Controversy over lavish Mafia funeral at Roman parish
August 25, 2015
A lavish funeral at a Roman parish for alleged Mafia boss Vittorio Casamonica has sparked controversy in Italy.
Roman Auxiliary Bishop Giuseppe Marciante told Avvenire that “no one warned us, not even the police” about the prospect of Mafia propaganda, including a large poster of Casamonica displayed on the façade of the church.
“Of course, if we had had the suspicion of a show of this type, we would have taken precautions,” he added. “We absolutely would not have accepted conducting that funeral.”
Archbishop Vincenzo Bertolone of Catanzaro-Squillace, postulator of the canonization cause of Mafia victim Blessed Pino Puglisi, said that “Christian funerals are not the celebration of the life of the deceased” and that “the directions for the ceremony ask that it is done in a simple way, without pomp, nor flowers, nor music, nor songs, nor beatifying commemorations,” according to L’Osservatore Romano.
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Further information:
- Marciante: «Esequie da impedire, mai più funerali show» (Avvenire)
- Lo scandalo di un funerale (L’Osservatore Romano, p. 7)
- Italy anger at 'Godfather' funeral for alleged Rome mafia boss (BBC)
- Italian Catholic Church scrambles to explain its role in lavish Mafia boss funeral (RNS)
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