Language:
English
Year of publication:
2002
Titel der Quelle:
French Historical Studies
Angaben zur Quelle:
25,2 (2002) 265-293
Keywords:
Catholic Church Relations
;
Judaism
;
Montel Affair
;
Antisemitism History 1800-2000
;
Conversion History
;
Jews History 1500-
;
Christian converts from Judaism
;
Vatican City History
Abstract:
Discusses the willingness of Pope Gregory XVI in 1840 to compromise rather than insist that a Jewish child baptized against the will of her parents be kept by the Church. Contrasts this with the Mortara case of 1858, when Pius IX insisted that the baptized child be raised as a Catholic. Political factors played a major role in 1840. France was embroiled in the Damascus blood libel, with Prime Minister Adolphe Thiers supporting the French consul in Damascus, who believed the Jews had committed ritual murder. Thiers gained Catholic support in France and also appeared to be defending French interests in the Middle East. However, he encountered criticism for this policy, and was therefore eager to help the Montel family (French citizens in Rome) retain their child. He stated that he was motivated by the fact that the Montels were French citizens, not that they were Jews. The Vatican found a face-saving formula, eliciting an unenforceable commitment that the child would be raised as a Catholic in France. The Church was afraid of negative publicity, not because of its treatment of Jews but in regard to its image as a reactionary force in Europe.
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