A carpet, a pillow of white roses. AND the silence of ten thousand people crying. But then the exploding chains. Because the death of Giulia Cecchettin must continue to make noise.
«Dear Giulia, the time has come to let you go. I think of you hugging her and I have the hope that, held together, your love will be so strong as to help Elena, Davide and me too not only to survive this storm of pain that has overwhelmed us, but also to learn to dance under the rain”. Thus father Gino Cecchettin, with the strength of dignity, was able to tell the most beautiful side of suffering.
He doesn’t cry, he hugs his daughter Elena, he clings to the youngest Davide. He looks at the white coffin and the image of his daughter straight in the eyes. «Giulia was a hoplite, a young fighter, like the ancient Greek soldiers, tenacious in times of difficulty. Her indomitable spirit inspired us all.”
An hour that condenses two devastating weeks. In which a family’s life is changed forever. But also the perception that an entire nation has today of the word “femicide”.
It is inside the humid winter of the plain, in a still city, which is the final farewell to Giulia Cecchettin killed by her ex-boyfriend Filippo Turetta three days after graduation. Prato della Valle has been closed since 8 am and so has the area in front of the Basilica of Santa Giustina, an impressive security service made up of 200 people including police, carabinieri, financial police, penitentiary police, special anti-terrorism and anti-sabotage units.
Cold, a hint of rain. But at 10.30 suddenly the square fills up. In the end there were over 10 thousand people, in addition to the 600 who found (patiently queuing from 8 in the morning) a place in the naves of the Basilica of Santa Giustina. There are the close family members, close to father Gino, Elena Davide and grandmother Carla. And 25 priests celebrated together with the bishop.
In the front row the Minister of Justice Carlo Nordio, together with the president of the region Luca Zaia, the senator Antonio De Poli and the mayor of Padua Sergio Giordani, forty mayors. There is the university, there are the high schools of Padua, there are families, many mothers, many daughters. A composed, aware crowd takes part in front of two large screens set up.
It’s 11am and the car carrying Giulia’s coffin arrives in the square. There is an eerie silence: the coffin with the roses is brought to the entrance of the nave, Gino and his two children Elena and Davide and grandmother Carla arrive. The ceremony begins: the voices are those of the young people of the Diocesan youth choir, the offerings are made by Giulia’s university classmates.
The bishop of Padua Claudio Cipolla ties together the threads of these dramatic days, suspended between the wait to know Giulia’s fate, the tragic discovery of what happened and the future. «Giulia’s smile will be missed by all of us because her face has become dear to us»he underlines while recalling, in one passage, also the family of Filippo Turetta.
In the moment of peace the minister gets up and embraces Gino Cecchettin. It is a non-ritual hug, as the one with Luca Zaia will also be. A prolonged hold, the desire for concrete comfort. Elena Cecchettin sitting next to her father sheds millions of tears for her Giulia in composed silence. And so David. But it is Gino who at the end of the celebration takes a long breath and goes up to the ambo.
«We have lived through a time of profound anguish: a terrible storm has overwhelmed us and even now this rain of pain seems to never end. We got wet, cold, but I thank all the people who gathered around us to bring us the warmth of their embrace.” Gino appeals to men to be the first drivers of change. To school, so that he teaches how to face difficulties without resorting to violence, institutions and parents.
In his greeting here is that word, patriarchy, which Gino strongly defends, to jointly defend his daughter Elena, the subject of painful and exploitative controversies. “Calling ourselves out, looking for justifications, defending the patriarchy when someone has the strength and desperation to call it by its name, turning victims into targets just because they say something that perhaps we don’t agree with doesn’t help to break down barriers.”
Then he quotes a poem by Gibran. «True love is neither physical nor romantic. True love is the acceptance of all that is, has been and will be. Life is not a question of how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain.” Gino then says goodbye to his daughter, in the most difficult moment, that of the definitive separation. «I don’t know how to pray, but I know how to hope. Here I want to hope together with you and your mother, together with Elena and Davide and all of you present here: I want to hope that this rain of pain will fertilize the soil of our lives. And I want to hope that it produces its fruit of love, forgiveness and peace.”
It’s the farewell, the white coffin leaves the basilica supported by the shoulders of the people who loved Giulia most. And from outside the silence is broken by the sound of her hands. Applause, the sound of keys. Because change truly comes from noise.
Source: Vanity Fair
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