Rare treasures from Vatican Archives
go on exhibit for the first time
by Dario Thuburn
VATICAN CITY, March 2 (AFP) -Vatican archives documenting centuries of European history including Galileo Galilei's trial documents and Martin Luther's excommunication went on public display for the first time Wednesday.
The exhibit also includes a request to annul Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon and the 'Dictatus Papae' of Pope Gregory VII, an 11th-century script asserting the spiritual and terrestrial powers of the head of the Roman Catholic Church.
The exhibit entitled "Lux in Arcana" in Rome's Capitoline Museums will run until September 9 and organisers said it was a unique chance to see a priceless collection of documents from the Vatican's closely-guarded vaults.
"It will be the first and possibly the only time in history that they leave the confines of the Vatican City walls," organisers said in a statement.
They said the show has "100 original and priceless documents selected among the treasures preserved and cherished by the Vatican Secret Archives for centuries" and includes multimedia installations about the documents.
The exhibition marks the 400th anniversary of the creation of the Vatican Secret Archives -- a term used to mean personal archives -- by Pope Paul V.
The Holy See's second in command, Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, opened the show with Vatican culture "minister" Gianfranco Ravasi, Rome mayor Gianni Alemanno and Italian Culture Minister Lorenzo Ornaghi.
Asked what he had been most struck by, Bertone said it was the "historical truth" in documents on Pope Pius XII's papacy during World War II, who has been criticised by Jewish groups for not doing enough to ease their persecution.
"The research on the period of Pius XII has so far generated more than two million files and information about prisoners of war," he said.
One of the documents in the exhibition is a report from papal envoy Francesco Borgongini-Duca on the conditions in seven internment camps in Italy in 1941, asking for aid to be sent to the prisoners.
At a press conference on Wednesday, the head of the Vatican archives Sergio Pagano said all the documents in the vaults from Pius XII's papacy would be made available to researchers "within one or two years".
"The final decision however depends on the Pope," he told reporters.
"Benedict XVI's willingness to accelerate the opening, also as a way of silencing dissonant voices on the pontificate of Pope Pacelli (Pius XII), can only benefit the Church," he said.
Bertone said earlier the exhibition would help "the search for truth and the common good" -- and would dispel "a pseudo-historical novelistic ambiance", an apparent reference to Dan Brown's bestselling "Da Vinci Code".
Among other treasures are a 10th-century parchment on the division of powers between pope and emperor and a document on the nomination of 13th-century hermit Pietro Morrone as Celestine V -- the only pope ever to resign.
It also has minutes from the 14th-century trials of the Knights Templar.
There is also a 15th-century edict from Pope Alexander VI on carving up the New World between Spain and Portugal after Columbus's discovery of America, as well as a secret code he used when he was besieged by French troops.
There are letters from Michelangelo about building St. Peter's basilica in the 16th century, the deed of abdication by queen Christina of Sweden from 1654 and a letter on silk from the 17th-century Chinese empress Helena Wang.
Among the most unusual documents is a letter written on birch bark from the chief of the Ojibwa Native American tribe to Pope Leo XIII in the 19th century, calling him: "Grand Master of Prayers, who makes functions of Jesus."
Another rarity is a letter from imprisoned French queen Marie Antoinette after the revolution in 1789, which reads: "The feelings of those who share my sorrow... are the only consolation I can receive in this sad circumstance".
Rome's mayor Alemanno said: "This exhibition is really unique and exceptional. This is the first time that the Vatican secret archives open their doors for an incredible exhibition that spans all historical eras."
The British Daily Mail online has the best text and photo reportage of LUX IN ARCANA,
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2108400/Vatican-exhibition-The-threatening-letter-sent-Pope-asking-annul-Henry-VIIIs-marriage.html?ITO=1490
even if its story focuses naturally on the document that is of greatest interest to UK citizens:
Vatican exhibit shows threatening letter
sent by English noblemen to Pope Clement VII
asking him to annul Henry VIII's first marriage
By Graham Smith and Nick Pisa
March 1, 2012
Signed by 81 noblemen, the threatening letter sent to Pope Clement VIIi in 1530 'asking' him to annul Henry VIII's first marriage'
A group of English noblemen threatened the Roman Catholic Church when they wrote to the Pope urging him to annul Henry VIII's marriage to his first wife so the king could marry Anne Boleyn, a letter released by the Vatican has revealed.
The document, signed by MPs and clergy including the Archbishop of Canterbury, alluded to the 'extreme remedies' they could pursue if Pope Clement VII refused their request.
The 1530 letter - a 3ft-wide parchment with 81 wax seals attached to red silk ribbons - preceded Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon and clearly illustrates his rejections of the Pope's authority.
It is one of 100 documents from the Vatican Secret Archives that yesterday went on public display in Rome's Capitoline Museums for the first time.
The exhibition also marks the first time the documents have been allowed outside Vatican City.
Henry VIII's split from Catherine of Aragon led to his breakaway from the Catholic Church and the establishment of the Church of England.
The letter is considered a 'priceless document of great historical significance.'
In historical terms, it has only recently been discovered, having been found in 1926 by Angelo Mercati, Prefect of the Archives, hidden in a chest built under a chair.
The peers warn the Pope in no uncertain terms that 'a refusal of annulment would require recourse to extreme measures for the good of the kingdom which we would not hesitate to take,' and was sent from London in July 1530 taking two months to arrive on the Pope's desk.
The Pope refused to annul the marriage, setting in motion a chain of events that led to a split from the Catholic Church and the start of the English Reformation.
Among the other items on display is a 60-metre parchment scroll documenting proceedings of the Trial of the Knights Templar medieval Christian military order, accused of heresy and sexual misconduct.
Left, the Knights Templar scroll; and right, a document signed by Galileo.
It is partially rolled out in one room of the museums, alongside secret manuscripts, letters and codices.
Elsewhere, a register containing the excommunication of 16th century German reformer Martin Luther, and a report on the 1633 trial of Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei for asserting that Earth revolved around the Sun, are on show.
A letter dated May 1887 from the Ojibwe Indians of Ontario to Leo XIII, written on bark birch and thanking him for sending missionaries to convert them, colourfully alludes to the Canadian Spring as 'where there is much grass in the month of the flowers'.
Sensitive letters from before and during the Second World War have not been released - the period is a contentious one as many historians have questioned whether then Pope Pius XII did enough to speak out against Adolf Hitler.
Archivist Pier Paolo Piergentili said this is the first time in the archive's 400-year history that it is opening up a selection of documents for public display.
He said: 'The aim is to physically show the sources of history, and make available the documents that have created history in Europe, and not only Europe.'
Documents in the Vatican Secret Archives span the 8th to the 20th century and are stored on 85km of shelving at different sites within the sovereign state.
Part of the collection is open for researchers upon request.
Founded by Pope Paul V in 1612, the archives contain all deeds and documents pertaining to the government of the Church.
The exhibition, "Lux in Arcana: The Vatican Secret Archive Reveals Itself", runs from March until September and aims to demystify the Church's records.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 03/03/2012 11:56]