The Mortara Affair. In 1858, papal police took a six-year-old Jewish boy from his Bologna home over a secret baptism. The modern world called it kidnapping. However, the boy later became a priest who defended his Catholic upbringing under Pope Pius IX, whom he called father. Full story here.
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
0:00 – Theme Song
0:33 – INTRODUCTION
1:33 – PART 1: A Servant Girl, an Illness, and a Soul
4:17 – PART 2: The Night of June 23, 1858
6:13 – PART 3: Non Possumus — The World Demands, The Pope Refuses
8:41 – PART 4: A Father Greater Than Flesh and Blood
13:42 – PART 5: Fr. Pio Maria Mortara — A Life Given Back to Christ
16:16 – CONCLUSION
📖 SOURCES FOR THIS VIDEO
Historical / Archival
Marshal Pietro Lucidi’s report on the night of the seizure, June 23, 1858
The disclosure of Edgardo’s baptism via his brother Aristide’s fatal illness, 1857 — Fr. Mortara’s own beatification testimony, §1654 (EWTN/ZENIT translation)
Sir Moses Montefiore’s April 1859 mission to Rome, received only by Cardinal Antonelli (Wikipedia “Mortara case”; Dictionary of National Biography; Maximapedia)
General La Marmora’s exchange with Mortara, Rome, 1870 — Fr. Mortara’s own beatification testimony, §1665 (EWTN/ZENIT translation)
Trial and acquittal of Fr. Pier Gaetano Feletti, Bologna civil court, 1860
Founding of the Alliance Israélite Universelle, Paris, 1860, citing the Mortara case as a principal catalyst (1906 Jewish Encyclopedia; Encyclopaedia Judaica)
Statements of Pope Pius IX
“My son, you are very dear to me…”, “The great and small wanted to take this child…”, “I had the right and duty…” — all three now sourced directly to Fr. Mortara’s beatification testimony, §1661 (EWTN/ZENIT translation), the primary-source original behind the Carroll/Stow and Kertzer secondary citations used in earlier drafts
“Non possumus” — Fr. Mortara’s own testimony, §1678, describing it as a phrase Pius IX “occasionally” repeated
“See, this child…” — quoted and endorsed by Fr. Mortara in his 1898 L’Univers letter
“I have bought thee, my son… at a very high price” — Jewish Encyclopedia (1906), citing Vessillo Israelitico, 1896, p. 308
Writings of Fr. Edgardo Mortara
Letter to L’Univers, Paris, May 1898 per The Journal of American Reform: https://americanreform.substack.com/p…
Beatification Testimony for Pius IX, c. 1912, Positio super Introductione Causae (1954), full text via EWTN/ZENIT
Magisterial / Theological
Pope Paul IV, Cum Nimis Absurdum (1555)
Council of Trent, Session VII, decree on the Sacrament of Baptism
St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae II-II, q. 10, a. 12
Pope Benedict XIV, Instruction Postremo Mense, February 28, 1747 (DS 2552–2553)
My Site
Selections of Edgardo Mortara’s Writings on the Jews: https://christtheking.info/catholic-r…
Selections of Pope Bl. Pius IX’s Writings on the Jews: https://christtheking.info/catholic-r…
📚 Full Adversus Judaeos Library: https://christtheking.info/catholic-r…
⚠️ DISCLAIMER: This video presents historical theological sources for educational purposes. The teaching documented is theological/doctrinal opposition, not racial hatred. Individual Jews can convert and be saved. Violence against Jews is condemned.
