Showing results by author "David I. Kertzer" in All Categories

When Pope Pius XII died in 1958, his papers were sealed in the Vatican Secret Archives, leaving unanswered questions about what he knew and did during World War II. Those questions have only grown and festered, making Pius XII one of the most controversial popes in Church history, especially now as the Vatican prepares to canonize him.

Pope John Paul II, as part of his effort to improve Catholic-Jewish relations, himself called for a clear-eyed historical investigation into any possible link between the Church and the Holocaust. An important sign of his commitment was the decision to allow the distinguished historian David I. Kertzer, a specialist in Italian history, to be one of the first scholars given access to long-sealed Vatican archives. The result is a book filled with shocking revelations.

From National Book Award finalist David I. Kertzer comes the gripping story of Pope Pius XI’s secret relations with Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. This groundbreaking work, based on seven years of research in the Vatican and Fascist archives, including reports from Mussolini’s spies inside the highest levels of the Church, will forever change our understanding of the Vatican’s role in the rise of Fascism in Europe.

Bologna, 1858: A police posse, acting on the orders of a Catholic inquisitor, invades the home of a Jewish merchant, Momolo Mortara, wrenches his crying six-year-old son from his arms, and rushes him off in a carriage bound for Rome. His mother is so distraught that she collapses and has to be taken to a neighbor's house, but her weeping can be heard across the city. With this terrifying scene - one that would haunt this family forever - David I. Kertzer begins his fascinating investigation of the dramatic kidnapping.

Only two years after Pope Pius IX’s election in 1846 had triggered great popular enthusiasm across Italy, the pope found himself a virtual prisoner in his own palace. The revolutions that swept through Europe and shook Rome threatened to end the popes’ thousand-year reign over the Papal States, if not the papacy itself. The resulting drama was rife with treachery, tragedy, and international power politics. David Kertzer, one of the world’s foremost experts on the history of Italy and the Vatican, brings this pivotal moment vividly to life.

Based on a wealth of documents long buried in the Vatican archives, Prisoner of the Vatican tells the story of the Church's secret attempt to block the unification of Italy and seize control, not in ancient times, but in the late 19th century. For more than 50 years, the pope was a self-imposed prisoner within the Vatican walls, planning to flee Italy, to return only as the restored ruler of Rome and the Papal States.

Bologna im Jahre 1858: Edgardo Mortara, der sechsjährige Sohn eines jüdischen Kaufmanns, wird von der Polizei entführt und von der Inquisition in ein römisches Kloster gebracht. Weil ein katholisches Hausmädchen behauptet hat, sie habe den Jungen getauft, soll er auf eine geistliche Laufbahn vorbereitet werden. Die Entführung des Edgardo Mortara war kein Einzelfall, aber diesmal löste die Skrupellosigkeit der Kirche internationale Proteste aus und leitete schließlich den Untergang der weltlichen Macht des Vatikans ein.

Em muitos aspectos, Pio XI e o “Duce” não poderiam ter personalidades mais diferentes. No entanto, havia muito em comum. Não acreditavam na democracia e abominavam o comunismo. Eram propensos a ataques de cólera e protegiam com todas as forças as regalias dos cargos que ocupavam. Além disso, contaram um com o outro para consolidar seus poderes e alcançar objetivos políticos.