Rome, 31 December. (LaPresse) – "Dear fellow citizens, a difficult year is coming to an end. We are all well aware of the reasons and, as always, we hope to see better times. Our expectations are first and foremost aimed at peace". Thus the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella in his usual end-of-year message to Italians. Mattarella focused his speech on major themes such as peace and the 80th anniversary of the Republic which will be celebrated in 2026. "Pope Leo XIV – to whom I extend the warmest wishes of the Italian people – during the Christmas season, as the Jubilee of Hope drew to a close, urged us to “reject hatred, violence and conflict, and to practise dialogue, peace and reconciliation”. He called for the need to disarm words. Let us heed this call. If every circumstance becomes a pretext for violent verbal clashes, for mutual accusations, where the basis is irrelevant and only the polemical force matters, then a mentality of peace is not expressed, and its foundations are not built," said the president. He then recalled the conquest of the Republic, which also coincided with the conquest of women's suffrage, emphasising: ‘The Republic is a watershed moment in our history. Not a state that dominates its citizens, but a state that recognises inviolable rights, personal freedom and community autonomy.’ ‘When faced with the question, “What can I do?”, we must remove the fatalistic sense of powerlessness that risks oppressing everyone. The affirmation of freedom and the construction of peace are part of the founding act of our Republic, which expresses the will to build the future together through dialogue. It represents the responsibility of being citizens,’ he added.
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