Dominic Straub from Rome
As “Corriere della Sera” wrote, it was a “simple ceremony with just a few guests” near Brescia in northern Italy. The two “sposi” (newlyweds) were not married by the priest in the church, but by the mayor in a private villa. A simple civil marriage. “A maximum of 250 people gathered to celebrate what will probably be remembered as the most beautiful day in the lives of the two young people”, poetically continues the “Corriere della Sera”. So 250 people. Well – at an Italian wedding, it is still a wedding in the closest family circle.
Giulio and Matteo said yes on June 2, “Republic Day”. Despite the modest setting by Italian standards, the marriage did not go unnoticed outside closed society. That’s because of Giulio’s last name: he’s a Montini. This name has a special ring in Italy and especially in Brescia. Because one of the city’s most famous sons also wore it: Giovanni Battista Montini, better known by his papal name Paul VI. Montini led the Catholic Church from 1963 until his death in 1978, and he had a brother, Ludovico Montini. The latter, in turn, is Matteo’s grandfather: the groom is therefore Paul VI’s great-nephew.