Vatican Secret Archive
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The Vatican Secret Archives (Latin: Archivum Secretum Apostolicum Vaticanum), located in Vatican City, is the central repository for all of the acts promulgated by the Holy See. These archives also contain the state papers, correspondence, papal account books,[1] and many other documents which the church has accumulated over the centuries. In the 17th century, under the orders of Pope Paul V, the Secret Archives were removed from the Vatican Library and remained absolutely closed to Vatican outsiders until the late 19th century, when they were opened by Pope Leo XIII.

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Contents

Extent

The Vatican Secret Archives have been estimated to contain 52 miles of shelving[2], and there are 35,000 volumes in the selective catalogue alone: "Publication of the indexes, in part or as a whole, is forbidden," according to the regulations current in 2005. The Secret Archives support their own photographic and conservation studios.

According to the Vatican website, the oldest surviving document dates back to the end of the eighth century. "Transfers and political upheavals nearly caused the total loss of all the archival material preceding Innocent III."[3] From 1198 onwards more complete archives exist, though documentation is a little scanty before the thirteenth century. Since that time, the documentation includes items such as Henry VIII of England's request for a marriage annulment, and letters from Michelangelo.

Access

Adjacent to the Vatican Museum, its entrance is through the Porta di S. Anna in via di Porta Angelica (rione of Borgo). There is no browsing, and selected scholars must ask in advance for the precise document they wish to see; thus, they must know in advance that such a document exists. The catalogue is not complete. The Vatican estimates the linear length as about 85 kilometers (52.8 miles) of shelving. The current Archivist is His Eminence Cardinal Raffaele Farina, with Jorge Maria Cardinal Mejia and Luigi Cardinal Poggi holding the position of Archivist Emeritus.

Opening of the archives

Almost all organisations with archives have time restrictions on when their documents may be opened to the public, lest any documents have sensitive information that would be damaging if released. The Vatican Archives is no exception. Customarily, documents are made available to the public after a period of 75 years. The Secret Archives are still separately housed.

In 1883, Pope Leo XIII opened archives dated 1815 or earlier to non-clerical scholars. (The first papal historian to make fundamental use of the Secret Archives was the sympathetic historian of the Papacy, Ludwig von Pastor.) Documents were next released in 1924, when the Secret Archives became open up to the end of the pontificate of Gregory XVI (June 1, 1846). Since then, the secret archives of subsequent pontificates have been opened as follows:

  • 1966: Documents from the pontificate of Pius IX (1846-1878). Note that the opening of Pius IX's pontificate was originally planned during the pontificate of Pius XII.
  • 1978: Documents from the pontificate of Leo XIII (1878-1903).
  • 1985: From the pontificates of Pius X (1903-1914) and Benedict XV (1914-1922).

On February 20, 2002, Pope John Paul II took the extraordinary step of making available, beginning in 2003, some of the documents from the Historical Archives of the Secretariat of State (Second Section), which pertain to the Vatican's relations with Germany during the pontificate (1922-1939) of Pope Pius XI. The Vatican's reason for this action was "to put an end to unjust and thoughtless speculation."[4]

In June of 2006, Pope Benedict XVI authorized opening of all the Vatican Archives for the pontificate of Pope Pius XI.[5] However, the files are not yet available for public review.citation needed

Archivists of the Vatican Secret Archives

Prefects of the Vatican Secret Archives

Other secret archives

There are other secret archives at the Vatican. An even more secret archive is kept by the Apostolic Penitentiary, which contains papal documents and other material that is not made public, as no one is allowed access due to the privacy of the confessor-penitent disputes for which the Penitentiary is responsible.[6] Nevertheless the Secret Archives are the main collection.

References

  1. ^ See Pastor, History of the Popes, vol. III, 31.[1]
  2. ^ Secret Archives Accessible Online, Zenit
  3. ^ The Vatican Secret Archives: The Past, Vatican website
  4. ^ Vatican Archivists Rush to Declassify WWII Documents - Catholic World News, Feb. 20, 2002
  5. ^ Benedict XVI Opens Archives on Pius XI - Zenit News Agency, July 2, 2006
  6. ^ See the Seal of the Confessional.

Further reading

See also

External links

News articles
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