“It will be a celebration,” promised mother Raffaela. And so it was. The funeral of Luciano Capasso, the 25-year-old who was swept away and killed by an avalanche in the Alps of Saint Moritz, Switzerland, on February 18th, had the bittersweet feel of a year-end party. Fireworks, clusters of balloons released into the blue sky of late February, the white coffin carried by friends onto the churchyard of Maria S.S. Immacolata parish in Qualiano, accompanied by the notes of ‘A mano a mano’ by Rino Gaetano.
A hymn to life, the funeral of the 25-year-old hiker. “He worked and was about to graduate,” said Don Francesco Martino from the altar of a packed church. “His mother Raffaela is right when she says today should be a day of celebration. Because he will reunite with Jesus. It is a moment of pain, certainly, a pain for those who remain, but the fact that he left seeking the peaks makes us think he is truly free. Now he touches the clouds as he always dreamed.”
The flag
And it mattered little that his body was there, in a coffin draped with a tricolor flag, at the foot of the altar, with a photo atop the wooden casket. The giant photo installed next to the coffin with the heart-wrenching dedication from mother Raffaela was enough to confirm Don Francesco’s words: “The peaks have taken your courage, but not your memory, which will remain with us forever. Your smile, your laughter, your big heart will live on, unforgettable.” Reading those words, already circulating on social media in recent days and now printed in large letters on a poster, were the hundreds of people who crowded the parish on Via del Dogma on the outskirts of Qualiano yesterday afternoon.
The paratroopers
Among the pews of the church were several soldiers from the Folgore Paratroopers Regiment, where Luciano served for three years, as well as old school friends, boxing and kung fu companions, colleagues from hotels who came from Capri or Sorrento, law students, and even neighbors from Piazza Rosselli. The worlds Luciano Capasso crossed in his 25 years of life—sports, work, and study—came together on a late February afternoon to commemorate him, to bear witness to who he was: a young man from the provinces destined for the mountains. Different worlds, coloring the entrance of the church with posters covered in photos, dedications from girls, and banners hung on the railings. “Teach the angels how to live your life, crazy and full of emotions. You will never be forgotten,” read one white banner. And again: “Forever your little one, the one you taught never to give up. You are the craziest person I’ve ever known and the most important in my life. You are and always will be a millimeter from my heart,” recalled his best friend.
The controversy
In this bittersweet celebration, there was little room for the controversies that accompanied the hectic days of Luciano’s disappearance, the delay in rescue operations, and the sarcastic remarks that Swiss authorities had made to the family before the body was found at 2,500 meters, in the Fuorcla Trovat area, on the morning of Sunday, February 22. Just a mention in Don Francesco’s homily: “How is it possible that his life was cut so short?” the priest asked the faithful. “Churches are not courtrooms where fingers are pointed. There will be judgments later to understand why someone left a young man in the snowstorm without lifting a finger. Here we are in a church, and we must ask God for an answer, and no one else.”
Some references to those days’ events surfaced, amid sobs and tears, in the comments of those present. Like in the words of Genny, who worked with Luciano in Capri: “He was a mentor to me, an older brother. I read about the rescue efforts in the newspapers. It’s hard to form an opinion. I hope there is justice if justice is due.”
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