#The Vatican Pimpernel

[stairnaheireann]

#OTD in 1925 – Hugh O’Flaherty was ordained on this date and posted to the Vatican.

When Germany occupied Rome in 1943, O’Flaherty and some like-minded friends hid Jews and Allied soldiers from the Nazis. They used convents, farms and even flats beside the SS headquarters. When Rome was liberated, 6,500 of O’Flaherty’s escapees were still alive. Monsigner Hugh was also amateur golf champion of Italy. From to 1942-43, Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty was the most-wanted man in…

[divinityclergy]

Iconic Films, Iconic Religious Outfits If

If you’re a fan of horror and drama films, chances are you’re familiar with the iconic religious outfits that priests often wear in films. Most of the time, we seldom see priests wearing cassocks or a bishop’s attire unless attending a special ceremony or event.

But on film, they could make a visual impact that arouses the viewers’ interests. These garments have become so iconic, in fact, that they’ve become a staple of the horror and drama genres.Let’s take a look at some of the most common religious outfits priests wear in five iconic horror and drama films.

The Exorcist (1973)

The Exorcist is widely considered one of the greatest horror films of all time, and it’s no surprise that it features priests wearing a very iconic religious outfit. In the film, Father Karras (played by Jason Miller) is seen wearing a traditional Roman Catholic cassock.

This long, ankle-length garment is black in color and features a white collar and cuffs. It is often accessorized with a black biretta (a square cap with three ridges on the top) and a pectoral cross.

The Omen (1976)

The Omen is another classic horror film that features priests wearing a very iconic religious outfit. In the movie, Father Brennan (played by Patrick Troughton) is seen wearing a traditional Anglican cassock. This long, ankle-length garment is black in color and features a white collar and cuffs. It is often accessorized with a black biretta and a pectoral cross.

The Two Popes (2019)

A biographical drama portraying Pope Benedict XVI (Anthony Hopkins) and Pope Francis I (Jonathan Pryce) as the Vatican leaks scandal was brewing. The actors are in full bishop’s attire regalia as they debate theology and the nature of priestly responsibility and earthly leadership.

Calvary (2014)

Father James (Brendan Gleeson) is a Catholic priest who is facing a moral quandary: should he report to the police a possible crime revealed in the confessional? Wearing a cassock and a priest’s collar, Gleeson’s Father James becomes the killer’s next target.

The Scarlet and the Black (1983)

This film tells the true story of Monsignor Hugh O’ Flaherty (Gregory Peck) who saved thousands of Jews from Italian prisoner-of-war camps during the second World War. Peck wears the black cassock too, and his priestly collar.

He hides thousands of jews inside many churches with the help of many other priests like him, risking everything including his life. Based on the book The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican by J.P. Gallagher.

The Bells of St. Mary (1945)

Bing Crosby plays a priest with ingrid Bergman as a Sister Superior with the goal of saving the parish and school. Crosby’s priest in cassock and Bergman’s sister in nun’s robes set aside their differences to make a Christmas miracle.

So the next time you’re watching your favorite films, you already know who’s on God’s side: it’s often the priest or the clergyman wearing the cassock or the priestly collar. Church isn’t the only place you’ll find clergy wearing bishop attire. You can also find them on film!

[leyendolibros]

GREGORY PECK’S READING LIST

A COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF THE NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES THAT MANY OF GREGORY PECK’S MOVIES WERE BASED ON (with the movie title after)*

The Keys of the Kingdom by A. J. Cronin (The Keys of the Kingdom) The House of Dr. Edwardes by Francis Beeding (Spellbound) The Valley of Decision by Marcia Davenport (The Valley of Decision) Duel in the Sun by Niven Busch (Duel in the Sun) The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (The Yearling) Gentleman's Agreement by Laura Z. Hobson (Gentleman’s Agreement) The Paradine Case by Robert Hichens (The Paradine Case) The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber by Ernest Hemingway (The Macomber Affair) Twelve O’Clock High by Beirne Lay Jr. and Sy Bartlett (Twelve O’Clock High) The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (The Great Sinner) The Happy Return, A Ship of the Line, Flying Colours by C.S. Forester (Captain Horatio Hornblower) Only the Valiant by Charles Marquis Warren (Only the Valiant) The Snows of Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway (The Snows of Kilimanjaro) The World in His Arms by Rex Beach (The World in His Arms) The Purple Plain by H.E. Bates (The Purple Plain) The Million Pound Bank Note by Mark Twain (The Million Pound Note) Moby-Dick by Herman Melville (Moby Dick) The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit by Sloan Wilson (The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit) Ambush in Blanco Canyon by Donald Bengtsson Hamilton (The Big Country) The Bravados by Frank O'Rourke (The Bravados) On the Beachby Nevil Shute (On the Beach) Pork Chop Hill: The American Fighting Man in Action by S.L.A. Marshall (Pork Chop Hill) Beloved Infidel by Sheilah Graham and Gerold Frank (Beloved Infidel) The Guns of Navarone by Alistair MacLean (The Guns of Navarone) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (To Kill A Mockingbird) The Executioners by John D. MacDonald (Cape Fear) Captain Newman, M.D. by Leo Rosten (Captain Newman, M.D.) Fallen Angel by Howard Fast (Mirage) The Stalking Moon by T.V. Olsen(The Stalking Moon) Mackenna's Gold by Will Henry (Mackenna's Gold) Marooned by Martin Caidin (Marooned) The Chairman by Jay Richard Kenned (The Chairman) An Exile by Madison Jones(I Walk The Line) The Lone Cowboy by Will James (Shoot Out) The Omen (A Franchise) by David Seltzer (and many others) (The Omen) Boarding Party by James Leasor (The Sea Wolves) The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican by J. P. Gallagher (The Scarlet and the Black) The Old Gringo by Carlos Fuentes (The Old Gringo) The Boys from Brazil by Ira Levin (The Boys from Brazil)

*I do not recommend nor condone most of the books on this list, simply because I've not read them and I'm unsure of the content. The only one I’ve read is To Kill a Mockingbird (which I do recommend). Please do not take this as my personal taste, or even that of Gregory Peck’s; these were merely the books his films were adapted from. 

[scotianostra]

On December 31st 1720 Prince Charles Edward Stewart was born in Rome.

Revered by some as a romantic hero who tried to save the very soul of Scotland, reviled by others as ‘The Young Pretender’ who heedlessly led as many as two thousand to their death in the Battle of Culloden in an act of arrogance. Beautiful and cultured in youth, dissipated and gouty in his later years, it’s not hard to see why Bonnie Prince Charlie looms large in the Scottish imagination to this day.

Let's look at a few facts about Bonnie Prince Charles that some of you might not know, and some certainly will.

He arrived in the Outer Hebrides, on the island of Eriskay, on 23 July 1745, just 24 years old. Following his defeat at the Battle of Culloden on 16 April 1746, he spent five months as a fugitive in the western Highlands and islands, before fleeing to France. This ended a period of less than 14 months – the extent of his time in Scotland over his life.

Driven by necessity, Charlie became a dab hand at subterfuge. While in exile after his defeat at Culloden, he disguised himself as ‘Mr Sinclair,’ a ship-wreck merchant, before fleeing to the Outer Hebrides dressed as an Irish maid, ‘Betty Burke,’ aided by Flora MacDonald, who ended up incarcerated in the Tower of London for six months for her collusion. He spent the rest of his life moving around Europe in a range of guises, even managing to steal into London once in a failed attempt to rally further support to the Jacobite cause. And in a move that would earn the praise of the Scarlet Pimpernel himself, he made frequent covert visits to the Palace of Versailles, even going as far as to attend a masque ball in the presence of the king. When in France he used the pseudonym Baron Renfrew as the French were not supposed to be entreating with the Stuarts.

As a young man, Charlie cut a dashing, well-educated figure – fluent in Italian, French, English and German, musical, handsome and athletic. He was proficient on the ‘bass viol,’ a form of cello, and his charisma and good looks made him popular with women. In a broadsheet professing to contain the contents of a letter by Jacobite supporter Miss Christian Threipland, he was described as ‘The Blessed Object,’ ‘A Gift From Heaven,’ ‘Top Perfection,’ and ‘Heaven’s Darling’. Women were reported to follow Charlie during the 1745 rising, offering him money and encouraging their husbands to fight for him.

His life was storied by various love affairs, but Charlie eventually wed at the age of 51, to a German princess named Louise of Stolberg-Gedern, some 31 years his junior. Even at that age and without the throne he so dearly wanted, he was still considered a catch.

Charlie’s life after the rising, lived out in France and Italy, was marred by debauchery. It has been said that as a mark of his entitled decadence, he insisted a bed be placed in his box at his favourite Parisian theatre. This way, he could be seen entering, receive applause, and then lower himself to drink and slumber his way through performances.I knew a pub like that in Edinburgh, but that's a difference story!

According to Professor Bennett Zon, of Durham University, the hymn “Oh Come All Ye Faithful” is a birth ode to Charlie. The song’s author, John Francis Wade, was a Jacobite who often decorated his liturgical books with Jacobite imagery. By Zon’s reckoning, the ‘faithful’ are the Jacobites, with ‘Bethlehem’ a common Jacobite cipher for England.

Charles died of a stroke in Rome on January 31st 1788, of a stroke, he is buried alongside his father, mother and younger brother in the Basilica of St Peter in the Vatican.

[bookloversofbath]

Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican :: J. P. (Joseph Peter) Gallagher

Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican :: J. P. (Joseph Peter) Gallagher

[djlilelle]

TIL of Hugh O'Flaherty, a priest who saved the lives of 6500 Allied soldiers and Jews during WWII by hiding them in farms, homes and convents. He was a master at disguises and evaded capture by the Gestapo many times earning him the nickname "Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican". (hughoflaherty.com)

[wheezer256]

TIL of Hugh O'Flaherty, a priest who saved the lives of 6500 Allied soldiers and Jews during WWII by hiding them in farms, homes and convents. He was a master at disguises and evaded capture by the Gestapo many times earning him the nickname "Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican". (hughoflaherty.com) via Pocket

[stairnaheireann]

#OTD in 1925 – Hugh O’Flaherty was ordained on this date and posted to the Vatican.

#OTD in 1925 – Hugh O’Flaherty was ordained on this date and posted to the Vatican.

When Germany occupied Rome in 1943, O’Flaherty and some like-minded friends hid Jews and Allied soldiers from the Nazis. They used convents, farms and even flats beside the SS headquarters. When Rome was liberated, 6,500 of O’Flaherty’s escapees were still alive. Monsigner Hugh was also amateur golf champion of Italy. From to 1942-43, Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty was the most-wanted man in…

[stairnaheireann]

#OTD in 1925 – Hugh O’Flaherty was ordained on this date and posted to the Vatican.

#OTD in 1925 – Hugh O’Flaherty was ordained on this date and posted to the Vatican.

When Germany occupied Rome in 1943, O’Flaherty and some like-minded friends hid Jews and Allied soldiers from the Nazis. They used convents, farms and even flats beside the SS headquarters. When Rome was liberated, 6,500 of O’Flaherty’s escapees were still alive. Monsigner Hugh was also amateur golf champion of Italy. From to 1942-43, Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty was the most-wanted man in…

[stairnaheireann]

#OTD in 1925 – Hugh O’Flaherty was ordained on this date and posted to the Vatican.

#OTD in 1925 – Hugh O’Flaherty was ordained on this date and posted to the Vatican.

When Germany occupied Rome in 1943, O’Flaherty and some like-minded friends hid Jews and Allied soldiers from the Nazis. They used convents, farms and even flats beside the SS headquarters. When Rome was liberated, 6,500 of O’Flaherty’s escapees were still alive. Monsigner Hugh was also amateur golf champion of Italy. From to 1942-43, Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty was the most-wanted man in…

[stairnaheireann]

#OTD in 1925 – Hugh O’Flaherty was ordained on this date and posted to the Vatican.

#OTD in 1925 – Hugh O’Flaherty was ordained on this date and posted to the Vatican.

When Germany occupied Rome in 1943, O’Flaherty and some like-minded friends hid Jews and Allied soldiers from the Nazis. They used convents, farms and even flats beside the SS headquarters. When Rome was liberated, 6,500 of O’Flaherty’s escapees were still alive. Monsigner Hugh was also amateur golf champion of Italy. From to 1942-43, Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty was the most-wanted man in Rome.

O’F…

[stairnaheireann]

#OTD in 1925 – Hugh O’Flaherty was ordained on this date and posted to the Vatican.

#OTD in 1925 – Hugh O’Flaherty was ordained on this date and posted to the Vatican.

When Germany occupied Rome in 1943, O’Flaherty and some like-minded friends hid Jews and Allied soldiers from the Nazis. They used convents, farms and even flats beside the SS headquarters. When Rome was liberated, 6,500 of O’Flaherty’s escapees were still alive. Monsigner Hugh was also amateur golf champion of Italy. From to 1942-43, Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty was the most-wanted man in Rome.

O’F…

[stairnaheireann]

#OTD in 1925 – Hugh O’Flaherty was ordained on this date and posted to the Vatican.

When Germany occupied Rome in 1943, O’Flaherty and some like-minded friends hid Jews and Allied soldiers from the Nazis. They used convents, farms and even flats beside the SS headquarters. When Rome was liberated, 6,500 of O’Flaherty’s escapees were still alive. Monsigner Hugh was also amateur golf champion of Italy. From to 1942-43, Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty was the most-wanted man in Rome.…