166. Goodbye Father Zuliani

Fr. Antonio Zuliani, 89 years old, John Bosco Salesian- A rare picture since he was no poser.

The funeral car arrives at the Duomo in Conegliano- Treviso.

The coffin is a plain pine wooden box, similar to that used to bury Pope John Paul II.

A glimpse of the celebrant- the Bishop of Vittorio Veneto, His Grace Corrado Pizziolo, from a fissure since no cameras were allowed inside the church- like I said Fr. Zuliani was no poser.

Another rare picture of Fr. Zuliani in his crafts lab as he greets one of his “protégés.” Fr. Zuliani was renowned for saving the lives of a multitude of youth from the snares of drugs by, among other things, founding a community.

Alas Fr. Zuliani was also renowned for being the spiritual adviser of the Berlusconi family.

Again Fr. Zuliani was no poser.

Paolo Berlusconi at the funeral. His elder brother, the Italian Premier, did not attend- probably because the smear campaigners who doth love him so well- would have certainly found a way to exploit the occasion for more dirt slinging.

People reaching out to touch the coffin- a last link to this life.

A reminder of life’s only certainty.