The above is the lie, below is the truth, which even Wikipedia admits, namely, that the child grew up willingly as a Catholic, became a priest and died at the age of 88 in Belgium, just after the outbreak of WWII.
What are the Catholic principals on this matter? Yes, Catholic servants should NOT baptize the children of their employers, regardless of their religion, unless the child is in proximity of death, and then a Baptism can be performed in secret by merely pouring water over part of the body of the child and reciting the baptismal formula, “I baptize you, (Name the child), in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”. If the child is brought back to life or recovers, the servant should inform the Bishop. — In this case one might speculatively argue about whether the servant was a good judge of medicine, but the vocation of the child later in life proves the grace. Pius IX did the right thing, and this case is cited against him by the enemies of Jesus Christ, the only Savior of Jews and Gentiles.
The Wikipedia entry states the following:
“In late 1857, Bologna’s inquisitor Father Pier Feletti heard that Anna Morisi, who had worked in the Mortara house for six years, had secretly baptised Edgardo when she had thought he was about to die as a baby. The Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition held the view that this action irrevocably made the child a Catholic and, because the Papal States forbade the raising of Christians by members of other faiths, it ordered that he be taken from his family and brought up by the Church. Police came to the Mortara home late on the 23rd of June 1858, and took custody of Edgardo the following evening.”
I have difficulty accepting that the Pope did the right thing upholding the law that forbade the raising of Christians by members of other faiths, since the removal a child from his parents is a great violence to the parents and to the child. Surely God’s grace is more powerful than having to resort to force to remove Catholic children from families of other faiths….
First, you are reading a Marxist source, so you have to be more careful. Second, a Christian child has the divine right to be raised among Christians. The child’s rights supercede that of unbelieving parents. This is an ancient Christian teaching. The child was not snatched from his parents. His parents were going to let him die, a Christian servant baptized him, and God gave him a vocation. If you were right, God sinned by giving him a priestly vocation.
Also it is a known fact that some Jews murder Christian children and drink their blood. Several of these children were regarded saints. The danger is just too much. The parents should have thanked their maid for saving their son. They only wanted him back out of hatred of Christ and of their son who never returned to them, even as an adult.
The Wikipedia entry does not make any mention that parents had left their baby Edgardo to die, simply that the baby was on the brink of death. I understand that it is a marxist source but I am not familiar with this case. Do you have another source?
Also, the fact that the child grew up to be a priest doesn’t guarantee that the grace came from his forced removal from his family. It could have come from his upbringing in a very Catholic environment or something else we are not aware of.
Grace comes from God out of eternity, not from upbringing nor from a family. The maid was taking care of the child on the brink of death, where were they parents?
Maybe you want to link to this article that seems to explain the events in a more balanced way than the Wikipedia entry
https://www.catholicleague.org/the-controversy-over-edgardo-mortara/
This article is well written except for the fact that is says that for Catholic Authorities come to your door and ask for a Catholic Child being held in a house of unbelievers, is the most horrific thing imaginable. Only a Freemason would say such a thing.
This is a very interesting case. I think there was a law at the time where Catholics were not allowed to work for Jews or vice versa, probably to limit such difficulties.
I had not before realised the child was in danger of death. The maid certainly did right in that case.
Interesting that such a piece of propaganda comes out now, no?
Sort of an attack on Catholic confessional states. What is the devil afraid of? The Catholic Monarch?