«Today is an important feast day for Italy, and it becomes all the more beautiful with your presence here… You are most welcome. I wish you all the best for the future.» Everyone was struck by the warmth of the welcome in the Quirinal Gardens and the genuine kindness in President Mattarella's words and gestures as nearly 150 people from Rome's Fede e Luce communities and other third-sector organizations spent the afternoon there on Republic Day. To be chosen and welcomed as you are—it swept away the old days when disabled people were treated as second-class citizens. We felt every member of the staff genuinely happy to see us, despite the work that organizing such a day must have required. It was a concrete sign of commitment to removing every barrier that, by limiting citizens' actual equality, prevents their participation in the nation's social life—the very hope enshrined in Article 3 of our Constitution. Still grateful for this invitation, the voices and faces of those who participated will tell you the rest. (Fabio Bronzini)
The visit was pleasant and well organized. What I enjoyed most were the mounted carabinieri, the band, and the excellent tenor, plus the kind staff and that beautiful fountain with the cleanest water—it made you want to jump in.
I couldn't see the president because there were so many young people like me there, but I heard his speech, and his words were very sincere. (Giorgia Landucci)
On June 2nd, we were supposed to meet with our friends from Fede e Luce at two points in Rome—the Olympic Village and Santa Silvia—and meet the buses around 2 p.m. We arrived at the Quirinal at 3. They put red stickers on our shirts, we went through metal detectors. Then they gave us a bag with "June 2 Republic Day" written on it, inside a bottle of water, cups, orange juice, a cap, pins, and a little tricolor flag. We went to the gardens where the band was playing and a singer was performing.
RAI and other TV stations were filming. They filmed me and my friend Francesca Scarafoni, and then President Mattarella arrived. We sang the Italian national anthem and he gave a short speech, and at the end he greeted a group from Ukraine and passed close by me. Too bad I didn't manage to shake his hand. I think Marco Ciucciarelli did. The President is a handsome man of eighty and doesn't look it. That morning he had attended the military parade. I remember well when I had seen him at Castel Porziano. When his speech finished we went over to a fountain. We took some group photos and then headed back to the buses. (Gabriella Buongiorno)
I arrived at the Quirinal in the garden in the afternoon, just as I got off the bus. I went in with some people from my community. As I enter the place I see other people arriving from every kind of religion. When Norina called me about the visit I didn't understand the reason, but I said yes anyway. Among the people I see are the mounted officer and the band, which was there to welcome our president Sergio Mattarella, and everyone had good things to say about him. I had never been to the Quirinal Gardens before—it was something new for me, and it meant a real outing in society for all of us. The place I had never seen, the garden is divided into sections, and at the back there are two areas with a fountain. I see many people—besides Valerio, Alessandra, Daniela, Carlo, Norina and me, there's also a friend I don't usually see because the pandemic kept us apart, so it was wonderful to see everyone. The band played the national anthem and we all sang at the top of our voices. (Giovanni Grossi)