Pope Leo XIV met Thursday with relatives of Italian teenagers killed or injured in the New Year’s Eve fire at a bar in Switzerland’s Alps, seeking to console families who said they wanted an audience with the pontiff. The meeting took place at the Vatican and marked a departure from his prepared remarks, as Leo XIV addressed the families directly and acknowledged their anguish.
During the meeting, Leo XIV told the families that he had agreed immediately to meet them after hearing of their desire to have an audience. He said he wanted to offer “the opportunity to share a moment” that he described as “truly a test of our faith” during “the darkest and most painful moments” of their lives.
Leo XIV also said his words were “limited and powerless” to ease the parents’ pain, but urged them to rely on their faith as they look ahead. He told them, “The faith that dwells in us illuminates the darkest and most painful moments of our lives with an irreplaceable light, helping us to continue courageously on our journey toward our goal.”
After the Vatican meeting, the families met with Italian government officials, who said Italy has been pressing for justice and a full accounting of the fire. The blaze occurred during a New Year’s Eve party at the Le Constellation bar in the southwest Crans-Montana resort and killed 40 people, most of them youngsters, while injuring 116 others.
Officials said six of the dead and 13 of the injured were Italian citizens, with the families’ plight followed closely by Italians and by the Italian government as the investigation expanded. The fire is believed to have been ignited by sparkling candles that came too close to a ceiling fitted with soundproofing material, according to the account reported by the Associated Press.
Authorities said the bar’s owners are suspected of involuntary homicide, involuntary bodily harm and involuntarily causing a fire. The Swiss probe has been joined by investigations opened by French and Italian prosecutors.
Italy is planning to join the Swiss investigation as a civil party, officials said Thursday, with the aim of securing access to court files and helping support Italian families as they navigate the Swiss judicial system. The officials said the separate European Union judicial cooperation network does not apply in the Swiss case, and they described the participation as a way to strengthen Italy’s ability to assist the Italian victims.
Alfredo Mantovano, a senior Italian government official, said the aim was for Italy and the Italian victims to speak with a unified voice. Italy is also planning to ask the European Commission to join the case as a civil party, he said, in part to bolster that effort as the Italian state spends significant resources to care for injured Italian victims and support their families.
In a statement reported after meeting with officials, lawyer Alessandro Vaccaro, who represents the family of Emanuele Galeppini, said the families were dealing with a country that is not part of the European economic community and that speaking with a unified voice would “bring results.” Vaccaro said the goal was “to ascertain facts of what happened,” as the families sought clarity on the causes and circumstances of the fire.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told lawmakers on Tuesday that the disaster was an “open wound” for the country and said Italy would demand “full clarity” about what he described as “negligent behavior that is obvious to the eyes of everyone.”