Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Catholic News

Home

Home
Catholic
Religion News
Vatican bombing in WWII was work of Italian fascists, author says

Vatican bombing in WWII was work of Italian fascists, author says

Last updated on: November 13, 2013 at 9:32 am by CNA Daily News

Vatican bombing in WWII was work of Italian fascists, author says 2013-11-13T09:32:00+00:00 CNA Daily News

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Rome, Italy, Nov 13, 2013 / 02:32 am (CNA).- Following the 70th anniversary of the bombing of the Vatican in World War II, the author of a new book on the affair has concluded that the attack was carried out by Italian fascist forces.

The circumstances of the Nov. 5, 1943 bombing were long unclear, as was the bombing itself: Vatican City was a neutral country during the war, whose sovereignty was violated by the attack.

The bombs were dropped around eight in the evening from a small plane, and they hit the laboratory of mosaics, Vatican Radio, the Vatican City administration building, the palace of the courts where diplomats lived during the war, and the house of the archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica.

While causing significant damage, there were no casualties to the attack. The office of then-Monsignor Domenico Tardini, deputy of the Secretariat of State, was completely devastated by the explosion.

Until now, the bombing had not been clarified. It was unknown who had bombed the neutral Vatican City and why. Speculation ranged from the Nazis, who were occupying Rome, to the Allies, who had already bombed Rome, to the fascists, allied with the Nazis in northern Italy.

“Bombs on the Vatican,” newly published in Italian and authored by Augusto Ferrara, seeks to shed light on the matter, and publishes for the first time photos of the attack.

In a conversation with CNA Nov. 5, Ferrara recounted that “after the bombing, an investigating commission was immediately formed to ascertain the responsibility for the bombing.”

The Vatican State Secretariat asked for an explanation from the embassies of Berlin, London, and Washington.

The Allies have been considered by many the most likely protagonists of the bombing, though both the English and Americans were surprised about the attack, according to correspondence published on Ferrara’s book.

Ferrara asserted that “after the bombing, a voice spread that the bombing was done from a Savoia Marchetti 79. That kind of plane, smaller than the Anglo-American ones, was part of the equipment of the Italian Social Republic.”

In July 1943, the Allies had invaded Italy, and that same month Mussolini was deposed as prime minister, and arrested. Then the Kingdom of Italy, under Mussolini's successor, Pietro Badoglio, and King Victor Emmanuel III, signed an armistice with the Allies on Sept. 3.

In response to this, the Nazis set up the puppet state the Italian Social Republic, led by Mussolini whom they had rescued from imprisonment. The Italian Social Republic controlled northern and central Italy, opposing the Allied push up the peninsula.

It was in the midst of this division between the Kingdom of Italy and the Italian Social Republic that Vatican City was bombed.

According to Ferrara, Vatican Radio was the main target of the bombing.

Fascists thought Vatican Radio “gave important information to the Allied Forces through its frequencies,” and this is the reason they decided to bomb it.

The plane which bombed the Vatican reportedly took off from the airport of Viterbo, a town 70 miles north of Rome.

Ferrara discovered that “the pilot was a sergeant Parmeggiani, who was ordered to drop the bombs by the prominent fascist Roberto Farinacci.”

That the attack was carried out by the Italian fascists, and not the Allies, is also suggested by a conversation between a priest of Rome, Fr. Giuseppe, and the Jesuit Pietro Tacchi Venturi, who was continuously in touch with Cardinal Luigi Maglione, Vatican Secretary of State.

The conversation is reported in the book “Skyways lead to Rome” by the historian Antonio Castellani.

According to Castellani, Fr. Tacchi Venturi lamented “the attack of the Americans” to Fr. Giuseppe, but Fr. Giuseppe replied, “they were not Americans, they were Italians.”

Fr. Giuseppe then underscored that “it was a Savoia Marchetti plane, with five bombs aboard to be thrown to the Vatican Radio station, since Farinacci was convinced that Vatican Radio transmitted military information to the Allied Forces.”

Following the attack on Nov. 5, 1943, Vatican City was bombed a second time, on March 1, 1944. At that time, six bombs were dropped, killing a worker in Piazza del Sant’Uffizio and injuring a Dutch Augustinian living at Santa Monica College. The attack seriously damaged the Palace of Sant’Uffizio, the Urban College of Propaganda Fide, and the Oratory of Saint Peter.

Europe

Previous Post

November 13, 2013

Portsmouth bishop to consecrate diocese at Year of Faith's end

Next Post

November 13, 2013 Vatican Secretary of State expected in office on Saturday

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Americas Asia - Pacific Europe Middle East - Africa Uncategorized US Vatican

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which Christian tradition uses the rosary for prayer?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Presbyterian Baptist Catholicism Anglican