

Police are now trying to analyse the bullets and the barely legible handwriting on the envelope.

Pope Francis has angered conservative critics for his relatively liberal stance on many issues in the church, but a spokesman for the post office said she thought it was more likely a deranged person because of the handwriting.