Far-right extremist’s funeral with Nazi flag coffin sparks fury among religious leaders in Rome
Far-right extremist’s funeral with Nazi flag coffin and fascist-saluting mourners sparks fury among Catholic and Jewish leaders in Rome
The coffin of a far-right extremist was draped in the swastika and salutedThe episode took place at the funeral of Alessia Augello, a Forza Nuova memberForza Nuova is an ultra-right neo-fascist political party created in 1997Italian Catholic and Jewish leaders today condemned the outrageous scenes Rome’s diocese called the flag ‘a horrendous symbol that cannot be reconciled’
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Italian Catholic and Jewish leaders today condemned outrageous scenes in which people gave Nazi salutes and draped a swastika on the coffin at a right-wing extremist’s funeral in Rome.
The Italian capital’s Catholic archdiocese said in a statement that priests at the parish of St. Lucia in a central Rome neighbourhood, including the one who presided at the funeral rite, had no warning of yesterday’s antics at the church.
Pictures which first emerged on the Italian news portal Open showed the coffin bearing the body of Alessia Augello, a former member of the right-wing extremist group Forza Nuova, covered by the infamous swastika symbol as it was carried out of the church.
The 44-year-old former militant of Forza Nuova, who was also known as ‘Tungsty’, died over the weekend of a blood clot according to Italian media.
Forza Nuova is an ultra-right neo-fascist party created in 1997, whose manifesto includes banning abortion, halting immigration, and repealing laws punishing incitement to hatred.
A picture made available by the Italian online news portal Open, showing people gathered around the swastika-covered coffin of far-right extremist Alessia Augello outside the St. Lucia church, in Rome, Monday, Jan. 10, 2022
The Catholic Church in Rome on Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022, strongly condemned the ‘offensive and unacceptable’ procession outside the church before attendees gave Nazi salutes
The diocese statement called the flag ‘a horrendous symbol that cannot be reconciled with Christianity’.
‘This ideological and violent exploitation, especially following an act of worship near a sacred place, remains serious, offensive and unacceptable for the church community of Rome and for all people of good will in our city,’ it said.
Rome’s Jewish community meanwhile expressed outrage that such events could still happen more than seven decades after the end of World War Two and the fall of Italy’s fascist dictatorship.
‘It is unacceptable that a flag with a swastika can still be shown in public in this day and age, especially in a city that saw the deportation of its Jews by the Nazis and their fascist collaborators,’ said Jewish leaders in a statement.
The Jewish community statement on Tuesday said the funeral incident was ‘even more outrageous because it took place in front of a church.’
Alessia Augello, a 44-year-old former militant of Forza Nuova known as ‘Tungsty’, died over the weekend of a blood clot according to Italian media
The funeral of Massimo Morsello, one of the founding members of the Forza Nuova party, was attended by several party members and supporters in April 2001 who were defiant in their use of the Nazi salute
Photos of the scene outside St. Lucia church following the Monday funeral service were published by the Italian online news portal Open.
They showed around two dozen people gathered outside the church as the swastika-draped casket emerged. The funeral attendees reportedly shouted ‘Presente!’, before snapping off a round of Nazi salutes.
Parish priest, the Rev. Alessandro Zenobbi, distancing himself and the church from ‘every word, gesture and symbol used outside the church, which are attributed to extremist ideologies far from the message of the Gospel of Christ.’
Meanwhile Stefania Vesica, Augello’s aunt, published a statement on Facebook in which she distanced herself and the family from the use of Nazi signs at the funeral, saying Augello herself would not have approved.
‘We are mourning the loss of our beloved Alessia. We totally dissociate ourselves from the events that took place outside the Church, of which we were not aware of and that neither Alessia would have shared nor appreciated in any way,’ she wrote.
‘We would never have allowed or authorised what happened there. We ask that journalists and everyone else, given the gravity of our loss, to respect our pain and the name of Alessia Augello’.
Morsello’s coffin was carried out of the church while party members gave the fascist salute and waved flags bearing the celtic cross – a symbol associated with white supremacy
The 2001 funeral of Massimo Morsello, one of the founding members of the Forza Nuova party, saw dozens of party members congregate outside a church to pay respects.
Attendees bore black and white flags emblazoned with the celtic cross – a symbol associated with white supremacy, and raised their arms in a Nazi salute as the coffin was carried out of the church.
After a raid on Rome’s Jewish neighbourhood on October 16, 1943, more than 1,000 of the capital’s Jews were deported, most to the Auschwitz death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland. Only 16 returned.
In October last year, the Italian capital saw mass protests in which tens of thousands of citizens rallied in the streets against extremism.
The head of the Italian General Confederation of Labour (CISL) trade union, Luigi Sbarra, said an attack against unions led by the far-right Forza Nuova party ‘made the only choice to be here, united against all types of fascism.’
He called for the swift dissolution of the party by Italian authorities. Forza Nuova’s official website has since been sequestered under orders from the public prosecutor’s office in Rome.
