Maybe it’s only when faced with such evidence that we are able to explain the story of Socrates, to understand, after having heard it thousands of times, why he drank the hemlock rather than running away. A way out that is not taken, that is actually abhorrent, is much more than a campaign in favour of a single dignified death: it is a battle in defence of every individual’s life. The daily struggle of Beppino, Mina and Piergiorgio was a struggle in defence of rights, because it is clear that the essence of the law is the right to live. By acting as they did, they led the way to a new approach, showing that a person can and should remain in Italy, using the tools that democracy provides. For once, conscience and the law did not emigrate from our country. For once, people did not leave in order to obtain or even just ask for something, no attempt was made to be heard elsewhere. No Italian citizen, whatever he may think, can refuse to respect Beppino Englaro, who requested that a judgment of the Court of Cassation be applied, and Mina Welby, who fought for her Piero to have a Catholic funeral: two citizens whose actions restored to our country the dignity that often we ourselves take away.

In the days following the broadcast they called us the ‘death party’, in contrast to the ‘life party’. They simplified religion and politics, making them into a battleground without considering the fact that we portrayed a church which, in Italy, out of the spotlight, is the only one operating in the most difficult areas, in the most desperate situations, the only one that affords human dignity to migrants, to those the institutions overlook, to those who can’t stay afloat in the crisis. It would be nice if the ending of this story could be that in Italy, tomorrow, thanks to the non-violent battle of Beppino, Piergiorgio and Mina, each of us would be free to choose: to be kept alive by machines in a vegetative state for decades or elect our own end without having to emigrate. Just as patients in a permanent comatose state choosing to continue the support should be afforded decent, ongoing assistance without having to be a burden on the families, as often happens. This is an Italy that would embrace rights and compassion, that would allow choices different from one’s own to be respected and understood, an Italy with which it would be wonderful to be able to identify. Wanting to see yourself in a country that’s different, starting from where you feel the story pertains to you, where that idea of life pertains to you. Getting angry about the filth to which power often forces you: the shamefulness of it.