Southwell Theater presents ‘The Eagle over Rome’ for 10th anniversary
By Father Kenneth Borowiak
For the Register
Did Napoleon, the French military commander and political leader actually kidnap and imprison a pope? Yes, he did.
Napoleon Bonaparte made this bold move when Pope Pius VII excommunicated him for invading the Papal States in 1809. Bonaparte, in return, imprisoned the Pope for five years. This was the subject of the inaugural performance of the play, “The Eagle over Rome,” written by Sarah Wurtz of Lincoln.
The play was performed by members of Southwell Theater. The theater, named after St. Robert Southwell (c. 1561-1595), was established in 2013. The cast of the theatrical troupe is comprised of Catholic homeschooled students in Lincoln. In the last 10 years the theater has performed 17 plays, directed by either Patsy Urbanovsky or Sarah Wurtz.
The goal of the theater is to provide plays based on true stories of Catholic historical events and to inspire people through those Catholic men and women.
“The Eagle Over Rome” chronicles the true story of how Napoleon Bonaparte attempted to restore the Catholic Church in France after the French Revolution, but under his terms. He wanted the pope to give up his temporal power. When Pope Pius VII did not yield, Napoleon invaded the Papal States and took the temporal power of the papacy by force.
The pope excommunicated him, which led to the pope’s five-year captivity in Savona, Italy. In 1815, the people of Savona began a novena to Our Lady of Mercy for the pope, and on the ninth day of the novena, the pope was miraculously released.
Meanwhile, Napoleon surrendered to the British after heavy losses and was exiled to St. Helena Island. Pope Pius VII, now back in Rome, gave the exiled Bonaparte’s family members refuge in the Vatican as an act of mercy.
As Napoleon lay dying of stomach cancer on the island, he wrote the pope and asked that a priest be sent to his bedside. Pope Pius VII sent a priest and Napoleon died reconciled to the Catholic Church. Pope Pius VII remains a model of forgiveness.
Southwell Theater, over the years, has performed plays written by Cathal Gallagher or Sarah Wurtz featuring saintly people such as Bl. Miguel Pro, Bl. Franz Jagerstatter, Bl. Anacleto González Flores, St. José Sánchez del Río, St. Margaret Clitherow, Bl. Karl Leisner, and St. Teresa of Kolkata.
Courtesy photos
