Hundreds of mourners packed Milan's Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio on Monday for the funeral of Antonio Mazzi, after the Exodus addiction-recovery network founder died last week at age 96. Mayor Giuseppe Sala pledged to back Mazzi's inscription in the city's Famedio pantheon, calling him "a true educator" who never gave up.
A sunflower and an AC Milan Curva Sud scarf were placed on the coffin, with floral wreaths from the club's ultras and the band Pooh adorning the church square. Volunteers distributed leaflets bearing Mazzi's spiritual testament — the "prayer of ciao" — as the casket emerged to chants of his name and the strains of Nomadi's "Io Vagabondo."
Among attendees were Inter president Giuseppe Marotta, anti-mafia priest Luigi Ciotti, and television personality Lele Mora. The body is to be taken to Lambrate cemetery's cremation temple before a strictly private burial at Maguzzano Abbey in Brescia.