Mattarella: hope, respect and peace are the key words of the end-of-year speech

Standing, in a blue suit with a tie of the same color. Behind the Christmas tree with the balls engraved with the articles of the Constitution and those of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. And again: the nineteenth-century reproduction of Raphael’s Madonna della Seggiola and the inevitable flags. The Italian one, the European one and that of the Presidency of the Republic. The background of the President Sergio Mattarella’s tenth end-of-year speechitself a message: a call for sobrietyto composure in a time marked by wars, chaos and confusion. Especially among the younger generations, as reported on several occasions by the Head of State who this year chose the Sala del Lucernario of the Quirinale. This too is a choice in which it seems possible to read the reference to the light – which illuminates Mattarella from above – and, therefore, to hope, a concept that recurs several times in the speech.

Hope, respect and peace are the key words of the 16 minutes and forty seconds of speech by the Head of State. Peace, first of all. A peace that “has never shouted its urgency more than now”. The President recalls how “the barbarity of war” did not “even spare Christmas”. The count is dramatic: “On Christmas night the news spread that a few-day-old baby girl froze to death in Gaza. On the same Christmas night, ferocious Russian bombings hit the power plants in the cities of Ukraine to force that population civilized in the dark and in the cold. The innocent people kidnapped by Hamas, and still hostages, are experiencing a second start to the year in inhumane conditions”.

Added to this is “everyone’s anguish at the detention of Cecilia Sala. We are close to her, waiting to see her again in Italy as soon as possible.” The second pillar is that of ‘hope’ which, for Mattarella, is not a sterile wait, but means rolling up one’s sleeves: “Hope cannot only translate into waiting idle. Hope is us. Our commitment. Our freedom. Our choices”. A hope which, in this way, becomes collective. President Mattarella quotes the Holy Father recalling that “on Christmas night Pope Francis – to whom I send grateful greetings – opened the Jubilee, making the call to hope. This evening are hours of hope in the future, in the year to come. It’s up to us to know how to translate it into reality.”

Therefore, “what does it concretely mean to cultivate trust in a time marked not only by wars, but also by imbalances and conflicts?”, asks Mattarella: “There is a need to reorient coexistence, the way of living together. In this period it seems that the world is subjected to an alarming centrifugal force, capable of dividing, distancing and radicalizing conflicts. Public opinions are torn. Deep fault lines run through our societies”. For this reason, “some examples of people who have chosen to work for the common good” are precious, from emergency room doctors to teachers, through entrepreneurs and those who “work with conscience and professionalism” .

A separate mention deserves the “many journalists risk their lives to document what happens in the unfortunate wars on the borders of Europe, in the Middle East and elsewhere. They often pay a high price for the service they provide to the community”. It is precisely this “web of feelings, values, ideal tension”, for Mattarella, “what holds our communities together and translates into reality that collective hope that we want to build together”. The appeal, therefore, is to commit ourselves “to a common hope that will lead us with confidence towards the future”.

The second pillar of Mattarella’s speech is ‘respect’. The Head of State talks about it in four passages of the speech concerning, respectively, the ongoing wars, work, prisons and, more generally, civil coexistence. “Peace does not mean submitting to the arrogance of those who attack other countries with weapons”, underlines the President with reference to ongoing conflicts, “but the peace of respect for human rights, the peace of the right of every people to freedom and dignity”. The second of these passages is dedicated to work: “Respect for life, for safety of those who work. The latest tragedy a few days ago, a Calenzano: Five people died. Words of disdain can no longer be enough: action must be taken, with responsibility and severity.

Fatal accidents – all of them – can and must be prevented.” The fourth: respect for those deprived of their freedom. “Respect for the dignity of every person, for their rights. Even for those in prison. THE’high number of suicides it is an indication of unacceptable conditions”, underlines the Head of State and then adds: “Detainees must be able to breathe air different from that which led them to illegality and crime. Generous operators are committed to this, and they deserve to be supported.” A commitment required by the Constitutional Charter itself: “We have the duty to observe the Constitution which indicates essential rules on detention in prison. Overcrowding works against you and also makes the working conditions of prison staff unacceptable”. Respect, Mattarella recalls again, is “the first step on the road to dialogue, collaboration, solidarity, elements on which our civilization is based”. It is no coincidence, on the other hand, that “the Treccani Italian Encyclopedia Institute” has chosen “respect” as the word of the year. Respect for others represents the first step towards a more welcoming, more reassuring, more capable of humanity society.”

A central place in the speech of the head of state is dedicated to youngas already happened in the message of greetings to the high officials of the State and the political forces. “Young people are the great resource of our country. We can count on their enthusiasm, their creative strength, the generosity they often demonstrate. We have the duty to listen to their discomfort, to give concrete answers to their needs, their aspirations”, states the President who, however, underlines how “the precariousness and uncertainty felt by the young generations must be addressed with great commitment also because there lies a significant cause of the birth crisis we are experiencing”.

For this reason, the phenomenon of violence requires “particular attention. It affects the whole world, but becomes even more alarming when it involves our young people. Bullying, fights, use of weapons. Worrying is the spread of the consumption of alcohol and drugs, both old and new, even among the very young. Unfortunately, these behaviors are fueled by the web which often offers models inspired by arrogance, easy success and getting high.” Despite these shadows, Mattarella’s hope is that we can work together to bring out the lights. Which are there and which the Head of State finds in Sammy Basso’s smile: “I encountered positive and encouraging values ​​and behaviors in the faces, in the gestures, in the testimonies of many of our fellow citizens. I read them in the words of Sammy Basso which teach us to live a full life, beyond all difficulties”. Hence the appeal: “We are called to consolidate and develop the reasons placed by the Constitution at the basis of the national community. It is an undertaking that is transmitted from one generation to the next. Because hope cannot only translate into idle waiting. Hope is us. Our commitment. Our freedom… Our choices.”