President Sergio Mattarella, Premier
Giorgia Meloni and Pope Francis were among many institutional
representatives and political figures to pay their respects on
Sunday to the late two-time former president Giorgio Napolitano,
who died in Rome on Friday aged 98.
Mattarella arrived at the Senate for the opening of the chapel
of rest, where Napolitano will lie in state until Monday
afternoon.
Meloni arrived soon after, accompanied by Senate Speaker Ignazio
La Russa.
Other high-profile figures in attendance to pay their respects
included European Commissioner for Economic Affairs and former
Italian premier Paolo Gentiloni, former European Central Bank
president, Bank of Italy chief and premier Mario Draghi,
centre-left Democratic Party (Pd) Secretary Elly Schlein and
former premier and leader of the opposition Five Star Movement
(M5S) Giuseppe Conte.
Gentiloni described Napolitano as "extraordinary pro-European
who always had the idea that Italy's development and strength
would be possible within a European horizon".
"His was a great lesson," he said.
Pope Francis also made an unexpected visit to Palazzo Madami to
pay his respects after the traditional Sunday Angelus prayer and
blessing at the Vatican.
Inside the chapel of rest he greeted members of Napolitano's
family and then paid his respects before the coffin, before
signing the book of attendance with the following dedication: "A
remembrance and a gesture of gratitude to a great man, servant
of the country".
Through his visit, the pope intended "to express, with his
presence and prayer, his personal affection to Napolitano and
his family, and to honour his great service to Italy," the
Vatican said in a statement.
"This is the first time a pope has entered the Senate building
at Palazzo Madama," La Russa told reporters afterwards.
"He came to pay homage to Giorgio Napolitano - and it was a
great honour for us," he added.
"He was very affectionate."
Born in Naples on June 29, 1925, Napolitano served as the 11th
president of the Italian Republic from 2006 to 2015, and was the
first head of state to be elected for a second mandate in 2013,
as well as being the country's first post-Communist president.
A former militant in and then leader of the reformist wing of
the Italian Communist Party (PCI) until the establishment of the
Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) in 1991, as interior minister
in the 1996-1998 centre-left government of Romano Prodi he gave
his name to Italy's first comprehensive immigration law, the
so-called 'Turco-Napolitano', in 1998.
A law graduate from the University of Naples in 1947, Napolitano
was first elected to the Lower House in 1953 and went on to
represent his native Naples constituency almost without
interruption until 1996.
His long political career also took him to Strasbourg as a
member of the European Parliament from 1989 to 1992, before his
election as Speaker of Italy's Lower House from 1992 until 1994.
His dominance of the political scene in Italy - and especially a
key role in birthing the emergency Mario Monti-led government
amid a sovereign debt crisis in 2011 - earned him the nickname
King George.
This was not affectionate for many on the right who said he
helped engineer the end of Silvio Berlusconi's final government,
allegedly colluding with European authorities.
But he regularly topped polls of Italy's most popular
politicians.
In 2005 Napolitano was appointed life Senator by then President
of the Republic, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, his predecessor as head
of state and guarantor of Italy's post-war antifascist
constitution.
A life-long Anglophile, Napolitano spoke fluent English and
lectured at several American universities in the late 1970s.
During his long prominence in the PCI he often broke with party
orthodoxy and criticised the Soviet Union, in particular over
its invasion of Afghanistan in 1980.
His funeral will be celebrated with a non-religious ceremony at
the Lower House in Palazzo Montecitorio on Tuesday at 11:30 am
local time.
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