{"id":2441,"date":"2026-03-04T00:27:26","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T00:27:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/assisijourney.org\/?page_id=2441"},"modified":"2026-03-24T21:52:03","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T21:52:03","slug":"don-aldo-brunacci-bishop-nicolini","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/assisijourney.org\/?page_id=2441","title":{"rendered":"Don\u00a0Aldo\u00a0Brunacci\u00a0&\u00a0Bishop\u00a0Nicolini"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Don Aldo Brunacci<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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by Andr\u00e9 Cirino OFM<\/p>

Just barely coming to grips with Don Aldo\u2019s death a little over two weeks ago, I was reading\u00a0<\/span>The Times<\/em>\u00a0here in England this morning and I could feel Don Aldo tapping me on the shoulder to read the article on page 27 entitled: \u201cThe KGB and the Plot to Taint the \u2018Nazi Pope\u2019\u201d (18\/02\/07), which opened: \u201cThe KGB hatched a plot to smear the late Pope Pius XII as an anti-semitic Hitler supporter and fostered a controversial play that tarnished the pontiff, according to the hightest-ranking Soviet bloc intelligence officer to have defected to the West, former Lieutenant-General Ion Mihai Pacepa. . .who broke a silence of nearly half a century to reveal he was involved in the operation. . .a Kremlin scheme launched in 1960 to portray Pius XII as a cold-hearted Nazi sympathizer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

Whenever I invited Don Aldo during the past twenty years to address our pilgrims about Assisi and its involvement concealing many Jewish people during World War II, he would inevetably begin by recounting an incident that occurred at a clergy gathering in Assisi during the war. Bishop Giuseppi Niccolini called him out of the meeting to show him a letter that he received from the Vatican from Bishop Montini (the future Paul VI) urging the bishop to offer lodging to all refugees, especially Jewish refugees. Because of that letter Don Aldo always maintined that Pius XII had helped the Jewish people find refuge in many a Catholic institution, especially then and there in Assisi. Don Aldo always said that it was not safe to keep the letter the Bishop read to him, and he never saw it again. Moreover, Don Aldo claimed that Pius XII worked quietly especially after the fierce reaction of the Nazi government to an open letter from the Dutch bishops which resulted in the seizure of thousands, mostly Jews, to be sent off to concdentration camps. Don Aldo believed that Pius XII chose to avoid a larger arrest and imprisonment by acting quietly, behind the scenes. And this morning the The Times proved him right!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Andr\u00e9 on the Saving of Assisi in World War II <\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u2192\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span>Assisi in World War II<\/a><\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Don Aldo Brunacci [+ 2 Febr 2007] is one of the heroes of Assisi in World War II.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Don Aldo + 2007<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Three Heroes of Assisi in World War II<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Whenever I invited Don Aldo during the past twenty years to address our pilgrims about Assisi and its involvement concealing many Jewish people during World War II, he would inevetably begin by recounting an incident that occurred at a clergy gathering in Assisi during the war.<\/p>

Bishop Giuseppi Niccolini called him out of the meeting to show him a letter that he received from the Vatican from Bishop Montini (the future Paul VI) urging the bishop to offer lodging to all refugees, especially Jewish refugees. Because of that letter Don Aldo always maintined that Pius XII had helped the Jewish people find refuge in many a Catholic institution, especially then and there in Assisi.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Fresco in the old Cathedral of Assisi<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Hiding the Jewish Population and Refugees<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Don Aldo always said that it was not safe to keep the letter the Bishop read to him, and he never saw it again. Moreover, Don Aldo claimed that Pius XII worked quietly especially after the fierce reaction of the Nazi government to an open letter from the Dutch bishops which resulted in the seizure of thousands, mostly Jews, to be sent off to concentration camps. Don Aldo believed that Pius XII chose to avoid a larger arrest and imprisonment by acting quietly, behind the scenes. And this morning the\u00a0The Times<\/em>\u00a0proved him right!<\/p>

When in Assisi, visit the Museo della Memoria \u2013 New exhibition: Assisi in World War II \u2013 at the Bishop\u00b4s Palace (Vescovado).<\/p>

read: Jewish Lives Saved<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Don Aldo Brunacci (1914-2007)<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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by Murray Bodo OFM<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Museum of the Memory at the \"Vescovado\", the Bishop\u00b4s Palace in Assisi<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Pigeons sleep on the railings
of windows opposite mine.
Echoes pulsate from the stones
where I last saw Don Aldo,
a frail 92, his cane
gently tapping away from me
toward the Piazza Commune
at the end of Via San Paolo.<\/p>

I watched him walking, it seemed,
forever, and the piazza \u2013 like
the Jewish refugees he shelteredand
saved from harm \u2013 was receding
from his determined will.<\/p>

I see him walking still,
his short shuffle out of step
among friends and passersby.<\/p>

and saved from harm \u2013 was receding
from his determined will.
I see him walking still,
his short shuffle out of step
among friends and passersby.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Don Aldo Brunacci by Andr\u00e9 Cirino OFM Just barely coming to grips with Don Aldo\u2019s death a little over two weeks ago, I was reading\u00a0The Times\u00a0here in England this morning and I could feel Don Aldo tapping me on the shoulder to read the article on page 27 entitled: \u201cThe KGB and the Plot to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"no-sidebar","site-content-layout":"page-builder","ast-site-content-layout":"full-width-container","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2441","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/assisijourney.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/assisijourney.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/assisijourney.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/assisijourney.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/assisijourney.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2441"}],"version-history":[{"count":38,"href":"https:\/\/assisijourney.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2441\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4326,"href":"https:\/\/assisijourney.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2441\/revisions\/4326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/assisijourney.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}