Outrage over Nazi flag used at funeral
Italian Catholic and Jewish officials have condemned an outrageous act of right wing extremism, as a flag with a swastika was placed on a coffin outside a church after a funeral, as mourners in attendance gave Nazi salutes.
Rome's Catholic archdiocese shared a statement that said priests at the parish of St. Lucy in a neighbourhood in central Rome, including the one who presided at the funeral, had no idea the stunt would happen.
Pictures have surfaced on the internet of the coffin bearing the body of Alessia Augello, a former member of the right-wing extremist group Forza Nuova, covered by the Nazi flag.
The diocese statement called the flag "a horrendous symbol that cannot be reconciled with Christianity" and said the stunt was an offensive example of "ideological exploitation" of a religious service.
Italian police are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.
The Jewish community of Rome have expressed their outrage and devastation that such events could still happen more than 70 years after the Holocaust and the fall of Italy's fascist dictatorship.
The Jewish community statement said the funeral incident was "even more outrageous because it took place in front of a church."
In October 1943, a raid on Rome's Jewish neighbourhood saw more than 1,000 of the capital's Jewish people deported to the Auschwitz death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland.
Only 16 people returned.
Image credits: Getty Images / CNN