The Pope's son

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Summary

When Raoul, a young novice monk is tasked to look after Edgardo Mortara, an aging priest near the end of his life, he is shocked to discover that Edgardo was in fact once a Jew who had been abducted by the order of Pope Pius IX in 1858. At only six years of age Edgardo was dragged from the arms of his parents in the back streets of Bologna to the rose gardens of the Vatican. At a time when Jews were starving in ghettos, Edgardo was given many privileges as the Pope's "son". Raoul realises that in spite of this, Edgardo, now Father Mortara, has not done much with his life but has ended up as a sad character. He is beset with guilt and self-justification, having failed to reconcile his beliefs with the pain he caused his parents. Raoul becomes aware that he must now choose between a life of passive stability or a life where he goes out into the world and affects changes.