«Lord, give them eternal joy and may their smile illuminate Heaven»: this is the phrase chosen by the family for the funeral poster of Anna Democritus and her sons Giuseppe and Nicola, died tragically on the night between 21 and 22 April, falling together from the balcony of their home in Catanzaro. Anna would have turned 46 on July 4th, Giuseppe had turned 4 on March 15th and the latest addition to the family, Nicola, was born on December 5th last year. The autopsy confirmed that the flight was contextual and that perhaps one of the bodies protected that of her little sister Maria Luce, not even 6 years old, admitted to the Gaslini pediatric hospital in Genoa in intensive care with a reserved prognosis.
Father Francesco Trombetta flew from his daughter’s bedside to Catanzaro for the funeral Mass presided over by Archbishop Claudio Maniago, in the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, while the mayor Nicola Fiorita proclaimed city mourning for April 25th with flags flying at half-mast on municipal buildings during the funeral. Francesco wanted to carry the coffin of his third son Nicola on his shoulder and knelt next to the coffins. Don Vincenzo Zoccoli, parish priest of the Santissimo Salvatore where the Trombetta family participated in Sunday Mass and the sacraments, and where Anna had served for many years as a catechist and volunteer, concelebrated.
«In this celebration we want to entrust these broken lives to the heart of the Father, and together pray for those who remain: in particular for Francesco who in an instant lost his wife and two children and is at the bedside of little Maria Luce struggling between life and death. We cling to the two of them with all the love we are capable of, because we hope that they feel that they are not alone in this tragic moment”, Monsignor Maniago began in his homily. Exhorting us to cling to the Word of God and the paschal mystery, the prelate underlined: «Silence is the attitude we must live to bow with respect in front of these coffins and to always wait in silence for God to write words of light in this darkness. may they be consolation and new life for us, but above all for Francesco and for little Maria Luce.” And he continued: “Only a God nailed to the cross can tell us credible words even in the face of death, this death, and can guarantee that death will not be the last word spoken on our life.” By receiving the sacrament of baptism, he recalled, «we are inserted into the paschal mystery of Jesus, we are entrusted to our God, who is Lord of life and death, so that he can give us that hope of immortality that we are unable to secure. For this reason, in the face of death, even in the face of this terrible and premature death that leaves us dismayed, we want to renew our profession of hope in Christ. To Him, to his infinite mercy, we entrust Anna’s life; to Him and to his tender love we entrust little Giuseppe and Nicola. We are certain that Christ is not far from them, he who has known the anguish and bitterness of death.”
Finally, the archbishop wanted to address the victims’ husband and father directly, «to little Maria Luce and their loved ones who feel the suffering of this moment in a particular way. We would like to be so close to you – with prayer and affection – as to ease your suffering at least a little. We would like you not to feel alone in your pain, but to know that the Christian community is close to you, that the city is close to you, that many people in this country of ours share your pain and are close to you. May the memory of your deceased loved ones push you to love each other even more, to renew your faith in God and your hope in life.” The three coffins, he concluded, «ask us for a respectful silence in the face of an absolute tragedy, but at the same time not to let this pain pass in vain, but to transform it into more concrete attention and greater mutual carein our families, in our communities, in our society; they ask us to stop and look better at our fragilities, our children, our elderly, but also our friends, our neighbors, trying to build together a more welcoming society, where it is increasingly difficult to feel alone”.
