(Credit: Moosbrugger/ullstein bild/Getty Images)
The Stakes
A single archive at the Vatican holds original transcripts from Galileo's inquisition, a letter from Henry VIII pleading to be granted divorce, records from the heresy trials of the Knights Templar—and a note from Michelangelo requesting overdue pay for his workers. And those are just some of the documents we know about. What else might lie in the centuries-old Vatican Secret Archives? And might these documents shed light on hidden papal influence over global events?
With the vast majority of the Archive's contents off-limits to the public, speculation is rife—from a huge collection of papal pornography to evidence of the Church's enabling of the Holocaust. Many theories focus on subjects that have the potential to undermine the Church's authority. Has the secrecy been blown out of proportion, or is the Vatican concealing information that would shock the world?
The Story
The storehouse of the Vatican Secret Archives. (Credit: Giovanni Ciarlo/AP Photo)
Established under the Latin name Archivum Secretum Vaticanum, the Archive holds popes' personal correspondence and important documents dating back to the 9th century. (The word "secretum," though translated as "secret," is more akin to "private.") During the 17th century, Pope Paul V, the man who put Galileo on trial, decided to split the Secret Archives from the main collection of the Vatican Library.
The collections still sit side by side, just north of the Sistine Chapel. The Secret Archives contain 53 miles of shelving, some of which is in a fireproof, climate-controlled two-story underground bunker adjacent to the main Apostolic Library.
Many of the documents that have been declassified concern historic moments and leaders: One is Henry VIII's 1527 letter requesting a divorce from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. When years passed without Pope Clement VII approving the split, Henry VIII turned to his Protestant advisors, broke with the Catholic Church and helped usher in the Reformation.
Another is a letter to Pope Pius IX from Jefferson Davis, president of America's confederate states during the Civil War. The note, thanking Pius IX for his "sentiments of Christian good feeling and love" amid "most cruel oppression and terrible carnage," has led to debate over whether the pope supported the Confederacy beyond giving general comfort and wishes for peace.
Galileo before the Holy Office in the Vatican, where he was condemned by the Tribunal of the Inquisition for having defended the theories of Copernicus. (Credit: Leemage/Corbis/Getty Images)
In 1984, the Vatican announced it would release the Archives' transcripts from the heresy trial of Galileo Galilei, who in 1633 was forced to recant his claim that the Earth revolves around the sun. In 1992, Pope John Paul II formally acknowledged that Galileo was right and the Roman Inquisition had mishandled the case.
The Players
(Credit: Arte & Immagini srl/Corbis/Getty Images)
Pope Paul V
Created the Secret Archives, believed he lived at the center of the universe.
(Credit: Universal History Archive/Getty Images)
Galileo
"And yet it moves!" he said of the Earth during his trial. But alas, he did not move his inquisitors.
(Credit: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)
Pope Leo XIII
The pope who opened the Archives (though not everything, and not to the public).
(Credit: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)
Pope Pius XII
Began his papacy in 1939, was controversially labeled "Hitler's Pope."
(Credit: GraphicaArtis/Getty Images)
Jesus Christ
A key figure in general, one might say. Also the subject of many an archival conspiracy theory.
The Fallout
In the absence of detailed information, wild theories about the Vatican Secret Archives have proliferated. Over the years, people have pondered whether the Church might be hiding bombshell information that could challenge Catholic doctrines and render papal authority invalid. Might there be hidden evidence of aliens on Earth? Was blockbuster novelist Dan Brown onto something when he wrote about Jesus fathering a secret child with Mary Magdalene? Do the Vatican Secret Archives contain the world's largest pornography collection? (Yes, this is one of the rumors that have made the rounds.)
One key factor in the Archives' inaccessibility is the fragility of the documents. Centuries-old scraps of parchment have the potential to crumble into dust when handled. A very small percentage of the collection has been digitized, but the varied writing styles make it difficult for optical character recognition (OCR) software to recognize words. Currently, scientists from Roma Tre University and the Vatican Secret Archives are working on a project called In Codice Ratio, which combines OCR with artificial intelligence to analyze pen strokes, and learn how they form letters and words.
The Enduring Secrets
Pope Pius XII was a controversial pope who stayed silent on the fate of the Jews during the Holocaust. (Credit: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)
The mystery surrounding the fabled Archives has been enhanced by the word "secret," the involvement of a formidable institution like the Catholic Church and the influence of pop-culture conspiracy romps like Dan Brown's Robert Langdon novels. But that doesn't mean there's nothing to hide. If the Church were in possession of documents that could invalidate its own teachings, or cast previous popes in a deeply unfavorable light, it is plausible such documents would be kept buried in a bunker away from prying eyes.
One clear example is Pope Pius XII. In 1999, British journalist John Cornwell published a book called Hitler's Pope: The Secret History of Pius XII. Drawing on newly available, pre-1939 documents from the Archives, it painted Pius XII as someone who helped Hitler rise to power, trivialized the Holocaust and dealt with Nazi finances via the Vatican Bank. In 2005, American historian and Rabbi David G. Dalin responded with his own book, The Myth of Hitler's Pope, which drew on yet more documents to claim that Pius XII saved hundreds of thousands of Jewish lives during the Holocaust. Even if the Secret Archives released its Pius XII documents, it's unclear whether they would have the power to absolve or condemn the wartime pontiff.
The ban on post-1939 documents also prevents researchers from seeking information on other grave issues, such as the extent and impact of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church.
As to the more left-field speculations of what's hidden in the Secret Archives, particularly the aliens and pornography...the answers are maybe and no, respectively. The archives could have information relating to extraterrestrials, but there's nothing to suggest it does. The pornography rumor seems to have been started, or at least perpetuated, by an erotica museum in Copenhagen, which allegedly informed visitors that the world's largest porn collection is at the Vatican Library and/or Secret Archives. This is not at all true, but the Renaissance artist Raphael did paint erotic images around the Vatican's papal apartments in 1516.
Timeline
1377
The Vatican begins to be used as a papal residence.
1612
Pope Paul V orders that papal documents be separated into a collection known as the Vatican Secret Archives.
pius
1810
Napoleon seizes the Archives, loads them onto wagons and takes them to Paris.
1817
The Archives return to the Vatican, minus many documents that were lost, destroyed or sold.
1881
Pope Leo XIII opens the Archives to researchers.
2006
Pope Benedict XVI makes documents from the papacy of Pius XI (1922-1939) available to scholars.
February – September 2012
Selected documents from the Archives are put on public display at the Capitoline Museums in Rome, including Pope Leo X's 1521 decree excommunicating Martin Luther and a letter penned by Mary Queen of Scots pleading against her eventual execution.
Getting In To See For Yourself
A 2012 exhibition in Rome's Capitoline Museums displaying, for the first time ever, pieces of the Vatican Secret Archives spanning from the 8th century A.D. to the 20th. (Credit: Alessandra Benedetti/Corbis/ Getty Images)
Before the papacy of Leo XIII (1878-1903), not even qualified scholars of Christianity were allowed to delve into the Vatican Secret Archives. But in an effort to fortify the Church's role in Italian history, Leo XIII granted access to researchers in 1881. Though the Archives can now accommodate up to 60 visiting researchers per day, those granted access are not permitted to see documents from 1939 onwards, other than small, specifically released batches related to particular subjects and events. The year 1939 marked both the beginning of World War II and the first year of Pope Pius XII's tenure. This means that the off-limits information may involve subjects as fraught as the Pope's dealings with Hitler and Mussolini, and his knowledge of—and level of intervention in—the Holocaust.
If you're a scholar working on a research project, and have the documentation to prove it, you may apply for admission to the Secret Archives. If approved, you can spend up to three consecutive months poring over archival materials in the reading room.
Similar requirements apply for admission to the main Vatican Library. If you're not quite a scholar, or can't swing a trip to Vatican City, visit DigiVatLib, the free online repository for the library's digitized collection. The library is still in the process of digitizing its 80,000 manuscripts.
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