As Rome funerals go, it was hardly your understated, run-of-the-mill event. For a start, the ornate hearse was pulled by six black horses. For a second, a brass band standing outside the Don Bosco al Tuscolano church, in the southeastern suburbs of the city, greeted mourners with the theme tune to the classic film The Godfather.
Above, a helicopter flew over the area, dropping red rose petals on the mourners, while a poster on the church wall showed an elderly man, dressed in papal-like white garb and wearing a cross, with the inscription: "Vittorio Casamonica, King of Rome."
So what was all this? Put simply, it was an astonishing display of street power by the Casamonica crime family, apparently able to act with impunity in the Eternal City. The funeral, last month, of the family’s alleged godfather was intended to make a point about the family’s continuing presence and power.
By way of response to the furore prompted by this lavish public funeral, the Democratic Party (PD) of prime minister Matteo Renzi yesterday held a protest meeting entitled "Anti-Mafia Capitale". The meeting was intended as a statement that "Rome is not and never will be their [the Mafia's] city".
It is not just media commentators who claim that the Casamonica clan has long been involved in drug trafficking, money laundering, car theft and protection rackets in Rome. Back in July 2004, anti-Mafia police arrested 11 members of the clan and sequestered €100 million of goods and property after a raid on a Casamonica villa.
At the time, the then head of the Rome DIA (anti-Mafia police), Col Vittorio Tomasone, called the Casamonica family “the most powerful crime organisation in Lazio” and told one of many parliamentary commissions he attended that the very name Casamonica prompted “fear and apprehension” because the family, allegedly of gypsy origins, is linked to “widespread criminal activity” in the greater Rome area.
The recent funeral is just one of many incidents that have made the last year of city government by heart surgeon turned politician Ignazio Marino immensely difficult. An outsider in Italian politics who ran for mayor two years ago, with little PD party support, the well-intentioned Marino is seen by many Romans as a Forrest Gump-style figure, incapable of dealing with the cute-hoor politicians of City Hall.
This is probably an unfair assessment as, in his short time in office, Marino has tried to tackle local government vested interests in transport, sanitation, garbage removal and the traffic police. In response, he has faced labour unrest and strikes.
Meanwhile, disgruntled Romans argue that the city is falling into degrado (degradation). The outlook for Marino was so bad that last Christmas it looked as if Renzi was about to force him out of office. Then along came the "Mafia-Capitale" inquiry, which revealed a high level of City Hall infiltration by organised crime. Marino emerged entirely clean from that investigation, which largely related to the previous Roman administration of centre-right mayor Gianni Alemanno. (It revealed that some Roman criminals had decided that there was "more money to be made from migrants than from drugs", in the words of Salvatore Buzzi, a migrant holding centre administrator currently under arrest.) In the circumstances, it was hardly opportune to sack Marino, just about the only honest man still standing.
Now, Rome awaits a long, hot autumn during which 59 of those arrested in relation to “Mafia-Capitale” will face a collective trial, starting in November.
In the meantime, the Casamonica funeral poses an awkward question: is the mayor in control of his city, or are there those within City Hall who are more than willing to do “favours”?
On the eve of a Holy Year during which 25 million people are expected to visit the Eternal City, the city’s €80 million special funding will not be unnoticed. Indeed, it is sure to attract the attention of organised crime. The Roman road ahead is steep and rising for Mayor Marino.
