Milano, l’ultimo saluto a Julia Ituma: la pallavolista morta a 18 anni

White roses on a light-colored wooden coffin, the emotion and tears of the many present, and a prolonged applause as the coffin entered and exited the church. At 11 a.m. on Tuesday, April 18, the funeral of Julia Ituma, the 18-year-old Igor Novara volleyball player, was held in Milan. She fell from the hotel where she was staying with the team in Istanbul and died there on April 13. The church where friends, relatives, and many local residents bid their final farewell to Julia is the Church of San Filippo Neri, in the Bovisasca neighborhood, where she had grown up playing volleyball. The parish priest, Father Ivan Bellini, celebrated the service, along with Father Fabio Carcano, the priest of Santa Maria del Buon Consiglio. The ceremony began with words of closeness from the Archbishop of Milan, Mario Delpini, to the young volleyball player's friends, family, and community: "We live together the tragedy of realizing that life has not kept its promise of happiness," Delpini wrote in the speech read by the parish priest, "that a mysterious, incomprehensible, and unpredictable death has shattered the desire to grow up and lead a desirable life." In his homily, the parish priest remembered Giulia for her successes in life and in sport. It's the story of a girl who began on the volleyball court of the oratory of the Church of San Filippo Neri and went on to achieve success in the national youth teams. Also filling the church and its parvis were many teammates and promising young players from the oratory volleyball team, who saw Julia as a role model. They all came together to bid a final farewell to their "Titu," as Julia was called by those who loved her.