Vatican City, Jul 5, 2011 / 13:00 pm
An unprecedented 2012 exhibition of around 100 historical documents from the Vatican’s Secret Archives will include items from Pope Pius XII’s wartime papacy and Galileo’s trial.
Cardinal Raffaele Farina, the Vatican’s archivist and librarian, explained to importance of the exhibit to the media on July 5. “Ancient pontifical documents of great importance, as well as letters concerning significant aspects of the life of the Church in the world, will be leaving the Vatican for the first time.”
Entitled “Lux in Arcana - the Vatican Secret Archives unveiled,” the exhibition will run from February to September next year at Rome’s Capitoline Museums. It marks the 400th anniversary of the archive’s inception.
The collection will include notable items, such as Pope Gregory VII’s “Dictatus Papae,” which outlines the powers of the Roman Pontiff; a 1530 letter from members of the English Parliament on King Henry VIII’s marital situation; minutes from the 1633 trial of Galileo Galilei, signed by the astronomer himself; and an 1887 letter from Native Americans to Pope Leo XIII, written on birch bark.
But what raised the most eyebrows at today’s press conference was the announcement that documents related to the wartime activities of Pope Pius XII will also be on display.
Critics of Pope Pius accuse him of not taking a stand against the Nazis’ persecution of the Jews, a charge strongly denied by his supporters, who call it a “black legend.”
“What we're talking about today is an important first – a double first,” explained Dr. Umberto Broccoli, who is in charge of cultural heritage for the City of Rome.