Peace, increasingly urgent. The innocent victims of wars like the newborn girl froze to death in Gaza on Christmas night. The “inadmissible” conditions of the prisoners and the daily and concrete, and often hidden, example of “many of our fellow citizens” who prevent further lacerations in the fabric of society and are animated by positive values. The complaint of «precariousness and uncertainty that young generations feel» which, he hopes, “must be addressed with great commitment also because there lies a significant cause of the birth crisis we are experiencing”. Finally, the denunciation of the growth in spending on armaments, «triggered in the world by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine – which also forces us to provide for our own defense – this year it reached the record figure of 2,443 billion dollars. Eight times more than what was allocated at the recent COP 29, in Baku, to combat climate change, a vital need for humanity. A disheartening disproportion.”
In the traditional end-of-year speech, the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella touches on various issues, calls for the journalist’s release Cecilia Salaarrested in Iran, and recalls that in 2025 the 80 years of Liberation, «foundation of the Republic and prerequisite of the Constitution, which have allowed Italy to reconnect the threads of its history and its unity. An important anniversary. It brings with it the call for liberation from everything that hinders freedom, democracy, dedication to Italy, dignity of each person, work, justice.”
The flags of Europe, Italy and the Presidency of the Republic form the backdrop to the Head of State who speaks, standing, in the Hall of the Skylight at the Quirinale. When the frame widens, you can see a reproduction of Raphael’s Madonna della Sella hanging on the wall. Further away there is a Christmas tree.
«This traditional meeting of ours allows me to send my most sincere wishes to all of you, to those who are in Italy and to the Italians who are abroad», says the Head of State, «like every end of the year we are living hours of waiting for a new time to come and which we hope will be better. Hours in which we seek serenity by strengthening our relationships.
In our communities, in families, in friendships.” Then the best wishes to the Pope and the reference to the Holy Year which has just begun: «On Christmas night Pope Francis – to whom I send greetings full of gratitude – opened the Jubilee, making the call to hope resonate throughout the world. This evening are hours of hope in the future, in the year to come. It’s up to us to know how to translate it into reality».
The full video of Mattarella’s speech
Mattarella’s first thought is for peace: «On Christmas night», he states, «The news has spread that a few-day-old baby girl froze to death in Gaza. On the same Christmas night, ferocious Russian bombings they hit the power plants of the cities of Ukraine to force that civilian population into darkness and freezing temperatures. The innocent people kidnapped by Hamas, and still hostages, are experiencing a second start to the year in inhumane conditions. These forms of barbarism do not even spare Christmas and the most heartfelt holidays. Never like now”, adds the president, “peace shouts its urgency. The peace that our Constitution indicates as an indispensable objective, which Italy has always pursued, also with the important moment this year of the G7 presidency. The peace of which the European Union is a historic expression.”
Peace, Mattarella specifies, «it does not mean submitting to the arrogance of those who attack other countries with weapons”, but it is “the peace of respect for human rights, the peace of the right of every people to freedom and dignity. Because it’s right. And, if this reason is not considered sufficient, because it is the only guarantee of true peace, preventing other European countries from being attacked.”
The end of the year, adds the Head of State, «is also budget time. I encountered positive and encouraging values and behaviors in the faces, gestures and testimonies of many of our fellow citizens. I met them in the courage of those who were able to transform their pain, caused by a life event, into a mission for others. I read them in the words of Sammy Basso who teach how to live a full life, beyond all difficulties” and who Christian family he decided to choose, together with his parents, as “Italians of the year 2024”.
Mattarella’s quotes are not random: «I referred to some examples of people who have chosen to work for the common good», he specifies, «because it is precisely this web of feelings, values, ideal tension that holds our communities together and translates into reality that collective hope that we want to build together. It is this same plot that will allow us to avoid those gaps that tear our societies apart, producing a desert of relationships, a world inhabited by so much solitude. We are all called to act, avoiding selfishness, resignation or indifference.”
Mattarella also recalls that “in the daily experience of many of our fellow citizens a lively, ever-present feeling of the idea of the Homeland is manifested”. Patriotism, says the Head of State, «it is that of emergency room doctors, who carry out their service in difficult and sometimes risky conditions. That of our teachers who passionately dedicate themselves to the education of young people. Of those who do business with social responsibility and attention to safety. Of those who work with professionalism and conscience. Of those who study and prepare for the responsibilities they will soon have. Of those who engage in volunteering. Elderly people who provide support for their families.”
But for Mattarella it is also patriotism «that of those who, with origins in other countries, love Italy, make its constitutional values and laws their own, live its daily life to the full, and with their work and sensitivity become part of it and helps enrich our community. It is essential to create paths of integration and mutual understanding because the future of our societies depends on this too.”
The Head of State underlines that in Italy we find values, courage and positive behaviors such as «in the noise of the girls and boys who do not intend to remain silent in the face of the feminicide scandal. We were dramatically involved in the horror of the unacceptable fate of Giulia Cecchettin and, like her, of many other women killed by the barbarity of men who do not respect female freedom and dignity and, in reality, do not even respect themselves. We no longer want to have to talk about women as victims. We want and must talk about their energy, their work, their being protagonists.”
In his speech, which lasted a total of 17 minutes, Mattarella also recalls the often dramatic conditions of the prisoners: «The high number of suicides is an indication of unacceptable conditions. We have a duty to observe the Constitution which indicates essential rules on detention in prison. Overcrowding works against this and also makes the working conditions of prison staff unacceptable. Prisoners must be able to breathe air different from that which led them to lawlessness and crime. Generous operators are engaged in this and deserve to be supported.”
Mattarella’s thoughts also go to those who do not have the resources to cure themselves: «Science, research and new technologies open up possibilities that were unimaginable until recently for the treatment of diseases considered incurable. At the same time there are long waiting lists for tests which, if timely, can save lives. Many people give up treatment and medicine because they lack the necessary means.”
Remember the deaths at work and the latest tragedy of a few days ago, a Calenzano in which five people died: «Words of disdain can no longer be enough: action must be taken, with responsibility and severity. Fatal accidents – all of them – can and must be prevented.”
Finally, greetings to the sporting champions who will be protagonists in 2024: «I would like to extend a greeting to the women and men of sport in this which has been an Olympic and Paralympic year. I remember the nights in Paris, the pride of our athletes around our flag. I am grateful to them for their successes and even more so for the authentic sporting spirit with which they experienced their participation: a beautiful example, well beyond the confines of sport.”
