His spiritual zeal was more famously directed toward the church itself. Atto was concerned with the clergy in Northern Italy. Although he noticed pagan superstitions in his parishioners, he believed these superstitions to be the fault of the clergy, who were “clearly not particularly devoted to their priestly duties. He readily prescribed punishment for priests who were misleading or neglecting their flocks. Atto also wished to rectify the growing problem of sexuality within the priesthood. He had discovered that many clerics, who were, by the decree of the Council of Nicaea, supposed to be celibate, were fornicating with women. Such clerics often made excuses as to why they needed women around, but Atto saw through these. Although he didn’t threaten any punishment to the offending ecclesiastics, he did strongly suggest that they should stop. More likely than not, his influence was not very strong on matters that were so tied to human nature, such as this.