Who Is Monsignor Hugh O Flaherty?

Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty was a man that has an amazing story. O’Flaherty was a man who helped many Jewish people during the German occupation of Rome. (World War II) He was a very talented person, being a priest. He was one person that would help everyone before himself. Monsignor Hugh O’ Flaherty was a man that did great things during the war, and his story about it all is amazing. Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty was born February 28, 1898, in the Republic of Ireland. He was the son of Margret O’Flaherty and James O’Flaherty. He lived in Killarney, Ireland. In Killarney his father was the steward of the old Killarney Golf Club, which was a very popular golf club. His father inspired him to become a talented golfer. Hugh O’Flaherty was the first
of four children, and he had two brothers and one sister. By the time he was a teenager, Hugh knew that he wanted to become a priest. Although his father wanted him to be a professional golfer, he wanted to become a priest or be a part of the Roman Catholic community. Hugh O’Flaherty transferred to Rome for school. He got a degree in theology and he continued his studies for another two years, earning doctorates in divinity, canon law and philosophy at Urban Collage.
After the outbreak of war in September, 1939, Italy established prisoner of war camps for captured Allied soldiers, mainly British and French.
The Vatican told Francesco Borgongini Duca, the papal nuncio to Italy, to visit the people at the POW camps. Hugh O’Flaherty was brought along as an interpreter and assistant. When he saw what was happening in the camps, it shocked him. He felt so bad that he made sure that the prisoners had proper clothing and blankets. He also received packages from the Red Cross and would give the packages to the prisoners. He was also taken to Vatican Radio to announce the names and messages of many prisoners to worried families. After he protested the conditions of several camps, the Italian authorities pressured the Church to remove him from POW assignments, and he returned to the Vatican. But the transfer turned out to be
good.
The Jewish people were starting to be persecuted faster and faster during the time. Because of this, many asked the church to help and Hugh O’Flaherty provide them with shelter right away. Germany occupied Rome, and this made it even harder. Thousands of prisoners had ended up escaping and Hugh decided that he could help them. Hugh had made a underground Vatican base network, and in there he would work with other religions to help people be safe during the terrifying war. Shelter, food, clothing and needed documents were provided by Hugh to the people that he was trying to help. Hugh O’Flaherty helped these people even though he knew there was a lot of risk in doing it.
Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty did get caught doing what he was not supposed to, he was going to be killed if he ever left the Vatican city. Hugh O’Flaherty did still leave the city, but he would always leave in a disguise so that people would not notice him. The Holy See (one of the religious groups he was working with) allowed the “operation” to continue, even though it was very risky and dangerous to do, because of the Vatican’s diplomatic immunity and protection from a possible Nazi invasion. Many people though that he would end up in a concentration camp because of what he has been doing, but he did not.
Hugh O’Flaherty had helped many people at this time, and he was helping even more. O’Flaherty asked some of his friends who were not under scrutiny to let his friends who were under scrutiny. He began sending people to monasteries or convents for refuge. As the Fascist raids became more dangerous, O’Flaherty started bringing people directly into Vatican City. Hugh would always say “God has no country” (ireland-calling.com) and he would say that God is equal towards everyone, and everyone should be equal towards God. The first person Hugh asked was Nini Pallavicini, a young widow from one of Rome’s oldest aristocratic families.
She was caught operating an illegal radio and the only way that she could escape being arrested was by jumping out of a window, which she did. O’Flaherty found a room for her. German religious scholars had originally lived there, so there was many really religious nuns there. O’Flaherty had lived there since he became apart of the Vatican. And he learned their language. Another group who knew O’Flaherty was willing to come to him for help were the prisoners-of-war who had met the priest during his visits to the camps. Any prisoners who managed to escape and try to go to Rome, would’ve probably have been killed or put into another
camp.
Hugh O’Flaherty managed to shelter 477 Jews in the Vatican throughout the war. The Nazis were keeping a close eye on Vatican activity because of what they had caught O’Flaherty doing. By the beginning of 1943, the Vatican’s police force was ordered to kill asylum-seekers. One group of British escapees were standing in the middle of St. Peter’s Square before someone told Hugh about it. He had people help him hide them in the barracks of a Italian police brigade.