On May 9, 2026, the Italian Republic marks one of its most solemn national observances: the Giornata della memoria dedicata alle vittime del terrorismo (Day of Memory for Victims of Terrorism), a date enshrined by Law 56 of May 4, 2007. Today commemorates the deaths of statesman Aldo Moro and anti-Mafia activist Peppino Impastato, both killed on May 9, 1978—48 years ago this morning.
The commemorations carry profound weight for residents and families affected by terrorism and organized crime. Beyond the national ceremonies at Palazzo Madama with President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the Italian state has constructed an evolving legal framework offering lifetime pensions, healthcare exemptions, priority job placement, and educational support. Events across the nation—from Rome to Modena—transmit historical memory to younger generations while honoring those who sacrificed their lives confronting violence.
Looking Back to 1978: The Years of Lead Reach Their Apex
The events that led to today's commemoration began with one of the darkest chapters in modern Italian democracy. The "Years of Lead" (Anni di Piombo)—a brutal period of political extremism from the late 1960s through the early 1980s—reached its peak on March 16, 1978, when a Red Brigades commando ambushed Aldo Moro's convoy on Via Fani in Rome.
The kidnapping lasted 55 days. Moro, then president of the Christian Democracy party and architect of the controversial "Historic Compromise" seeking to bring the Italian Communist Party into government, was held captive in an apartment on Via Montalcini. The Red Brigades issued nine communiqués and photographs, demanding the release of jailed militants. Italian institutions—backed by both the Communist Party and Moro's own Christian Democrats—adopted a "line of firmness" (linea della fermezza), refusing all negotiation. Five members of Moro's security detail were gunned down during the ambush: Carabinieri Oreste Leonardi and Domenico Ricci, along with police officers Raffaele Iozzino, Giulio Rivera, and Francesco Zizzi.
On May 9, 1978, Moro's bullet-ridden body was discovered in the trunk of a red Renault 4 on Via Caetani—a street deliberately chosen to lie midway between the Communist Party and Christian Democratic headquarters, symbolizing the compromise he had sought to unite. Mario Moretti and Germano Maccari pulled the triggers.
That same night, hundreds of kilometers south in the Sicilian town of Cinisi, 30-year-old Giuseppe "Peppino" Impastato was murdered by Cosa Nostra. Impastato, a journalist and founder of the independent broadcaster Radio Aut, had spent years using his show Onda Pazza (Crazy Waves) to mock and expose local Mafia boss Gaetano Badalamenti. His body was placed on railway tracks and blown apart with TNT, staged to resemble a terrorist accident. The news of Moro's death overshadowed Impastato's killing for more than two decades. Only in 2001 was Badalamenti sentenced to life imprisonment as the mastermind, following relentless advocacy by Impastato's mother, Felicia Bartolotta Impastato, and the Centro Impastato anti-Mafia organization.
For Residents: Your Rights and Support
The Italian state has constructed mechanisms to support those touched by terrorism and organized crime. If you or your relatives are survivors or next of kin, several benefits are available.
Economic and pension benefits: Under Law 206/2004 and subsequent amendments (Laws 222/2007 and 244/2007), eligible individuals receive a special one-time payment, a lifetime supplementary pension, and a fictitious ten-year contribution credit toward retirement. The most severely injured are classified as "great invalids of war" for social security purposes.
Healthcare and education: Victims and families are exempt from co-payment fees (ticket sanitari) for public health services and qualify for free psychological counseling. Children of victims receive priority scholarships and preferential admission to state universities.
Employment protections: Mandatory placement rules guarantee job openings in public administration and state-controlled firms, with absolute precedence over other applicants. Private employers who hire survivors may access tax incentives.
Application process: Since December 2020, all benefit claims must be submitted online through the Portale Servizi of the Italian Department for Civil Liberties and Immigration. Local Prefectures (Prefetture) conduct case reviews and issue the official victim certificate required to unlock non-monetary benefits.
Funding comes from annual budget allocations, proceeds from confiscated Mafia assets, and insurance premiums paid into the Solidarity Fund for Victims of Extortion and Usury. However, benefits remain scattered across multiple laws—Law 466/1980 (Bologna bombing victims), Law 302/1990 (Mafia victims), Law 407/1998 (additional economic aid), and Law 206/2004 (terrorism-specific provisions)—making claims procedures opaque. Parliament is currently weighing a comprehensive victims' rights code (testo unico) to consolidate entitlements and simplify access.
Today's National Ceremonies
At 10:00 this morning, President Mattarella laid a wreath beneath the memorial plaque on Via Caetani, where Moro's body was found. Half an hour later, the Palazzo Madama ceremony convened with Senate President Ignazio La Russa, Chamber of Deputies President Lorenzo Fontana, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, and Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi in attendance. Defense Minister Guido Crosetto issued a separate statement acknowledging the armed forces' ongoing commitment to countering extremism.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni posted on social media: "May 9 commemorates the day dedicated to the memory of victims of terrorism. On this date in 1978, the body of Aldo Moro, assassinated by the Red Brigades, was found. The same day, Peppino Impastato lost his life at the hands of the Mafia after his denunciations of Cosa Nostra. And in 2001, magistrate Rosario Livatino, killed by the Stidda, was proclaimed blessed. Today our thoughts are with them and all victims of every form of terrorism. Not forgetting is a duty: to honor those who sacrificed their lives for freedom, out of respect for our history, and to defend democracy every day."
At the municipal level, Modena hosted a public ceremony honoring both Moro and labor economist Marco Biagi, assassinated by the Red Brigades in 2002, as part of the town's Festival della Legalità (Legality Festival), which ran May 6–9. Schools across the country held assemblies and invited survivors to speak, reinforcing civic education and constitutional principles.
March 21: The Complementary Observance
While May 9 focuses on terrorism, March 21 serves as the official Day of Memory and Commitment in Remembrance of Innocent Victims of the Mafias since a unanimous Chamber vote in 2017. Promoted by the grassroots network Libera since 1996, the event rotates host cities annually and reads aloud the names of all innocent victims killed by organized crime, from judges and journalists to bystanders caught in crossfire. Together, these two observances anchor Italy's collective reckoning with violence.
The Unresolved Tension: State Firmness and Delayed Justice
The refusal to negotiate with the Red Brigades became a defining—and still debated—doctrine of the Italian Republic: the state does not bargain with terrorists. That principle held firm in 1978, preventing possible exchange negotiations that might have saved Moro's life but would have signaled capitulation to extremism.
Yet that same firmness did not initially extend to confronting the Mafia's infiltration of politics and business. Impastato's death was dismissed as a radical's accident until his family and civil society forced a reckoning. His evolution into a symbol of grassroots resistance parallels the delayed justice in many Mafia cases, where complicity and omertà (code of silence) obstructed prosecutions for decades.
In a country where political extremism and organized crime have repeatedly tested democratic institutions, collective memory serves a dual purpose: it honors the dead and inoculates younger Italians against historical amnesia. Today's ceremonies reinforce that commitment—not forgetting is both a duty and a defense.
