Excellent Depravity disguised under the cloak of sanctity True story of a papal kidnapper by Aaron Milavec Faith Flash contest entry

Warning: The author has noted that this contains the highest level of violence. The year was 1858. A young woman in Bologna confessed to her parish priest that six years earlier she had worked illegally as a maid for a Jewish family named Mortara. While serving in the household, the one-year-old son of the Mortaras fell ill. The pious teenage girl, thinking that the Jewish boy might die without baptism, took it upon herself to secretly baptize him. Later, the boy recovered. Upon hearing this story from the woman in the confessional, her parish priest insisted that he had to inform the church authorities.   After considering all aspects of the case, the clerical authorities concluded that little Mortara was effectively a Christian by virtue of his baptism. They further concluded that his parents, being Jews, were entirely unfit to foster his Christian identity. Accordingly, the police, acting under clerical orders, seized the seven-year-old Edgardo from his home and sequestered him in the Vatican. He was placed under the care of a group of nuns. In due course, Pope Pius IX took a fond interest in the boy. In fact, he won him over with presents and gradually gained a place in his heart such that Edgardo began addressing him as "uncle." With time, Edgardo even became a priest, and Pius IX assigned to him the special mission of reaching out to "the fallen race of Jews" so that they too, like him, might come "to know the grace and mercy of Christ."   The pleas of the parents for the return of their son fell on deaf ears.   I was born a Catholic. I have lived as a Catholic. I will die a Catholic. But not a day passes when I do not hate the depravity of Pius IX. How the Vatican managed to declare this "Embarrassment" as an official Catholic "Saint" baffles me. Author Notes Those who supported the return of Edgardo to his parents argued that parents had the natural right to raise their own children in their own religion. Pius IX, given his growing personal interest in this case, argued that spiritual rights took precedence over natural rights and that Edgardo's baptism effectively released him from the constraints of his Jewish parents. Thomas Aquinas argued that children should not be baptized without their parents' consent, since they have immediate authority over them (Summa Theologica III 68,10, ad 2). At the time of Pius IX, Thomas Aquinas was commonly regarded as the foremost exponent of medieval Catholic theology. Pope John Paul II declared Pius IX to be Venerable on 6 July 1985 (upon confirming his life of heroic virtue), and beatified him on 3 September 2000 (his annual liturgical commemoration is 7 February, the date of his death). The beatification of Pius IX was controversial and was criticized by some Jews and Christians because of what was perceived as his authoritarian, reactionary politics; the accusation of abuse of episcopal powers; and antisemitism (most specifically the case of Edgardo Mortara, but also his reinstituting the Roman ghetto). In the Marco Bellocchio film Kidnapped (2023), the events summarized here were dramatized in full. Pius IX was played by Paolo Pierobon. The pic displayed here was taken from the open-source publicity for this film.

© Copyright 2024. Aaron Milavec All rights reserved. Aaron Milavec has granted FanStory.com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.