Catholic, Jewish Leaders Condemn Use of Nazi Flag Outside Church Funeral

Italian Catholic and Jewish leaders on Tuesday, January 11, condemned as outrageous an episode in which right-wing extremists put a flag with a swastika on a coffin outside a church after a religious funeral and gave Nazi salutes.

Rome's Catholic archdiocese said in a statement that priests at the parish of St. Lucy in a central Rome neighborhood, including the one who presided at the funeral rite, had no idea of what would happen outside the church on Monday, January 10.

Pictures on the internet showed the coffin bearing the body of Alessia Augello, a former member of the right-wing extremist group Forza Nuova, covered by the flag.

The diocese statement called the flag "a horrendous symbol that cannot be reconciled with Christianity" and said the episode was an offensive example of "ideological exploitation" of a religious service.

Police said they were investigating the incident as a possible hate crime. (JPost / VFI News)

Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. - 1 John 3:15