 Edgardo found shelter in a convent of the Canons Regular in Austria, where he lived under an assumed name. In 1872 he moved to a monastery at Poitiers in France, where Pope Pius regularly corresponded with the bishop about the young man. After a year, Pio Edgardo Mortara was ordained as a priest — with special dispensation as at 21 he was technically too young. He received a personal letter from the Pope to mark the occasion, as well as a lifetime trust fund of 7,000 lire to support him.
