ROME - Plans for a permanent memorial to Irish Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty’s World War II efforts saving Allied soldiers on the run have reportedly been sent to the Vatican. Fr. O’Flaherty saved the lives of over 6,500 Jews, Allied soldiers and political activists in Nazi-occupied Rome.

 He managed to convert to Catholicism his rival, Oberstrumbannführer Herbert Kappler (head of the Gestapo in Rome), who was raised a Protestant. He was also the first Irishman to be named Notary of the Holy Office and he received numerous prestigious awards for his incredible efforts through the Second World War, including a CBE and the US Congressional Medal. However, there is currently no permanent record of this extraordinary character’s work in Rome, where it all took place.  

 The main character in what is arguably one of the most fascinating stories to arise from the Second World War, the Irishman was nicknamed ‘The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican’ for his ability to elude traps set for him by the Gestapo. For two years, O’Flaherty managed to conceal escapees in a network of safe-houses, protecting them from Kappler’s ruthless regime. When Allied forces arrived in Rome in June 1944, he insisted that Germans be treated with respect and, later, went on to visit in prison and ultimately develop a friendship with Kappler, the very man who had placed a 30,000 lire bounty on his head.

 According to information received from Harry Shindler MBE, proposals for a memorial to O’Flaherty in Rome have been sent to the Irish government and the Vatican.  The Irish embassy to the Holy See told Italian Insider that at present they are unable to confirm or deny the status of the memorial plans.

 A six-foot tall, bronze monument commemorating Monsignor O’Flaherty was revealed  Oct.  30, 2013, in his hometown of Killarney, County Kerry, on the 50^th anniversary of the priest’s death. Designed by English artist Alan Ryan Hall, the memorial was funded through approximately £80,000 worth of donations and stands in the town centre, depicting O’Flaherty  with replicas of the medals he was awarded.

 After the memorial’s unveiling, chairman of the Hugh O'Flaherty Memorial Society Jerry O'Grady remarked that O'Flaherty "is now part of the Killarney story." One cannot help but hope, therefore, that one day his memory will be honoured by a permanent memorial in the Eternal City, maybe even within the Vatican itself.

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