The obituary that appeared the other morning on the pages of the newspaper La Sicilia announcing a mass of suffrage in the church of Santa Caterina did not manage to go unnoticed at the top levels of the Curia of Catanianot so much for the capital letters used but for the deceased to be commemorated: Benito Mussolini.
The appointment organized by an elusive “Fiamma Tricolore” was set for last Sunday, the anniversary of the killing of the leader of Fascism in Giulino di Mezzegra, at 7pm in the central church of Santa Caterina but those nostalgic for the Duce found the doors of the church barred to the diligent intervention of the Archbishop of Catania Monsignor Luigi Renna.
“The decision – we read in a timely note from the Etna Archdiocese – is motivated by Monsignor Renna to avoid inappropriate ideological expressions which have had unpleasant precedents in the recent past”
Catania and the church of Santa Caterina itself are no strangers to these nostalgic masses: a few years ago a media fuss was raised by an identical celebration, presided over by a father Salvatore Lo Casciowhich ended with Roman greetings.
This time, however, the Curia of Catania was not caught by surprise. Having seen the obituary in the newspaper, Mgr.’s measure was taken. Reindeer: mass canceled and church closed until today.
It is probable that now the Etna Curia will try to understand how the church could have been granted for a liturgy of this type which would have risked seriously embarrassing the Church of Catania more than what is happening in these days in Palermo with the scandal of wedding anniversary of a mafia boss celebrated in the church of San Domenico for which the Dominican fathers took refuge behind the lack of knowledge of the couple who arrived at the altar.
Certainly in Catania no one will be able to say that they do not know the deceased for whom they wanted to pray.
