|
Controversial Pope Pius IX moves step closer to sainthood.(Knight Ridder NewspapersS)
|
ROME _ In the summer of 1858, papal guards kidnapped 6-year-old Edgardo Mortara from his Jewish parents and whisked him on horses to the Vatican, where Pope Pius IX, one of the Roman Catholic Church's most combative leaders, ordered him to be raised as a Christian.
The abduction provoked outrage across Europe. Pius was unyielding, saying that he had the authority to save Mortara's soul after church officials learned the boy had been secretly baptized by a family maid. Under Pius' stern eye, Mortara grew up to be a priest, lost forever to his parents and the Jewish ...
Find more facts and information related to the
article "Controversial Pope Pius IX moves step closer to ..."