True Catholic News

TCW is honored to publish a book that Pope Gregory XVII (who the world thought was Cardinal Siri), wrote about his own dear father. The book "Mio Padre", translated here in English for the first time, was written in 1975.

The text provides rare insights into the background and life of Gregory XVII, and gives glimpses of the hidden suffering he constantly endured. (See perceptive footnotes on p. 55)

Click Here to read in English: "Mio Padre",

By Giuseppe Siri (Pope Gregory XVII), 1975

Translator’s Note

When I received this book in 2005, I realised that I was holding a gem 
that, although originally published only for friends and family, would be a 
means of edification for all of mankind.

Niccolo Siri lived consciously to be a help to everyone, and he relied 
on God utterly. You will see that his life is a path to sainthood. He also was 
very close to his son, Giuseppe Siri, and would help this son through some 
of the most difficult times that he was to face as the hidden pope, Gregory 
XVII (October 26, 1958 to May 2, 1989). Niccolo died in 1964, at almost 
100 years of age.

In understanding the father, we come to know of the formation and 
character of the son. Niccolo’s lessons to his son were direct and easy to 
understand. The father was also a man of prayer who put all of his trust in 
Divine Providence. He also passed this lesson onto his son.
There are no footnotes in the original text, as it was meant for those 
who knew Niccolo Siri intimately. For the reader’s information, the 
footnoting is all my own, in an effort to help to clarify meaning and/or 
broaden the possibilities for layers of meaning. As the Exiled and Hidden 
Pope Gregory XVII, Siri was under constant constraint, and even this book 
would have been known about and gone over. I have encountered odd 
situations of capitalisation and so I have decided to keep the capitalisation 
exactly as it appears in Siri’s original Italian. Perhaps this will help to 
deepen meaning if it is there. All intrusions on my part are in square 
brackets so as to separate them from the text. I have also chosen to stay 
close to the wording of the text, keeping to Pope Gregory XVII’s wording 
rather than a breezier translation.

I offer this work to the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, for 
the triumph of her Heart in my heart and in the hearts of all mankind from 
the beginning of time to the end of time. Deo Gratias!

N.V.

September 1, 2008

Overview