Kidnapped by the Vatican?: The Unpublished Memoirs of Edgardo Mortara

by Vittorio Messori

In 1888 Fr. Edgardo Mortara wrote his autobiography so that the world would understand he had not been kidnapped by the Vatican. Here, along with a thorough introduction by Vittorio Messori, his story is published for the first time in English. As an infant, Mortara was on the point of death and secretly baptized by a Catholic servant employed by his family. He recovered his health, and in the Papal States where his family lived, the law required that he, like other baptized children, receive a Christian education. After several failed attempts to persuade his parents to enroll him in a local Catholic school, in 1858 Pope Pius IX had the boy taken from his family in Bologna and sent to a Catholic boarding school in Rome. There the child grew in Faith and eventually responded to the calling to become a Catholic priest. The Mortara Case reverberated around the world. Journalists, politicians, and Jewish leaders tried to pressure Pius IX to reverse his decision. The pope's refusal to do so was used as one of the reasons to dissolve the Papal States in 1870. Currently the case is being used as an argument against the canonization of Pius IX, whom John Paul II beatified in 2000.

Genres: Biography

190 pages, Paperback

Published August 14, 2017

About the author

Vittorio Messori (1941–2026) was an Italian journalist and Catholic Christian writer.

Reviews

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I give this 3 stars as the average of two ratings which it needs as this version is comprised of the Journalist Messori's take (which i give a sad 2 stars) on the case and the actual memoirs (which i give 4 stars-if not actually 5). Messori presents with clarity much of the background of the issue, rightly boiling it down to whether you believe, 1. in the Sacrament of Baptism (justification for sin and the re-birth of the Christian child to a new father, God the Eternal Father, who gave the Apostle Peter and his successors the authority and charge of proper care for these souls) and therefore the resulting duty for the raising of child in the faith, or 2. you do not believe in the truth of the Sacrament and believe the confessional state therefore had no right to remove the child from its parent's care. This all happens, however, in the foreword of Messori's half of the book.

What follows is more a tirade against the ideology and evils of liberalism, its contradictions and the Masons who underline the efforts of the Risorgimento. The writing and explanations seem clunky at times and there were some basic editing oversights with this section of the book—not to mention that very few citations are used to back up the author's claims. Ultimately, outside of presenting the Mortara case this book aims at the vindication of Pope Pius IX and the refutation of the claims made by David I. Kertzer's book of the same subject. (While I hope this review is not too negative I do think the contribution of Messori here is important to understand what is really happening in the political background of this story.)

This case is frequently brought up as a way to deny the goodness of the Church and Her Popes as well as a means to diminish the good efforts of the Church in its relationship and dialogue with the Jews. I enjoyed reading Edgardo's own memoirs and found it more convincing than Messori's account. It is best to let the the child turned ordained priest and defender of Pius IX speak for himself as he does in the second half of the book in his own memoirs. If one is able to read the memoirs of Edgardo Mortara, not with the eyes of the 21st century and its values but, rather, in the context of his time, then I believe that it is of great value for understanding the work of grace in the lives of Christians, as well as the love and defence for a beloved spiritual father(P. Pius IX) by a faithful son and to come to know the truth of the Church's perennial goodness.

[Joseph Raborg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really great book, which shows the hypocrisy of worldly people. The Mortara case is a reminder of how baptism really changes a person, and they have a right to be raised as a Christian. This right is even over the natural rights of parents to raise the child as they wish. If you want to renew your sense of awe for the sacrament of baptism, this is a great book.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

An illuminating work, in Fr Mortara's own words.