Five members of the Ultima Generazione (Last Generation) civil-disobedience group poured red liquid over themselves outside Florence Baptistery today. They were highlighting the need to combat the climate crisis.
The action, in the area of the Florence Baptistery, was also staged in solidarity with two Last Generation members recently handed nine-month suspended jail terms and 1,500-euro fines by a Vatican court for a protest in the Vatican Museums last year.
“Today we pour this red liquid over our bodies, a metaphor of the blood of martyrdom, because we choose life in the face of the climate crisis”, the group said in a statement.
The five held up a banner that read “We Won’t Pay for Fossils” (Non Paghiamo Il Fossile). This is the slogan of one of the group’s campaigns calling for an end to public subsidies to fossil fuel projects.
Greenhouse emissions from the use of fossil fuels are the driving force of global heating.
In support of Vatican UG protestors
Last Generation (UG) staged a series of controversial headline-grabbing protests in recent months.
This protest was in support of Ester Goffi, 26, and Guido Viero, 61. Last month, they were ordered to pay €28,000 in damages for having glued themselves to the iconic Laocoon statuary group last August. They also received suspended sentences.
UG said the the aim of Monday’s protest was “to bring to the pontiff’s attention the unjust and disproportionate” sentences the pair were handed.
The group said Goffi and Viero has responded to the appeal made by Pope Francis in his encyclical Laudato Si on the need to protect our common home. However, instead of support they “encountered repression”.
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Cathedral authorities said the Baptistery was not damaged in the protest. The red liquid used was a mix of tomato sauce and blueberries.
Sarah Cater was leading a guided tour at the time the protest took place. “Fortunately, the liquid was poured over themselves, not the building or any artwork. I sympathise with the cause, but whether this is the right approach, I’m not entirely convinced.
“The duomo, baptistery and museum closed for an hour as security checked none of the protestors had entered the buildings”.
Stop targeting cultural heritage says Mayor
Florence Mayor Dario Nardella told Ultima Generazione to stop targeting cultural heritage.
“I think the environmental-emergency battle is one for citizens, institutions and civil society to wage together,” said Nardella. The mayor was hailed as a hero by some after he rugby-tackled a UG activist who was spraying orange paint over the walls of Palazzo Vecchio, the home of Florence’s town hall, in a protest in March.
“I think attacking cultural heritage, even if only symbolically and, unlike the Palazzo Vecchio case, without causing material damage, gives the wrong message.
“Nature and culture are sisters. Hitting one to protect the other is message that, in my opinion, does not win the support of the public.
“I reiterate my appeal to the Ultima Generazione protestors.
“Stop this form of protest and there will certainly be the conditions to work together and for construction dialogue. “But you cannot offend, even symbolically, cultural heritage to highlight the real problem of the climate emergency”.
