A 65-year-old Milan priest who first sheltered frightened tourists and passersby inside his church during last weekend’s riots later returned a middle-finger gesture to a masked young rioter who flipped him off outside the doors. Father Giannicola Maria Simone of the Church of Sant’Alessandro di Zebedia confirmed the viral video is real, said he acted without violent intent, and has no regrets.
The confrontation took place near Via Torino and Piazza Sant’Alessandro as unrest that began as cost-of-living protests across northern Italy turned violent on October 17 and 18. Masked youths in black clothing clashed with police, threw objects, set fires, and looted shops in central Milan. Police used tear gas and water cannons. Hundreds were detained, the large majority minors, with dozens formally arrested and property damage running into the hundreds of thousands of euros. Simone watched the chaos from inside the church, then closed the doors and let fleeing tourists and ordinary pedestrians inside until the disorder passed. They were not parishioners, he said.
While he stood at the entrance, a group of hooded young Italians ran past. One raised the middle finger—some accounts describe both hands—and insults directed at the Church were audible. Simone calmly answered with the same gesture using his left hand. In an interview with Corriere della Sera published October 22, he explained: “As these young people were walking by, someone gave me the middle finger. They’re kids, so I’m not surprised. I gave them the middle finger back, but without any violent intentions or the risk of sparking further anger.” He added that the footage is authentic even though fake AI versions have since circulated, and that he had no idea he was being filmed at the time.
Simone rejected any call for repentance. “No, I don’t think we should talk about repentance. If I had thrown a punch, yes, but I’ve never raised my hand to anyone, not even in the most difficult moments. I’m 65 years old and I’ve worked with kids all my life, and every now and then you have to tell them, ‘Be careful what you do.’ I certainly would never have done something like that outside of the context of the fights.” None of the youths tried to enter the church; most were simply running past. He later spoke with a few sitting on the steps. Their answers were vague: they did not know why they were there, only that everyone else had come so they came too.
After a live stream circulated, some of Simone’s college students rushed to the square to “defend” him. He laughed and asked what they thought they needed to protect him from. The next morning his students told him “Grande” and “Bravo.” Online reaction split along predictable lines—ideological criticism, straightforward support, and even thanks—while the short clip racked up millions of views across Italian and international outlets.
The broader unrest drew sharp condemnation from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who said demonstrating is a right but setting cities ablaze is not, and blamed hooligans exploiting the protests. Her government moved to deploy 500 troops to Milan and tighten rules on underage participants, including easier detention of 14-to-17-year-olds and parental liability for looting. Simone himself described the young rioters as a minority symptom of wider youth boredom and disconnection after years spent largely with smartphones. He uses social media cautiously to stay in touch with young people and has already posted his own commentary on the weekend.
The episode has turned a quiet parish priest who has spent decades working with adolescents into an unlikely viral symbol of pushback during Europe’s latest wave of cost-of-living unrest. For Simone the gesture was simply a reply in kind, delivered without fists or further escalation, and framed as the kind of direct warning he occasionally gives the young people he has known all his life.
