Wednesday, January 19, 2005

The Secret of the Vatican Secret Archives

The best kept secret of the Vatican Secret Archives is that there isn't much to get excited about. "Many clamor to enter this secret fortress, and then, when it's open, they disappear," says Sergio Pagano, prefect of the Vatican Secret Archives. They point fingers and clamor for the Vatican to reveal its secrets, and when the Vatican opens its archives and they don't find the scandalous material they expected and hoped for, they all just disappear. Much of the controversy centers on Pope Pius XII (pictured left), whom many allegedly suspect of having collaborated with the Nazi deportation of Jews to extermination camps during the Second World War--despite the fact that former Israeli Premier, Golda Meir, Albert Einstein, and many Jewish dignitaries went on public record after the war specifically to thank Pople Pius XII for his help in rescuing thousands of Jews destined for Hitler's death camps. The chief rabbi of Rome, Rabbi Zolli, even converted to the Catholic Faith after the war on February 13th, 1945. The pope's private archives, which consist of a thousand years of documents in eighty kilometers of shelves, will be open to the public in 2006--at least back to 1939, the critical period of time so far as the controversy surrounding Pope Pius XII. For Gian Maria's interview with Sergio Pagano, prefect of the Vatican Secret Archives, and for Sandro Magister's article, "All the Secrets of the Vatican Secret Archives," click here. (Gratia tibi, Sean Fagan)

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