Rome church condemns swastika-draped casket at funeral

An image made out there by the Italian on-line information portal Open, displaying folks gathered round a swastika-covered casket exterior the St. Lucia church, in Rome, Monday, Jan. 10, 2022. The Catholic Church in Rome on Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022, strongly condemned as "offensive and unacceptable" a funeral procession exterior a church during which the casket was draped in a Nazi flag and mourners gave the fascist salute. (Open Through AP)

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ROME (AP) — The Catholic Church in Rome on Tuesday strongly condemned as “offensive and unacceptable” a funeral procession exterior an area church during which the casket was draped in a Nazi flag and mourners gave the fascist salute.

Photographs and video of the scene exterior St. Lucia church following the Monday funeral service have been printed by the Italian on-line information portal Open. They confirmed round two dozen folks gathered exterior the church because the swastika-draped casket emerged, shouting “Presente!” with their proper arm prolonged within the fascist salute.

In an announcement Tuesday, the Vicariate of Rome strongly condemned the scene and careworn that neither the parish priest, nor the priest who celebrated the funeral, knew what was going to transpire exterior after the funeral Mass ended.

It referred to as the swastika-emblazoned Nazi flag “a horrendous image irreconcilable with Christianity.”

“This ideological and violent exploitation, particularly following an act of worship close to a sacred place, stays severe, offensive and unacceptable for the church group of Rome and for all folks of fine will in our metropolis,” it stated.

The assertion quoted the parish priest, the Rev. Alessandro Zenobbi, as distancing himself and the church from “each phrase, gesture and image used exterior the church, that are attributed to extremist ideologies removed from the message of the Gospel of Christ.”

Italian information experiences recognized the deceased as a 44-year-old former militant of the acute right-wing group Forza Nuova, who died over the weekend of a blood clot.

Pope Francis is technically the bishop of Rome, however he delegates the day-to-day administration of the diocese to his vicar, Cardinal Angelo De Donatis.