ITALY: HEARING ON ALLEGED DEFAMATION OF POPE PIUS XII POSTPONED IN ROME

Record ID: 646056

  • Title: ITALY: HEARING ON ALLEGED DEFAMATION OF POPE PIUS XII POSTPONED IN ROME
  • Date: 9th April 1974
  • Summary: COURT ARRIVALS INCLUDING ROBERT KATZ. Initials AE/12.58 Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 24th April 1974 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: ROME, ITALY
  • Country: Italy
  • Reuters ID: LVAA7YF1SAITCTGIG7WQ4DE688DH
  • Story Text: The trial of American writer Robert Katz and Italian film producer Carlo Ponti on charges of defaming the memory of the late Pope Pius XII was today (April 9) postponed yet again in Rome. The trial results from a civil suit brought by Countess Elena Rossignani alleging that the film "Massacre in Rome", based on a book by Mr. Katz, defamed the memory of Pope Pius, her great-uncle.

    In the film - which starts Richard Burton -- it is suggested that Pope Pius had prior knowledge of plans by Hitler's troops to execute 335 Romans in reprisal for a partisan ambush, but that he did not intervene to prevent the massacre. The Vatican has repeatedly denied that the Pope had advance knowledge of the shootings, which occurred in March, 1944.

    Today's postponement of the trial came when the Judges decided they were too busy with another case. The trial has already been postponed on several occasions.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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