Casoria, the bishop at the funeral of Santo Romano: "God paralyze the hands of those who sell weapons"

Casoria. Monsignor Francesco Beneduce , auxiliary bishop of Naples, used strong, very strong words against those who sell weapons in his homily delivered at the funeral of Santo Romano , the 19-year-old shot dead on the night between November 1st and 2nd in San Sebastiano al Vesuvio , in the province of Naples.

“We cannot allow these lives to end, and here there is a responsibility of the cities, not so much of the mayors in the strict sense but ours. As adults we have abdicated. At this moment I would like to say: Lord, paralyze the hands of those who sell guns so easily and so cheaply, because this has a price that cannot be measured.

Please, sir, I don't want to curse, but in the name of God, stop the hands of those who get money in this way. Go to Caritas, come to my house, but don't let anyone get fat in the name of a life cut short."

And then he added: “What can I say to Santo's friends? It's as if the ball is in our half right now. My friends, play as a team. You know that sport and football are demanding, tough, requiring effort, fatigue, and testing. Santo would say: play as a team, choose life, continue to choose life together.”

"Even though he wasn't captain," added Monsignor Beneduce, addressing the 19-year-old's friends and teammates , "Santo was a leader; he knew how to bring everyone together. I like to think he would have said, 'Be a midfielder, be generous, play as a team, value others.'"

The auxiliary bishop quoted an interview with Gianluca Vialli: “He said that in life many things do not depend on you, but how we experience the situations we find ourselves in, that depends on us.

At this moment if there were only anger, sadness, rage that opens space to aggression and the worst part of us, it is as if we did not pick up the baton, as if we left the ball thrown in the half court there because sadness, anger and rage only lead to death. At this moment it becomes important which shirt you want to wear. The world needs you, play with the right shirt on the right field”.

 As the coffin comes out, the cry: “Justice, justice”

The chant "Justice, justice" and a prolonged applause. This was how the many people gathered outside the church of Santa Maria Francesca delle Cinque Piaghe in Casoria greeted the exit of Santo Romano's coffin . In the street, some of the boy's friends lit white smoke bombs.

The church was packed, many were outside to welcome Santo, shouting his name several times amid tears and pain. Just before entering the church, friends in white t-shirts on scooters honked their horns insistently.

One of the friends showed the goalkeeper shirt that Santo wore in the Micri team. The coffin, on which rests the goalkeeper shirt worn by Santo during the games, made its entrance into the church carried on the shoulders of the friends. “Santo, number one,” was the cry of the crowd.

Mayors and regional councillors present in the church

The banners of the Campania Region and the municipalities of San Sebastiano al Vesuvio and Casoria were placed in the church of Santa Maria Francesca delle Cinque Piaghe in Casoria. Present at the ceremony were the mayors of Casoria, Raffaele Bene , and of San Sebastiano, Peppe Pugliese , the deputy mayor of the Metropolitan City of Naples, Giuseppe Cirill , and the councilor of the Campania Region, Armida Filippelli.

Representatives of the local institutions met with Santo's family, next to whom sat the boy's teammates, a footballer for Micri , a team that plays in the Campania Excellence championship for which he played as a goalkeeper.