Mattarella remembers the victims of terrorism. «Italy needs comparison and respect»

Listen to the audio version of the article

«The democracy of our Republic is nourished by tolerance, patience, confrontation, respect. It is a road that to some may seem long and tiring but it is the only one for progress in coexistence. The only one capable of obtaining and maintaining peace, serenity, well-being and rights for all citizens over time. This is the teaching that comes to us from the many, too many victims of terrorism and subversion”. Therefore “no more political violence, no more massacres”. The Day of Remembrance dedicated to the victims of domestic and international terrorism and massacres began with the deposition by the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarellaof a wreath in via Caetani in front of the plaque commemorating the sacrifice of the honorable Aldo Moro.

There has been too much talk of terrorists, little of the victims

“There has been much talk in recent decades about terrorism and terrorists. Of their life, of their accomplices, of their alleged ideologies, of the causes that formed the basis of their choice of armed struggle», reasons the Head of State. «Less has been written and spoken about the unanimous reaction of the Italian people. Less than the servants of the state, who risked their lives to fight violence and subversion. Less than those who, in factories, universities, in the various workplaces, opposed a firm and decisive no to those who wanted to overturn the democratic rules”. But for Mattarella «even less has there been talk of the unspeakable and irrecoverable pain of families from whom armed struggle or cowardly attacks have torn a spouse, a child, a parent, a brother or a sister. Yet it was these people, not the terrorists, who made Italian history”.

Aldo Moro, a man pervaded by love

Aldo Moro, a man “pervaded by love and respect for democracy and for the state, animated by a spirit of freedom and solidarity”. These are the words with which the President of the Republic recalls the sacrifice of the great Christian Democrat politician. «The figures of those tragic events are impressive: almost 400 victims of internal terrorism, to which must be added the victims of the more recent phenomenon of international terrorism. Among them belonging to the forces of order, magistrates, soldiers; politicians and activists; managers and trade unionists; journalists; unsuspecting passers-by, including women and children. Everyone was in danger, no one was spared. Each of them is fully part of the republican history.

The “bad teachers” advocated violence

The wound inflicted on the families of the fallen, Mattarella continues, «is a wound inflicted on the body of the Republic, founded on our Constitution. A Constitution that speaks of freedom, democracy, responsibility, solidarity, respect for every person. The terrorists and their accomplices – as well as the bad teachers who have supported and propagated political violence – have made attempts on the lives of women and men, with the declared aim of undermining the democratic order”.