Rosario Livatino was a young and incorruptible magistrate, but also a refined jurist.

He possessed a strong ethical tension, a deep institutional sensitivity, and a constant focus on the common good.

"When we die, no one will ask if we were believers, but if we were credible."

Do you know this quote? It is by Rosario Livatino himself, who was deeply religious.

While serving as Deputy Prosecutor of the Republic at the Agrigento Court in the 1980s, he led investigations into the mafia war in Palma di Montechiaro and into the economic interests and corruption networks involving the Agrigento crime clans and parts of the civil society of the Girgenti area.

For Livatino, a magistrate should not only be independent but must also appear as such. He disliked public appearances and stayed away from media attention—an attitude that, combined with his investigations and trials, contributed to the decision to kill him, as he was considered isolated.

It was the morning of September 21, 1990, a significant day: the Court was to decide on preventive measures to be taken against mafia bosses from Palma di Montechiaro.

Without a security escort—he had always refused it—Rosario Livatino was killed along the Canicattì–Agrigento road. Judge Paolo Borsellino was among the first to arrive at the crime scene.

According to the court proceedings, his murder was carried out by Stidda, a criminal organization born out of a secession from the Mafia, later becoming one of its enemies. Stidda was highly active in southwestern Sicily during those years.

Rosario Livatino was 38 years old, the youngest magistrate to be killed because of his work, either by the mafia or by terrorists.

The then President of the Republic, Francesco Cossiga, referred to him as “the boy judge.”

The Catholic Church beatified him in 2018.