Among those, O’Flaherty hid 50 people in his Vatican residence, the Pontifical Teutonic College, during the war years.
Secret meetings among members of the Rome Escape Line to exchange documents and information on safe houses took place inside St. Peter’s Basilica at the foot of Michaelangelo’s Pieta or near the Altar of the Chair, according to the Vatican.
After the liberation in Rome in 1944, the head of the German SS Herbert Kappler was sentenced in 1948 to life imprisonment in solitary confinement in Italy. O’Flaherty went to the prison to visit Kappler — who had previously threatened to torture and kill the Irish priest — every month for 10 years.
In 1959, O’Flaherty baptized Kappler and received the converted war criminal into the Catholic Church.
With the opening of Vatican archives from the pontificate of Pius XII (1939–1958), historians have been further researching O’Flaherty’s life and legacy.
“In his native Kerry they are very very proud of this wonderful man that they produced at the heart of the Vatican who was able to do so much,” Higgins told EWTN.
“It is very appropriate that he be remembered and honored, and also that his example be repeated.”
Courtney Mares is a Rome Correspondent for Catholic News Agency. A graduate of Harvard University, she has reported from news bureaus on three continents and was awarded the Gardner Fellowship for her work with North Korean refugees.