Learn more

By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – The name of “Edgardo Mortara” once rocketed around the Jewish and Catholic worlds – the Jews protesting that he was kidnapped by the Catholics, and the Catholics saying that once the boy was secretly baptized by the Mortara family’s maid, it had no choice but to assume parental control. The kidnapping that occurred on June 24, 1858, was done on the orders of the Roman Catholic Church, with Pope Pius IX taking such a personal interest in the boy, he referred to himself as the lad’s “father.” Kidnapped: The Abduction of Edgardo Mortara, a movie by Marco Bellocch…

cuu