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Article: Controversy surround the beatification of Pope Pius IX.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- September 1, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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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 faith.
The episode is one of many troubling acts in the life of Pope Pius IX, who Sunday ...