Auckland Star, 5 January 1945 TREASURE CITY VATICAN STORES SANCTUARY FOR ART If the Vatican City or religious houses in Rome had been the subject of severe air attack during the war—particularly since the Italian armistice—the loss of art treasures might have been serious in the extreme. They were packed with not only their normal collections, but also with treasures from all over Italy. This was revealed in an interview to-day by the Rev. Father John Flanagan, D.D., following his return to Auckland yesterday in company with the Rev. Father Owen Sneddon, D.D. Both of them were in Rome throughout the period of the war, as students at Propaganda College in the Vatican City. Manuscripts from Cassino Father Flanagan, whose home is at 10 Brixton Road, Balmoral, said that every inch of available storage space in the Vatican and the religious houses was crowded with art collections. The more valuable treasures were kept in the vaults. Art treasures were brought there from museums and art galleries at Naples and elsewhere, and also from the southern cathedrals. A number of private art collections, many of them priceless, were also stored in the Vatican. All the manuscripts and other invaluable material from Cassino were brought there by the Germans themselves, he said. They brought it up in trucks and handed it over to the Vatican authorities. Following the capture of Rome by the Allies the British welfare section arranged with the Vatican for an exhibition. This was held in Mussolinis former office at the Palazzo Venezia, and was open to all for about three months. It was an unrivalled opportunity for students of art and there were exhibited 47 masterpieces from private collections that ordinarily one would have to travel the length of Italy to see, apart from other difficulties. They will all go back eventually to their different owners, he said. Two Bombing Attempts There were actually two minor bombing attempts affecting the Vatican. On November 5, 1943, a plane that had been circling round for about two hours made an attack about 8 p.m. and dropped five bombs. One of these bombs landed on the mosaics factory in Vatican City and damaged several mosaics that were in course of construction. They were quite small bombs, said Father Flanagan, and the Germans alleged that they were of British origin, but it had been fairly well established that it was a Fascist plane. None of the Italian civilians believed that it was an Allied plane. The fact that it had not been attacked though it had been circling for such a long time gave emphasis to their opinion. About two months later another plane dropped bombs, but none of these fell in the Vatican. One of the bombs landed in the grounds of the college in which Father Flanagan was living.
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 12:21:43 +0000
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