The Guardia di Finanza of Messina celebrated the patron saint of the body, San Matteo Apostolo, with a solemn religious function in the parish entitled to him, in the carousel district.
The ceremony took part in the soldiers of the provincial command and the aeronaval departments, together with numerous civil and military authorities. The Holy Mass was officiated by the Archbishop of Messina, Lipari and Santa Lucia del Mela, Monsignor Giovanni Accolla, flanked by the military chaplain of the body, Don Giuseppe Salomone. The celebration was enriched by the songs of the polyphonic choir of the provincial command.
In the front row, among the personalities who intervened, the interregional commander of the Carabinieri “Culqualber”, general of the Army Corps Claudio Domizi, the Prosecutor General of the Republic at the Court of Appeal of Messina, Carlo Capeconcello, the chief prosecutor Antonio D’Amato, the mayor Federico Basile, the commissioner Annino Gargano and the vicar of the prefect, Cettina Pennisi.
At the end of the celebration, the provincial commander of the Guardia di Finanza, Colonel Girolamo Franchetti, thanked Monsignor Accolla for the proximity shown to the yellow flames and addressed a thought of gratitude both to the staff in service and to the financiers on leave, custodians of the values and traditions of the body.
Franchetti underlined the symbolic value of the choice to celebrate the anniversary in a periphery parish, entitled precisely in San Matteo, as a concrete sign of the spirit of the Guardia di Finanza: being at the service of the community and close to citizens. He also recalled the importance of daily collaboration between the institutions to guarantee security in the area and firmly contrast all form of illegality, in particular economic, to protect healthy entrepreneurship and the Messina community.