Funeral collapse Scampia, screams and punches on coffins. The archbishop: "Respond with concrete actions"

“Let your spirit come and blow on the streets of Scampia, where in these hours the displaced are walking between fears and hopes,” he invoked thearchbishop metropolitan of Napoli, Domenico Battaglia, during the funeral by Roberto Abbruzzo, Margherita Della Ragione and Patrizia Della Ragione, victims of the collapse of the Vela Celeste.

In his homily, the Archbishop expressed his message of comfort and hope: “Let your spirit come and blow on the sails of our city, not on those of iron and concrete deteriorated by time and neglect, but on the living ones, those made of flesh, those that today more than ever must be unfurled. On those that tell of a past of pain and struggle, and whose fabric lets us glimpse the color of resilience, of the strength of those who do not give up, of the tenacity of those who still hope for tomorrow, of the evangelical faith of those who find beauty even in their scars.”

The archbishop also made an appeal to the government: “May your spirit come and breathe on those who have the task of governing and administering the common good, so that through policies of recovery and inclusion, they can respond with concrete and immediate actions to lives marked by suffering. Because politics is authentic if it makes the ethics of care its own, and only care can transform pain into hope, the mistrust of individuals into a new community impetus.”

Hundreds of white and blue balloons were released into the sky, accompanied by the emotional applause of the crowd, marking the conclusion of the funeral ceremony. The emotion was palpable among those present, with moments of heartbreaking pain expressed by the relatives of the victims who screamed and hit the coffins in a last, desperate farewell.

Among the authorities present, the undersecretary for Relations with Parliament Pina Castiello, the deputies of Avs Francesco Borrelli and of the Pd Valeria Valente. The singer Franco Ricciardi, originally from the neighborhood, was also present, mixed in with the crowd. During the rite, four people fainted from the emotion, including an elderly woman who underwent an electrocardiogram.