Rome, Italy, Nov 13, 2013 / 02:32 am
Following the 70th anniversary of the bombing of the Vatican in World War II, the author of a new book on the affair has concluded that the attack was carried out by Italian fascist forces.
The circumstances of the Nov. 5, 1943 bombing were long unclear, as was the bombing itself: Vatican City was a neutral country during the war, whose sovereignty was violated by the attack.
The bombs were dropped around eight in the evening from a small plane, and they hit the laboratory of mosaics, Vatican Radio, the Vatican City administration building, the palace of the courts where diplomats lived during the war, and the house of the archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica.
While causing significant damage, there were no casualties to the attack. The office of then-Monsignor Domenico Tardini, deputy of the Secretariat of State, was completely devastated by the explosion.