The funeral of Simone Concas, the 19-year-old local man killed last Wednesday , was held this afternoon in the Church of Our Lady of Monserrato in Bari Sardo. The church and churchyard were packed.
His parents and sister attended Mass from the front pew, gripped by excruciating but composed grief. "Simone's life," said the parish priest, Don Pietro Sabatini, during his homily, "was taken too soon from the love of his family, who today are unable to comprehend and accept the extent of his suffering."
The priest celebrated mass together with his parish assistant, Father Antonio Carta, Father Danilo Chiai, and Friar Francesco Boi, both from Bari Sardo. The parish priest, looking towards the parents of the deceased and the civil authorities (the mayor, Ivan Mameli, is sitting on the right side of the nave), said: "Simone asks us to continue living for him too. May Simone's sacrifice allow our country to be transformed so that everyone can live in serenity."
Today is a day of mourning in the town. At 6:50 PM, the coffin left the church amid applause. Simone's mother , with dignity and a voice broken by emotion, found the strength to say a few words to the audience: "Thank you all." A moment later, the procession escorted the hearse to the cemetery.