Celebrated in the church of San Biagio, the neighborhood where the 57-year-old lived. He has always dedicated himself to environmental education, he was a profound connoisseur of the Monza park. Don Oltolini: Man of natural spirituality, like St. Francis
A moving applause greeted the coffin of Matteo Barattieri, the ecologist from Monza hit by a pirate car in Nashville last August 25, as he walked back from the concert of Blondie, his favorite band. This morning in the church of San Biagio, the neighborhood where he lived, a simple ceremony, because simplicity was the key to Matthew’s whole life. The parish priest, Don Umberto Oltolini, recalled this in his homily, speaking of him as a man with a natural spirituality, the same that St. Francis put into practice.
Fifty-seven years old, a geologist by training, Matteo Barattieri had always dedicated himself to environmental education, he was a profound connoisseur and defender of the Monza park. Nature is a temple – the words of Don Umberto – divine nature and must be protected. this is the witness we must gather from Matthew’s example. In the church the mayor Paolo Pilotto, the former mayor Michele Faglia, the friends of the Committee for the park that Matteo had helped to create in 1994 during the first battle against the cutting of trees for the adaptation of the racetrack, the companions of the Zucchi high school, the representatives of the associations promoting the Park Festival which this year was dedicated to his memory. We would like to create a naturalistic and didactic path with his name – said Bianca Montrasio, spokesperson of the Committee – we have already brought the project to the Management Consortium and to the councilor for the park. It would be a way to link all the nature trails that Matteo had helped to create. Then there are the writings of him that we are collecting and we would like to carry out his project of safeguarding the emerald toads that live in the stagnant waters of the park. On the part of the municipal administration there is great availability – commented the mayor on the sidelines of the ceremony – we are collecting various proposals, but now the moment of mourning and remembrance. No news on the investigation front: In a month and a half we fear it will be very difficult to understand who killed Matteo – the words of his brother Davide – without surveillance cameras we are losing hope of knowing the truth. A sad fate has tied Matteo Barattieri to his father Ambrogio, who was also killed by a pirate car in the mid-1980s. For this reason Matteo never wanted to get a driving license and always went around by bicycle or on foot. Like that night of August 25, along the Nashville street, with the music of Blondie still in my ears.
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October 8, 2022 (change October 8, 2022 | 13:21)
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