Vatican unveils memorial to Irish priest who saved thousands in WWII

The Vatican has recognised the “moral courage” of an Irish priest who helped save thousands of Jewish people and Allied PoWs from the Nazis during the Second World War in occupied Rome.

At the unveiling of the Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty memorial plaque at the Teutonic (German) College in the Vatican, the Irish ambassador to the Holy See, Emma Madigan, paid tribute to the Kerry priest’s contribution to the resistance and courage in “very dark times”.

The Killarney-born Msgr O’Flaherty had been involved in the Rome Escape Line. He was renowned as the ‘Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican’ for his ability to evade Nazi efforts to capture him.