HIS FILM, released in 1983, tells the true story of Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, a Catholic priest who saved thousands of lives during WW2. Commander Herbert Kappler was the evil Nazi in charge of Rome. After the war, Kappler was sentenced to life imprisonment—yet was faithfully visited in prison every month by Monsignor O’Flaherty (his only regular visitor). Eventually, the former SS officer converted to the Catholic faith, and was baptized by O’Flaherty in 1959.
The full movie has been placed online for free viewing! Some consider the film’s opening scene the greatest ever produced.
Some screenshots from the film:
In the 1950s, the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy—in the form proposed by the now-canonised Mary Faustina Kowalska—was under a ban from the Vatican. It was O’Flaherty who, as Notary, signed the document that notified Catholics of the ban. He was the first Irishman named Notary of the Holy Office. Here’s how Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty looked in real life:
