Thousands of girls and boys, friends, family and citizens were in the Neapolitan district of Pianura to attend the funeral of Francesco Pio Miamone, the 18-year-old killed at the chalets of Mergellina last Sunday with a gunshot for a fight in which he had not even participated. In the church of San Lorenzo Martire, in via Montagna Spaccata, the neighborhood of Pio's birth, there were no empty spaces. In the front row the mayor of Naples, Gaetano Manfredi, with his wife and the councilor for legality, Antonio De Iesu. And there was so much crowd that friends, wearing the "Pio vive" shirt, sat in the churchyard. "At the end of the Mass we will ring the bells in celebration because as it is written on your t-shirts Francesco Pio lives", said Don Enzo Cimarelli, parish priest of San Lorenzo before the celebration officiated by the bishop of Pozzuoli Monsignor Gennaro Pascarella.
"We would never want to live - said the Bishop - celebrations like these, death is part of our life, it always brings with it pain and detachment; The death of a young man at the hands of violence by another young person disorients us, anguishes us, dismays us. A cry is spontaneous, especially from the victim parents: Why? And there is a need for adults who are witnesses of honesty, respect for the other even if different, of justice, values that are not optional". Then white balloons and smoke bombs, at the exit of the coffin: a white coffin, with a scarf of Inter, the team he cared about.
"This great sacrifice must be a push to us first but for the whole neighborhood to do something more and create points of reference. I feel a great responsibility but it must be a collective responsibility because either there is a collective awareness by really coming together for the common good otherwise no one can do it". These are the words of the mayor of Naples, Gaetano Manfredi, at the end of the ceremony. The mayor, accompanied by his wife, stressed how "unfortunately in this city the theme of young people and giving them hope and a future is a complex challenge that can only pass from work, from having references: it is important that there are institutions but also families and parishes. Today in the eyes of these many young people we see the desire to have a future, a hope". The mayor reported that Don Enzo is working to create a center for young people.
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Funeral of Francesco Pio Maimone in the church of San Lorenzo Martire in Pianura, Naples, 25 March 2023