Kidnapped (2023)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kidnapped is the English title of an Italian historical drama (based on a true story) which premiered in 2023. The Italian title is Rapito.

 

The title refers to Edgardo Mortara, a young Jewish boy from Bologna, and what happened to him in 1858: he was kidnapped by the Vatican.

 

The topic of this drama is Edgardo’s life. The topic of this drama is his case, which became an international scandal and a huge embarrassment for the Catholic Church and for Pope Pius IX.

 

Here is some basic information about this drama:

 

** Director: Marco Bellocchio

** Writers: Marco Bellocchio and Susanna Nichiarelli

** Based on the book Il Caso Mortara by Daniele Scalise (published 1996)

** Language: Italian

** Subtitles: English

** Run time: 125 minutes

 

The cast includes the following:

 

** Enea Sala as Edgardo Mortara (a young boy)

** Leonardo Maltese as Edgardo Mortara (a young adult)

** Pablo Pierobon as Pope Pius IX (1792-1878) (served as pope 1846-1878)

** Fausto Russi Alesi as Salomone Martara (1816-1871) – Edgardo’s father – nickname: Momolo

** Barbara Ronchi as Marianna Mortara – Edgardo’s mother

** Samuele Teneggi as Riccardo Mortara – Edgardo’s older brother

** Corrado Invernizzi as Francesco Carboni – a judge in Bologna in 1860

** Fabrizio Gifuni as Pier Gaetano Feletti – head of the Catholic Holy Inquisition

 

Since this drama is based on a true story, the basic facts are part of the public record. They are not a secret. This is why I feel free to mention some of them here.

 

While this drama is based on a true story, it is not a documentary film. It is a dramatized version of events. Some details may have been altered, added or excluded for dramatic reasons or practical purposes. But the basic story is true.

 

Edgardo Mortara was born in a Jewish family in Bologna on 27 August 1851.

 

At that time, Bologna was a city in the Papal States which were controlled by the Catholic Church and the Pope.

 

In 1852, while he was sick and perhaps going to die, he was secretly baptized by Anna Morisi, a Catholic maid, who worked for the family at that time.

 

Later, she explained that she did this in order to save his soul. If he died without being baptized, he would not be allowed to enter Heaven. He would be sent to Hell or he would remain in limbo between Heaven and Hell forever.

 

The parents did not know about this episode and for several years there were no consequences.

 

In 1858, when the local authorities learned about the secret baptism, they went into action.

 

The head of the Catholic Holy Inquisition Pier Gaetano Feletti issued an order.

 

Since Edgardo had been baptized, he was a Catholic, and a Catholic child could not be raised in a Jewish family. This was a violation of Catholic law.

 

In June 1858, Papal police officers came to the family’s home and told the parents that they had to remove Edgardo from the home. The parents protested and refused to hand over the child.

 

The Papal police officers were just following orders. They tried to be helpful. They gave the family 24 hours to say goodbye.

 

But the next day his fate could no longer be avoided: Edgardo was removed from this home.

 

From Bologna, he was transported to Rome where he was placed in a Catholic boarding school.

 

What happened here?

 

There are two interpretations:

 

** According to the parents, their son had been kidnapped by the Vatican

** According to the Catholic Church, the authorities had simply done what they had to do in order to save Edgardo’s soul

 

When Edgardo came to Rome, he was introduced to Pope Pius IX who was very glad to see him.

 

The Pope had not ordered Edgardo to be removed from his family, but when the he learned about the case, he fully supported the actions of his staff, including the head of the Catholic Holy Inquisition and the police officers.

 

The Pope invited Edgardo to come closer. The message was something like this: 

 

“Come and sit on my lap. I am happy to see you. I am your father. You are my son.”

 

The parents protested against the kidnapping. But the Pope refused to return the child to his family. He said only two words:

 

“Non possumus.”

 

The message was clear:

 

“We cannot return this boy to his family, because this would be a violation of Catholic law.”

 

The parents tried to organize a campaign asking for the return of their son. This campaign was surprisingly successful. The kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara was widely reported all over Europe and even in the US.

 

Critics and enemies of the Catholic Church could not believe the Pope was prepared to act in this way.

 

He was offering his critics and his enemies a huge load of ammunition which could be used against the church.

 

This was not gossip. This was not a rumour. This was a true story which placed the Catholic Church and the Pope in a very negative light.

 

The Pope was stubborn. As the pressure to return the boy was building up, his determination to stand firm became stronger than ever.

 

The Pope said he did not care about public opinion. He was only responsible to God and he was sure that God was on his side.

 

Even some solid supporters of the Catholic Church were moved by the campaign to return Edgardo to his family.

 

Some of them began to have doubt. Was the church doing the right thing? Should the church listen to public opinion in a case such as this?

 

On one side the argument runs:

The Catholic Church has laws about religion which must be followed

On the other side the argument runs:

The parents have a natural right to raise their own child

Which side is stronger?

Which side should prevail?

 

One of those who began to have doubt about the church was the French politician Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte:

 

** President of France 1848-1852

** Emperor of the French under the name Napoleon III 1852-1870

 

In 1848-1850, when there had been a crisis in the Papal States, Napoleon had supported the Pope. In 1849, he had sent French troops to the Italian peninsula and his troops had restored the Pope to his former position.

 

Previously, Napoleon had been against the movement for a unified Italy - known as il risorgimento - because it would mean the break-up of the Papal States.

 

But now he was beginning to have doubts about his position. Did the Pope still deserve his support? Perhaps a unified Italy was not such a bad idea?

 

If the Pope lost the support of France, his control of the Papal States would no longer be secure. He might lose the Papal States.

 

The campaign to return Edgardo to his family became closely connected with il risorgimento, the movement for a unified Italy.

 

The Pope’s refusal to change his mind made his opponents angry. At the same, it also gave them more hope and more energy to pursue their goals.

 

In 1859, citizens of Bologna started a rebellion against the Pope. The rebellion was successful. The Pope lost control of this city. In 1860, the new city council began to investigate the case of Edgardo Mortara.

 

Pier Gaetana Feletti, head of the Catholic Holy Inquisition, was accused of a crime, because he had ordered the Papal police to remove Edgardo from his family in 1858.

 

Feletti refused to cooperate with the court. He did not recognize this court as a valid court. He said he would only respond to the Catholic Church and the Pope.

 

In the end, he was found not guilty. But the trial was a clear sign that the position of the Catholic Church was not as strong as it had been in the past.

 

The 1859 rebellion in Bologna was only the beginning. More was yet to come. In 1860, Garibaldi and his famous army of Red Shirts landed in Sicily where they began a military campaign. Slowly but surely, they moved towards the north.

 

In 1861, a unified Italy was proclaimed. The former king of Sardinia and Piedmont - Vittorio Emanuele II - was now the king of the unified Italy.

 

But the unification was not complete. Two items were still missing before the unification was complete:

 

** The northern region Veneto was controlled by Austria

** The Vatican (the city of Rome) was controlled by the Pope and protected by France

 

In 1866, in connection with the war between Prussia and Austria, the Italians took control of Veneto

 

In 1870, in connection with the war between Prussia and France, the Italians took control of the Vatican

 

In 1871, Rome was proclaimed as the capital of Italy. The movement for a unified Italy had been completed.

 

The Pope refused to recognize the new state. He also refused to leave his palace in Rome. He said he was a prisoner in his own home.

 

He was allowed to remain where he was. He was still the head of the Catholic Church, but he had lost the Papal States and Rome. He served as Pope until his death in 1878. No other Pope has served as long as he did.

 

What happened with Edgardo during those years? He was raised in a catholic boarding school. He was given a Catholic upbringing.

 

As an adult, he could have left the Church. But he did not do that. In 1872, he became a Catholic priest. He served in different European countries.

 

In 1871, when his father died, he did not attend the funeral. A few years later, when his mother was dying, he returned to the family home, but there was no reconciliation.

 

What had happened?

 

There are two interpretations:

 

** According to his family, he had been completely brainwashed by the Catholic Church

** According to the Catholic Church, he had understood that the Jewish religion was wrong and he had decided to follow the only true religion, the Catholic Church

 

Edgardo worked as a priest until the end of his life. He died in a monastery in Belgium in 1940, shortly before Nazi Germany invaded this country.

 

What do reviewers say about this drama?

 

Here are some results:

 

68 percent = Meta

70 percent = IMDb

83 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the critics)

 

As you can see, the ratings are quite good. I understand the numerous positive reviews and I agree with them.

 

The kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara is an important episode. The story of his life deserves to be told, and in this drama, it is done very well.

 

I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).

 

PS # 1. In 1888, while he was living and working in Spain, Edgardo Mortara wrote a memoir. The text was written in Spanish, because he was in Spain at that time.

 

The memoir was not published. But it was preserved in a religious archive. Many years later, it was discovered and translated into Italian.

 

The Italian translation was published in 2005. An English version was published in 2017.

 

The publication of the memoir caused a new discussion of the case. Careful investigations of the memoir seem to indicate that the text was edited before publication.

 

Some comments were deleted, while other comments were added. The basic purpose was to place the Catholic Church in a more positive light.

 

PS # 2. A few years ago, around 2016, the famous American director Steven Spielberg planned to make a movie about the case. 

 

But apparently, he abandoned the project after a while. At the moment, there is no movie about Edgardo Mortara by Steven Spielberg.

 

I am not sorry that Spielberg abandoned his plan to make a movie about this case. Why not? Because he was going to make a movie where all characters speak English. And this would be a huge violation of historical truth.

 

In the Italian movie from 2023, all characters speak the proper languages:

 

** General conversations are in Italian

** Catholic prayers are spoken in Latin

** Jewish prayers are spoken in Hebrew

 

PS # 3. In 1862, the German painter Moritz Daniel Oppenheim (1800-1882) made a painting which shows the moment when Edgardo Mortara is forcibly removed from his family.

 

The painter was alive in 1858, but he was not present when this happened. He created a scene based on a combination of fact and fiction. The historical accuracy of this painting is quite low.

 

REFERENCES

 

# 1. Items available online

 

Maya Benton

“The story behind the painting that is the basis for Steven Spielberg’s next film,”

Tablet magazine

18 December 2013

 

Charles J. Chaput

“The Mortara Affair, Redux,”

Jewish Reviews of Books

29 January 2018

 

David Kertzer

“The Doctored Memoir of Edgardo Mortara,”

The Atlantic

15 April 2018

 

Nicole Winfield

“Memoir of secretly baptized Jewish boy kidnapped by Vatican under fresh scrutiny,”

The Times of Israel

20 April 2018

 

Joan Frawley Desmond

“Was a memoir of a Jewish boy ‘kidnapped’ by the Pope doctored?”

The National Catholic Register

08 May 2018

 

David Kertzer

“The Enduring Controversy over the Mortara Case,”

Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations

Volume 14, number 1, 2019

(Pages 1-10)

 

Andrew Lapin

“A movie about kidnapped Italian Jew Edgardo Mortara is moving forward without Steven Spielberg,”

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

18 May 2022

 

Nick Vivarelli

An interview with Marco Bellocchio about his movie

Variety

23 May 2023

 

Ryan di Corpo

“Italian film ‘Rapito’ tells the shocking true story of a Jewish boy kidnapped by the Vatican,”

America

17 November 2023

 

# 2. Books

 

The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara

By David Kertzer

(1997 = hardcover)

(1998 = paperback)

 

The Popes Against the Jews: 

The Vatican’s Role in the Rise of Modern Anti-Semitism

By David Kertzer

(2001)

 

Kidnapped by the Vatican? 

The Unpublished Memoirs of Edgardo Mortara

Edited by Vittorio Messori

With a foreword by Roy Schoeman

(2017)

 

The Pope Who Would Be King: 

The Exile of Pius IX and the Emergence of Modern Europe

By David Kertzer

(2018)

 

*****

Edgardo Mortara

(1851-1940)

Kidnapped by the Vatican in 1858

 

*****

Pope Pius IX

(1792-1878)

Served as Pope 1846-1878

In exile November 1848-April 1850

 

*****

 The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara

Bologna June 1858

Painted in 1862

by Moritz Daniel Oppenheim

(1800-1882)

*****

This is a poster for a movie

planned by Steven Spielberg

Expected to be released in 2017

 But this did not happen

because the project was abandoned

*****