A video filmed in the forecourt of the Church of Santa Lucia in Rome shocked Italy. The funeral of Alessia Augello, an activist of the neofascist group Forza Nuova, took place there on Monday, January 10. During the procession, the Nazi flag was displayed over the coffin of the deceased. The video was posted on the site Italian Open news.
Vincenzo Nardulli, one of the leaders of the neo-fascist group, was also present, relay The Republic. Just before covering the coffin with the swastika flag, a man shouts “Comrade Alessia Augello”, to which all respond in chorus: “Presente!” (Present!), Making a Roman salute. It is about the funeral ritual of the call of the Italian neofascist “comrades”, during homage to deceased militants.
Two priests expressed their indignation in the press: “We prayed and comforted relatives and friends (…) unfortunately for what was observed outside the church at the end of the celebration, it happened without any authorization from the parish priest, nor of the celebrating priest, both unaware of what was going to happen. We express our deep sadness, disappointment “, continue the priests, recalling that the gestures and symbols used by these militants come from ideologies “extremists distant from the evangelical message of Christ“.
The Roman diocese denounced a “serious ideological instrumentalisation”.