mass in the morning, books on Lepanto, tweets on saints. And more than Putin “dreams” of Poland- Corriere.it

In speaking withLorenzo Fontana, born in 1980
from Veronait is a bit difficult to recognize in him the portrait of a babau that one reads around. He does not appear to be an extremist or even a fascist or a racist: «And how could I? I am a Catholic … ». In fact, he mostly looks like a nerd. A nerd always around with a few books in his hand like when in 2018, recently elected to the House, he crossed the ocean liner holding a book on “May month of Mary”. The passion for books, especially those on the battle of Lepanto, has turned into a collection of degrees: now it is grappling with the fourth, at the pontifical university of San Tommaso d’Aquino Angelicum. Whose lessons often force him to “painful choices”: either knowledge or daily morning mass. One thing is certain: his election is also the daughter of an “identity” signal launched by Matteo Salvini. A physiognomy, that of Fontana, which means that on the same day the deputy secretary of the League arrives at the presidency of the Chamber of Deputies and also at the head of the Twitter trends, 24,100 tweets last night at 20.

Immediately after the election, faithful to the image of a family man, Lorenzo Fontana bathes the event in the new offices surrounded by “his women”: his wife Emilia, his six-year-old daughter, his mother who arrived from the “popular district of Verona” recalled in the post-election speech. Then, Matteo Salvini and Giancarlo Giorgetti, who is none other than the godfather of Fontana’s daughter, arrive in the offices of the Presidency of the Chamber. At the beating of glasses, Maria Elena Boschi and Ettore Rosato from Italia Viva also materialize, various exponents of the Brothers of Italy, none from the Democratic Party.

In fact, the Democratic Party is preparing, it has already done so, to battle over civil rights.
In the morning, before the session of the Chamber opens, a banner appears in the Chamber: “No to a homophobic and pro Putin president”. It was posted by Alessandro Zan, the promoter of the bill against discrimination on sexual orientation, together with the youngest of the elect Rachele Scarpa. Fontana almost certainly doesn’t even see it: the shop assistants make theaffiche in the blink of an eye, while he is in the courtyard of the Chamber for the photo opportunity, all the leaders of the League around the founder Umberto Bossi. But the fact that the Dems intend to play the ball on the “integralist” president is certified by the taking hold of a suggestive hypothesis: to indicate Alessandro Zan as the vice president. “Almost a Satanist” giggles some leaguers. Fontana is keen to distance himself from the image sewn on him: «I will show that I will be able to protect all minorities». Indeed, “it is necessary that the president and that the whole Chamber respect the minority in a particular way”.

However, it must be said that, in spite of the T-shirt against the sanctions against Russia and to some reckless statements that would nail him to Putinism, Fontana besides having “never been to Russia” has never been a fan of the Russian president. He has always thought of something completely different. To the point of getting to the great cold with Salvini, with whom he had shared the accommodation as a MEP in 2009: the leader in fact replaced him as Foreign Head of the League with Giorgetti.

Fontana theorized the approach to the European People’s Party. The union between the parties of the Visegrad bloc and those of the western right in order to push the EPP to loosen ties with the socialists. More than Putin, Fontana has always preferred Polish Prime Minister Morawiecki. The dream, not too secret, was if anything to remove the Poles from the alliance with the Ecr Eurogroup led by Giorgia Meloni. But the litmus test was on the occasion of Salvini’s (missed) trip to Moscow a few months ago: Fontana, who strongly advised against it, was totally cut off, replaced by the “consultant” Antonio Capuano.

Certainly, Fontana is an “integral” Catholic who every (holy) day remembers on Twitter those celebrated by the church, blessed and archangels included. With Giorgetti, in spite of the foreign exchange, the relationship has always been excellent: “he is a good boy – said the probable new minister of the economy yesterday -. I also took him to see Southampton ».