100 documents which played a vital role in the history of the Catholic Church will finally be put on display after being very closely guarded, some for centuries. The documents, which have been kept at the Vatican’s Secret Archives, will be put out for exhibition between February and September of 2012.
The Irish Independent reports that the historical documents were gathered by archivists in order to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Secret Archives in their present form. The documents will be on display at Rome's Capitoline Museums.
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Correspondence with such important historical figures as Galileo, Martin Luther, and Henry VIII will be included in the exhibition.
"It's an exceptional event," said the Vatican's spokesman Father Federico Lombardi. "Never have so many documents from the Secret Archive been allowed to leave the Vatican."
The documents, until now, have been kept “on 50 miles of shelves in climate-controlled rooms in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace as well as in a high-security underground bunker,” said The Independent.
The exhibition, entitled 'Lux in Arcana: The Vatican Secret Archives Revealed', will also feature first-hand documents from other figures including Mary Queen of Scots just weeks before her execution, an appeal from Parliament seeking to annul Henry VIII’s marriage (whose denial later led to the schism and formation of the Church of England), and Pope Pius XII, who was widely criticized for not acting enough during the years of the Holocaust.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.2BorNot2B | Jan 07, 2012, 02:32 AM EST
**No one is in any position to claim that only a small number of religious engaged in sexual abuse of children** But come one,come all.. anyone who wants to blanket-blame the entire priesthood of the CC of being pedophiles, of cover-up, abuse, corruption, etc. is happily allowed here at IC, and the eeriemuck will be in charge of unrolling the red carpet. That is only if the rainbow-colored one she walks on is not available.
Collette2 | Dec 31, 2011, 02:06 AM EST
I seem to have touched a nerve which ever way my comment was taken, no doubt the male connection of "castration". Oh those family jewels, stay with the shepherds jacer, they'll take care of you And them.
jacersagain | Dec 30, 2011, 08:07 PM EST
Tuigim too, ColletteTwo. Your “statement” was in fact a disguised question which I, and I’m sure many others, understood it for what it was, loaded with its complete ignorance. I suppose every African woman who has been castrated now has a gravelly voice, by your silly reasoning, not an iota of which has anything to do with an exhibition in Rome next year. Keep to the subject, woman. D’ya capiche that? Oh no, you can’t... ‘cos you’re a capichee frenchie wenchie woman. *Mwaaahaha*. Seriously, though, do people think that the Vatican Archives will reveal a PC (that means “political correction”) from donkeys years ago? ... that the word ‘woman’ should really be spelled/read as woe-man? Whaaaat on Eaaarrrth (!) would our RCC medieval Pope Joan think today if she was alive? Will that secret be exposed in the exhibition? Will it?? No, I don’t think so...The word ‘woman’ should really be spelled “woe2man”, like Collette disfigured-ly uses.
Collette2 | Dec 30, 2011, 02:46 AM EST
I wasn't asking a question jacer.. I was making a statement, castrato's always have beautiful voices, it's probably the castration effect that bother's you. Capiche?
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jacersagain | Dec 29, 2011, 07:21 PM EST
@ CitizenWhy - point taken. You've not taken my point. The exhibition next year is much ado about nothing. Question: when are you going to reveal your "Arkana"? For your edgeumadgacation, there are so many "secrets" that the RCC, Greek, Armenian and Russian Orthodox Christian Churches know that they won't reveal them for fear of shocking people to death. Like the fact that a fella born in human form was actually an Incarnation of God. Present in every Holy Eucharist around the world, present in every Tabernacle, even one close to you. That’s a whoohking lot to take in but it happened. I know you’re good Citizen, may His Peace be with you and me. Try finding out why, my fellow citizen, why the majority of statistically recorded miracles that happened in Lourdes happened - not during peoples’ bathing in the miraculous watering stream that Bernadette dug - but during the procession of the Holy Eucharist amongst the pilgrims. Now, CitizenWhy – go and find out and don’t bother me or anyone else with false questionings. There is much to do, there are many bashers, and few to answer the call of the power of the Holy Eucharist, which we Christians celebrate this time of year. The Peace of Christ’s birth be with you and yours this time of year.
jacersagain | Dec 29, 2011, 06:43 PM EST
Collette2 - why do you ask such a stupid question? If I was interviewing you for a job and, at the end of the interview, asked you if there were any questions you'd like to ask, you'd fail on that kind of ignoramuounsity.
Collette2 | Dec 29, 2011, 06:16 PM EST
Consideing the climate then and now, they should have casterated all "celebates," then there would be no ineritance isues or pedophiles. imagine the choir's.
CitizenWhy | Dec 29, 2011, 04:18 PM EST
@stephen1553 ... Land inheritance was a huge issue in feudal and imperial Roman Times. The western church, lacking an emperor, was endangered by its own priests taking church land to leave to their children. The ban made marriage by priests an irregularity, not a sin, and the children officially bastards with no inheritance right (the main purpose of the ban). Most priests continued to marry. In fact Cardinal Wolseley was chastely married (no promiscuity), in contrast to the many promiscuous popes, and all but two of the Catholic bishops of England were married when Henry broke with Rome, their marriages making them reluctant to speak up for Rome. The other two, unmarried, spoke up for Rome and were executed. In the more organized Byzantine Empire the alienation of imperial property was a danger from generals and bishops. The generals were castrated and the bishops, unlike priests, had to be celibate and hence were mainly chosen from among the ranks of monks. The promoters of the imperial court like to comment that the emperor's court symbolized the heavenly court, with the emperor, God's vicar on earth, surrounded by angelic men (eunuchs). The title of God's vicar for the emperor and the Merovingian kings in France was totally accepted by the church. With the extermination of the Merovingians that title fell to the pope. Church history is complex, a history of complex conflicts and flawed human beings.
CitizenWhy | Dec 29, 2011, 04:02 PM EST
@jacersagain ... Arcana means secrets, and that was the name given by the Vatican to that archive. Arcana implies/means secrets open only to a chosen few. Secret in that sense.
jacersagain | Dec 29, 2011, 01:04 PM EST
It is wrong to call the documents “secret”. They have been available to scholars throughout history and much of what they contain has been in the public domain in some form or another in published works of those scholars. The only significant thing about this event is that the Archived documents are going on public display. They won’t mean a thing to us people of the public ‘cos we would not be able to understand what’s written on them due to the age of the language and writings in them. It’s all a bit of a “Much Ado about Nothing” really. I won’t be rushing to Rome to see them.
jacersagain | Dec 29, 2011, 12:43 PM EST
stephen1553 shows all the characteristics of an ignorant Catholic Church basher. Ok; so we can therefore assume that he has nothing to do with the RCC or doesn’t want to anymore. That’s Ok too if he choses. Then I would say that he should get his nose out of RCC church affairs - on the pages of ICentral or anywhere for that matter, okay? Church affairs are none of your business anymore and certaily your comments have to do with the Vatican placing some of its archival stuff on public display. Push off with yourself now, keep your hatred to yourself, get lost and stay a lost lamb until the Good Shepherd calls you to come to your senses.
eiriamach | Dec 29, 2011, 12:36 PM EST
No one is in any position to claim that only a small number of religious engaged in sexual abuse of children. The bishops did such a splendid job of withholding information from civil authorities, of covering up and destroying evidence, and of silencing victims and their families that we will never have any realistic estimate of the number of priest-abusers or of their victims. As a result, "proved" cases are few while allegations have been many. So let's have no more hypocritical claims like those below about few "proved" crimes when churchmen put herculean efforts into covering up criminality. The known cases that have been published in Irish and American reports should be enough to stun everyone into silence on the fretted question "how many?" "Decades' worth of revelations" is our only answer. Any comparison with sexual abuse cases outside the Church is both patently irrelevant and self-serving on the part of those who oppose mandatory reporting laws and who fight extension of statutes of limitations on sexual abuse cases. Also, this pope has done NOTHING "to expedite" civil cases against abusers. He has amended canon law to clarify how the Church deals with abusers, while he himself has only grudgingly *allowed* priests and bishops to obey existing *civil* laws. SNAP aptly termed the changes to canon law "tweaking" where complete reform was clearly needed. It's reasonable to conclude that compliance with criminal law can only be imposed on churchmen by the secular courts; it has not and will not come from the Church itself. "Ecclesia semper reformandum"? Only if citizens coerce it to reform-- willingness to coerce is the reform most needed!
EamonnB | Dec 29, 2011, 05:06 AM EST
Even though any institution will selectively choose what to unveil, it is still welcome. Regarding previous posts, it is the harbouring and abetting of the guilty that is unforgiveable; all institutions tend towards corruption over time and become self serving. The institution becomes more important than the reason it was formed.
Gearoid4 | Dec 29, 2011, 04:32 AM EST
It looks like Stephen1553 is in a conspiritarial fantasyland of his own regarding his obsession with an 'endless hidden molestation' charge regarding cases against Catholic priests and religious. Without condoning proven crimes against children by those supposedly representing Christ, one can recognize that a small percentage of ordained priests and religious are responsible for these terrible acts. Why not strike your gaze, Stephen1553 on the far bigger percentage of cases that crop up in family circles, public school systems and other organizations in the world? As regards unproven cases against priests and religious both living and dead, it seems that a trend has developed where their guilt is presumed before the litigation comes to court. A recent case in Ireland when the national broadcaster, RTE defamed a missionary priest by claiming that he raped an young girl in Africa and impregnated her but a paternity test proved his innocence,is a case in point. It should be a salutory lesson in striking a balance between absolving the innocent and punishing the guilty and not vice versa.
stephen1553 | Dec 28, 2011, 07:34 PM EST
And Mairtan, the church MADE THE PERVERTS because in 1209 Pope Gregory banned Priests from marrying................. So the church, and not the Priests family would inherit their estates........................................... As usual - money is the root of all evil.
stephen1553 | Dec 28, 2011, 07:31 PM EST
Some people live in FANTASYLAND Gearold4 is one of them If the church paid fair compesation, perhaps $100,000 per victim, we could see another scene like when Martin Luther nailed the translation into German of the Bible to the church door. The Authorities nailing the Bankruptcy notice to the door of St. Peters Basilica.
stephen1553 | Dec 28, 2011, 07:25 PM EST
Just another attempt to steer the focus from the Endless Hidden molestation of Children by the Church. And of course distract how the German Pope in 2009 UNexcommunicated Bishop Williamson, a holocaust denier / minimizer He isnt going to fool us, and he sure as can be isnt going to fool God.
Collette2 | Dec 28, 2011, 02:59 PM EST
Dr McHugh, says it well, her contributions well read elsewhere. As far as Archbishop Martin is concerned, he was already marked by Benedict to "make clear the way", and after his statement to catholics not happy with the church to leave, after being supported either directly or indirectly by the faithful through all the years of religious life, many no doubt touched by abuse and cover-ups, shows one where he's really coming from. No thanks.
Gearoid4 | Dec 28, 2011, 02:39 PM EST
With such an inviting headline as the one on announcing this piece, I reckoned that it would not be long before the commentaries were full of the contributions of the usual cranks and anti-Church malcontents. Certainly one can be righteously angry at the instances of foul abuse committed by predatory clergy and the inaction by bishops without having to look for a 'smoking gun' to hang on the pope as in the case of DrMcHugh. This pope has done more than most to institute much needed changes in canon law to expedite cases against those found guilty of such crimes and to herald a realistic mindset in the Vatican to prevent the future instances of such crimes.
Murph46 | Dec 28, 2011, 10:57 AM EST
And if you act now,twice the amount of secrets(separate handling charge)for only $19.95!
DrMcHugh | Dec 28, 2011, 10:51 AM EST
When are all the secret documents in the Vatican, in regard to cases of worldwide clergy sexual abuse over the centuries, going to be made available for investigation by police and lawyers? So far, Pope Benedict XVI has refused to make these documents available. Only the truth will set the church free. Archbishop Martin of Dublin understands that, and has opened all cases of clergy sexual abuse under his authority, for investigation. When will the Pope get the courage to be accountable for his role in allowing clergy sexual abuse to flourish worldwide, both when he was Head of the Office of Faith and Morals for 24 years(formerly known as the Office of the Inquisition and now known as the CDF or Congregation of the Faith), and then as Pope? Sincerely, Dr Rosemary Eileen McHugh, Chicago, Illinois, USA
butlerreport | Dec 28, 2011, 10:42 AM EST
We Irish are quite familiar with Vatican secrets thank you.
Springfield9 | Dec 28, 2011, 10:41 AM EST
I suppose this might be considered the Pontifical autograph collection.
Mairtin | Dec 28, 2011, 09:59 AM EST
Historically, very interesting, socio political, revealing how an intstitution ie: Catholic Church, has brainwashed a nation into blindly following its dictum. Very sad indeed, and look at the results today, perverts in the pulpit and protected by Rome.
CitizenWhy | Dec 28, 2011, 09:38 AM EST
Why not an exhibition in Dublin of Vatican documents affecting Ireland, including the orders to the bishops to tell the Irish people that it is God's will that they obey the British authorities?