Orphaned by Femicide: A Young Boy's Encounter with Pope Francis

"He gave me a candy and asked me how I was and then hugged me tightly." He looks at you with his big black eyes as he responds seriously, as if he were already a grown man and not a four-year-old boy. Ale - Alessandro - is one of the many orphans of femicide whose mother was not protected by the State despite warnings of possible violence. The child has just been a guest in the Vatican along with his grandmother and aunt, staying the night at Santa Marta, to take part in the inauguration of an embroidery exhibition inspired by the Ars Canusina at the Vatican Museums. Ale knows that his mother Cecilia is no longer there, she flew to heaven. The truth will be told to him gradually as he grows up by his father and grandmother. The case of Cecilia Hazana Loayza, a 34-year-old Peruvian girl, for cruelty and brutality shook the whole of Italy three years ago when her body was found in a park in Reggio Emilia. She had first been raped and then stabbed by the man with whom she had had a brief relationship but had broken off. She died of blood loss. The one who had struck her to death had already been arrested and tried for stalking. Practically a foretold femicide. Now Ale lives with his father, from whom Cecilia had separated shortly after his birth, with his grandmother Dina and his aunt Paulina who never take their eyes off him for a moment. Pope Francis spoke in Spanish with the grandmother and aunt, he knew their story well. "He gave me the strength and serenity to move forward and face the situation. The pain remains enormous but now all our energies are to protect and grow Ale in the best way," said Dina. In the evening they all took part in the vernissage at the Vatican Museums and for the little one it was a party, it was the first time he had been taken to the Vatican and among those ancient statues and paintings he looked at everything with attention as if he didn't want to miss a second of that adventure. Growing up without a mother is not easy, even more so with that heavy burden. "He has many loved ones around him and they will protect him," explains Cristina Carbognani, one of the escorts who organized the Roman trip. Pope Francis has spoken dozens of times against gender violence. In the face of the escalation of victims, he highlighted the need to work a lot on prevention and against patriarchal culture. "Violence against women is a poisonous weed that afflicts our society and must be eliminated from the roots." And again. "We see from the sad chronicles, from the terrible news of violence against women, how urgent it is to educate respect and care: train men capable of healthy relationships."