Alfredo Ormando (Fwd)

["glr" <glr_y@iol.it>]

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Send reply to:  	<pansex@libero.it>
From:           	"Peter Boom" <pansex@libero.it>
To:             	<glr_y@iol.it>
Subject:        	Ormando
Date sent:      	Tue, 9 Jan 2001 10:35:40 +0100

Saturday, 13.01.2001 at 15.30 p.m.
Place a flower on the spot in Saint Peter’s square (Rome), where gay martyr,
Alfredo Ormando sacrificed his life in protest against the insensitive
attitude of society and the Vatican to the question of homosexuality.


The commemoration will take place on piazza Pio XII and we will put flowers
on Italian ground at the border of the vatican state.

Peter Boom - pansex@libero.it
http://digilander.iol.it/arcigayviterbo

Some more information about Alfredo Ormando:

When Alfredo Ormando set himself on fire on the St. Peter’s square in Rome
on the 13th of january 1998 he was 39 years old. His father died early and
he was the last of eight brothers and sisters of a family employed in
agriculture in San Cataldo in the province of Caltanisetta (Sicily).
He did two years of seminary and then went to the University, where it seems
he had already many problems.
Before taking his depart to Rome Alfredo called his mother on the telephone
saying that he was going there studyreasons.
Gaetano Mangano, a pensioned man in whose house in Palermo Alfredo lived in
a room, met him two days before. Alfredo asked him Lire 100.000.- (about
fifty dollars), probably to pay his trainticket for Rome.
Maria Siena a 27-year old woman who cleans the toilets on the st. Peter’s
square has seen Alfredo pouring a liquid on his clothes and then saw how he
put fire on himself and running towards the center of the square, stopping
between the obelisk and the steps of the Basilica.
The italian police ran to help him and one of them tried to extinguish the
flames with his own jacket. Before loosing conscience Alfredo murmured: “I
wan’t even capable to die”.
He was transported to Sant’Eugenio Hospital where he died after 10 days of
agony.
The letters he had brought with him were not published and the vatican
pressroom, by word of vice-director father Benedettini, published a
press-release saying that Alfredo Ormando suicided not because of his
homosexuality or in protest against the catholic church, but because of some
problems with his family.
But, right after his death the biggest italian press-agency ANSA received
his letters by post (the italian post is incredible slow) and published part
of them. Ormando had send a duplicate of them to the ANSA from Palermo,
before taking the train to Rome. He knew before that his messages never
would reach the public, getting in the hands of the priests.
One month after his death, we went with a small group (nine gays) to put
flowers on the place where he burned. The police came and told us to go
away. They were ordered by the vatican to take
away even the flowers. I told them that if Jesus Christ had been there, he
would have embraced us all and that the vatican showed in this way to be
really anticristic. The policemen were sorry ¸they had seen Ormando burn and
one told me “I’m a Sicilian too” , another police told me that the policeman
who had tried to extinguish the fire was still under shock and could not
sleep during the night. I gave a nice plant (of these we had to take away)
to the policemen to give it to that man under shock to thank him for his
good deed. In 1999, under a terrible rain, we were again near the st. Peter’
s square to commemorate Ormando. This time the President of Arcigay and also
the Mario Mieli Organization of Rome were present. The police told us that
they couldn’t permit us to enter the square and so we put the flowers on
Italian ground, at the border of the vatican state, which made very clear
how christian the vatican is in reality. Also last year things went in the
same manner and the Rome-police gave us the permit to do our commemoration
as the year before.
Arcigay gave another letter of Ormando to the press.

Handwritten letter of Ormando to one of his friends:

Palermo, Christmas 1997

Dear Adriano, this year I don’t feel anymore Christmas, it’s completely
indifferent to me, like everything else; There’s nothing which can me bring
to life again.

The preparations for my suicide are going on inexorably; I feel that this is
my destiny, I’ve always known it but never accepted it, but this tragic
destiny is there waiting for me with an infinite patience, that’s really
incredible.

I can’t manage to remove this idea of death, I feel I cannot avoid it, also
I cannot feint to live and do as if I’m planning a future, which I will not
have anymore: my future will only be the prosecution of my present.

I live with the awareness of whom is going to leave life on earth and I don’
t look forward to that with horror, on the contrary!, I’m only waiting for
the moment to finish my days; People will think that I’m crazy because I
decided to put myself aflame on the Saint Peter’s Square, if I could have
done it also in Palermo.

I hope they will understand the message I want to spread: it’s a protest
against the Church who demonizes homosexuality, demonizing in the same time
nature, because homosexuality is the daughter of nature.
                                                                Alfredo

------- End of forwarded message -------

----- 
Giorgio Ellero 
<glr_y@iol.it> 
http://digilander.iol.it/glry 
-----