Inside were the remains of Lucia Mantione, a 13-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted and murdered in 1955 and for whom the Catholic church for 66 years, in its application of an arcane principle, had forbidden a funeral. Rosa Alba (centre) sets up a space for the small coffin containing the remains of Lucia Mantione. That evening, her father, a sulphur miner, knocked on the door of Don Vito Alfano, the parish priest of Montedoro, to arrange Lucia’s funeral. On Wednesday, the first person to lay hands on Lucia’s coffin was Maria Lucia Mantione, Lucia’s 64-year-old niece and one of her few remaining relatives. Maria Lucia Mantione embraces Lucia’s coffin.

Source: The Guardian July 29, 2021 10:30 UTC