Admission of a Cardinal in Rome of the Baptism of a Jewish Girl and Her Abduction - Unusual Historical Item!

On 12.07.1844 policemen came to the house of Abramo and Venturina Maroni and announced that their daughter Pamela, aged 19 months, had been secretly baptized. They abducted her from her parent's house and disappeared with her. Abramo found out that the claim that his daughter had been baptized came from a young Catholic woman who had worked for them. The family tried to send a petition to the archbishop, the duke of Modena and even to the supreme committee supervising the clergy. Yet all was in vain. The child was taken to a Catholic institution and her parents were forbidden to see her until she reached adulthood. At the end of the 19th century, the phenomenon of abducting Jewish children who were claimed to have been baptized was popular in the state of Bologna, Italy – the state of the Pope, where the governing law was that of the church. A similar case occurred about a decade later and raised public agitation in the Jewish world. An original letter that was sent by the Cardinal Vincenzo Macchi (1770-1860) to the priest who was responsible for the abduction, most likely following a letter he had received from the child's parents, who fought for her return.
The representative of the religion of grace and mercy writes to the priest:
"Although I am convinced that his honor had all the reasons for making such a decision, which you made in a way worthy of praise, I will still be happy to receive from his honor precise information about all that the couple Maroni has described".
The cardinal asked for details of the case since the parents were pressuring him to respond to their claims. It may be that the letter contains implied criticism. However, there is no condemnation of the idea of taking a girl forcibly from her parents and nation. On the contrary, there is complete justification of the decision and even praise for it. Moreover, the final decision was not to return the child to her parents. Shocking!
Anyway, this is an official document, and "a person's own mouth carries more weight than the evidence of a hundred witnesses" indicating that at the end of the 19th century, in "enlightened" Europe of a hundred and thirty years ago, there had been an abduction of a girl by the Church.
Following is a precise translation of the letter:
"… the couple Abramo and Venturina Maroni who live in your area, demand the return of their daughter … named Pamela who was taken from them by the Curia of your honor since she had been baptized; they have sent their plea to this holy community, a copy of which is attached to this letter, to receive from this Curia the documents related to these circumstances. They ask that our holy community examine the case as a court of appeals. Although I am convinced that his honor had all the reasons for making such a decision, which you made in a way worthy of praise, I will still be happy to receive from his honor precise information about all that the couple Maroni has described.
May God bless you.
Father … Reggio di Modena.
Rome, August 9 1845.
Father Macchi"

Cardinal Vincenzo Macchi was a cardinal in the curia of Rome since 1926. In 1830, he was a candidate for the position of Pope, but did not receive sufficient support and Gregorio the 16th was chosen instead. In 1840 he became a supervisor of the supreme committee supervising the clergy. Within the framework of this position, he received the letter of the Maronis, who hoped for his assistance due to his important position. There efforts, however, proved unsuccessful.

A leaf folded in half. The letter is written on one page, 20c60 cm. On the second page appears the name of the addressee and the address. This page is damaged with omission (with no damage to the text). When the letter was sent, it was closed hermetically with a wax seal. In order to open it, the reader had to slightly tear the leaf.
Condition: Good. Light paper. Folding marks. A tear on the empty page.