about the case came to light. Felice Bruneri, Mario's brother, showed five letters sent by his brother to their mother while in the mental hospital. In the letters, he explained his situation and asked for the family's help, since he was hungry and repentant for his crimes. The letters were published 19 years after Bruneri's death. However, few of his other writings had survived, so they could not be scientifically compared for handwriting. Nevertheless, the letters are nowadays still considered one of the most reliable clues about the man's true identity. The brother was sorry for not having shown the letters before, but was fearful of shaming the family name and his mother. Despite the great span of time that had elapsed, the letters elicited strong reactions from the canellians, who tried to get a new trial to clear Giulio Canella's name. Denial: heirs and the Church In 1964, Beppino Canella, the first son of Giulio Canella, gave a public speech reasserting that the man was his father. Don Germano Alberti, a friend of Giulia Canella, nominated Giulio Cannella for beatification. The request was ultimately refused. After much lobbying from Canella heirs and friends, on 10 June 1970, the Roman Catholic Church officially released a press statement by Cardinal and Secretary of the Vatican State Giovanni Benelli, asserting that in the Church's eyes, the man was Giulio Canella, and his sons were to be considered legitimate. The statement clashed with the court findings and the new evidence uncovered, but was presented as certain despite being supported by nothing other than testimonies. Political aspects The case broke at a very delicate time politically, when the newly elected Fascist regime was beginning to face the many social problems of a divided country. The intellectual elite was divided. Many Catholic higher-ups sided with the brunerians, despite the official position of the Church in the following years. Politicians and journalists, especially from the liberal wing, sided with the canellians. The story was used by certain politicians as a means of distracting the public from the commission writing the Lateran Treaty, the agreement between the Church and the Italian state that gave the former more authority, a trick by Benito Mussolini to gain the support from the Catholic electorate, while risking protests from the then strong Liberal party. Leonardo Sciascia wrote about the political use of the story in Il teatro della memoria. Mussolini, while