Italian police foil attempted attack on Catholic festival; Turkish suspects arrested

Italian police and special forces thwarted a possible terrorist attack meant to target a centuries-old Catholic festival that thousands of people, including Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, were expected to attend.

According to several Italian media reports, police and DIGOS agents, the Italian law enforcement agency charged with investigating cases involving terrorism and organized crime, raided a bed and breakfast Sept. 3, where they arrested two Turkish men found in possession of automatic weapons, including a semi-automatic pistol and an assault machine gun.

The room was located near the procession route of the famed “Macchina di Santa Rosa,” a nearly 100-foot structure carried by 100 people. The festival honors the moving of the body of St. Rose of Viterbo, the city’s patron saint, to her final resting place.

According to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, an estimated 40,000 people attended this year’s procession.

In a Sept. 4 statement via X, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni congratulated law enforcement agencies as well as Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi “for their swift intervention” in preventing the attack.

“It was a decisive operation that allowed for the safe celebration of a one-of-a-kind event. UNESCO has recognized the event as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity and represents a centuries-old tradition deeply cherished by the people of Viterbo and many Italians,” Meloni said.

Tajani, who was supposed to attend but was transferred to a safe location, also took to X to praise law enforcement as well as the city’s mayor and prefect for ensuring that the procession “was safe and panic-free.”

Avvenire, the newspaper of the Italian bishops’ conference, reported that police sources stated the two suspects did not “have any links to terrorist networks, such as ISIS or other groups,” and instead appeared to be linked to organized crime.

Despite no evidence of terrorism, Avvenire reported, authorities are continuing to investigate “the possible planning of a terrorist act” and the suspects will face charges for “the alleged crime of arms trafficking.”

The attack came as a suspected Turkish mob boss, Baris Boyun, awaits extradition to Turkey. Boyun was arrested in May 2024 in the Viterbo hamlet of Bagnaia during a joint operation involving Italian law enforcement and Interpol agents.