From Meloni to Conte, on the parvis right and left together for the Pope

For a day, rusts were hidden, distances ignored. As if the clashes had never happened. At the last salute to Pope Francis, Italian politics was all there. Nobody excluded. On the other hand, in recent days, messages of condolence have been pouring in that it still felt like November and it is not as if you could tell from the texts whether they came from the left or the right. Because, more or less legitimately, the Pope's legacy has been hoarded by some conservatives as well as progressives, some majorities as well as the wide camps, Catholics but also lay people.

And so, at the Pontiff's funeral former Prime Ministers who have never had it out with each other, such as Matteo Renzi and Giuseppe Conte, representatives of parties on opposite sides, such as PD secretary Elly Schlein and Giorgia Meloni's right-hand man Giovanni Donzelli, leaders of political forces struggling to form a coalition, such as Nicola Fratoianni with Angelo Bonelli of Avs and the president of Azione Elena Bonetti, were seen one after the other. The funeral was also an opportunity to witness unheard of conversations, at least for some time now, such as the one between two former tenants of Palazzo Chigi, Conte and Mario Draghi, who politically have more than one unfinished business, given that the M5S was decisive in the fall of the government of the former president of the ECB.

Il leader M5s Giuseppe Conte in piazza San Pietro per i funerali di Papa Francesco, Città del Vaticano, 26 aprile 2025. ANSA/ALESSANDRO DI MEO

The conciliations and brief greetings between ex-somethings and those who do not personally represent the institutions were made possible by the less tight meshes of the ceremonial. On the other hand, the movements of the offices of State were very limited: in the front row on the parvis was the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella with his daughter Laura, in the second row Premier Meloni. Parliament was represented by House Speaker Lorenzo Fontana and Senate President Ignazio la Russa. And, scattered here and there, by a conspicuous number of deputies and senators. While in the third row were deputy prime ministers Matteo Salvijni and Antonio Tajani. The government did not skimp, with even the undersecretary to the presidency of the council, Alfredo Mantovano, and several ministers such as Giancarlo Giorgetti, Anna Maria Bernini, Adolfo Urso, Giuseppe Valditara, Francesco Lollobrigida and Alessandro Giuli. Dark clothes for everyone: many chose black, as did Prime Minister Meloni. Others chose blue. Of the politicians who flocked to the Vatican, not all appeared at ease among the pontifical marbles and stuccoes. Pier Ferdinando Casini and Paolo Gentiloni seemed more at home. A guest air for the radical secretary of Più Europa Riccardo Magi.

The operators were able to indulge themselves. They had the opportunity to immortalise at least unusual exchanges of greetings. Former Chamber of Deputies President Fausto Bertinotti, former secretary of Rifondazione Comunista, was first photographed giving a pat to former Disobedienti leader Luca Casarini and then in a bipartisan handshake with former Economy Minister and now FdI MP Giulio Tremonti. One note, among the parliamentarians from the right, centre and left, there were also some from the mixed group: someone noticed Aboubakar Soumahoro, who has not been part of the Avs parliamentary team for some time. He left it after the investigation into his mother-in-law and his wife.