At 12:15pm today (6:15am EST), in the Clementine Hall at the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father, Pope Francis received in audience the Superiors, family members and collaborators who work in the Vatican Secret Archives, on the occasion of the eightieth anniversary of the election of the Servant of God, Pius XII as Supreme Pontiff.
Dear brothers and sisters,
I am pleased to welcome you. I thank Monsignor José tolentino de Mendonça for the courteous words of greeting which he has offered me in your name. I greet Monsignor Sergio Pagano, Professor Paolo Vian, the new Vice-Prefect, and all of you, archivists, writers, assistants and staff members who work in the Vatican Secret Archives, as well as the professors from the Vatican School of Paleography, Diplomacy and Archivists.
The occasion of your visit - so shortly after my meeting with you and with the Apostolic Library, last December 4th - is on this happy anniversary, just the day before yesterday, of the eighty years that have passed since the election - on March 2, 1939 - of the Servant of God Pius XII, of venerated memory as Supreme Pontiff.
The figure of that Pontiff, who found himself leading the Barque of Peter at one of the saddest and darkest moments of the twentieth century, agitated and so severed by the last world war, with the consequent period of reorganization of the nations and the post-war reconstruction, has already been investigated and studied in many aspects, sometimes discussed and even criticized (it could be said with some prejudice or exaggeration). Today he is appropriately re-evaluated and indeed placed in the right light for his multi-faceted qualities: pastoral, above all, but also theological, ascetic and diplomatic.
By the wish of Pope Benedict XVI, you Superiors and Officials of the Vatican Secret Archives, as well as the Historical Archives of the Holy See and of the Vatican City State, have been working since 2006 on a common project of inventorying and preparation of substantial documentation produced during the pontificate of Pius XII, part of which was already made available by my venerated Predecessors Saint Paul VI and Saint John Paul II.
Therefore, I thank you, and through you also the other Vatican archivists, for the patient and scrupulous work you have done over the past twelve years, and which you are still partly carrying out, to complete the aforementioned preparation.
Your work takes place in silence and away from the clamour; it cultivates the memory, and in a sense it seems to me that it can be compared to the cultivation of a majestic tree, whose branches are stretched towards the sky, but whose roots are solidly anchored in the earth. If we compare this tree to the Church, we see that it is reaching out towards Heaven, our homeland and our last horizon; but the roots sink into the soil of the same Incarnation of the Word, in history, over time. You, archivists, with your patient toil work on these roots and help to keep them alive, so that even the greenest and youngest branches of the tree can get good sap for their growth in the future.
This constant and committed effort - yours and your colleagues' - allows me today, in memory of that significant anniversary, to announce my decision to open to researchers the archival documentation related to the pontificate of Pius XII, until his death which occurred at Castel Gandolfo on October 9, 1958.
I have decided that the opening of the Vatican Archives for the pontificate of Pius XII will take place on March 2, 2020, exactly one year after the eightieth anniversary of the election to the Throne of Peter of Eugenio Pacelli.
I have made this decision after hearing the opinion of my closest collaborators, with a serene and confident mind, sure that serious and objective historical research will be able to evaluate moments of exaltation of that Pontiff in its proper light, with appropriate criticism, without any doubt about moments of serious difficulties, tormented decisions, human and Christian prudence, which to some might have seemed reticent, and which instead were attempts, humanly also very hard-fought, to keep the flame of humanitarian initiatives lit during periods of more intense darkness and cruelty, of hidden but active diplomacy and of hope in possible good openings of hearts.
The Church is not afraid of history, rather, she loves it, and would like to love it more and better, as God loves it! So, with the same trust as my predecessors, I open and entrust to researchers this documentary heritage.
While I thank you once again for the work you have accomplished, I hope that you will continue your commitment to assistance and research - scientific and material assistance - and also in the publication of the Pacelli sources that will be considered important, as has already been done for some years.
With these sentiments, I impart to all of you my heartfelt Apostolic blessing and I ask you, please, to pray for me. Thank you.
Original text in Italian
Texto en espanñol
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
offered to the staff from the
Vatican Secret Archives
Dear brothers and sisters,
I am pleased to welcome you. I thank Monsignor José tolentino de Mendonça for the courteous words of greeting which he has offered me in your name. I greet Monsignor Sergio Pagano, Professor Paolo Vian, the new Vice-Prefect, and all of you, archivists, writers, assistants and staff members who work in the Vatican Secret Archives, as well as the professors from the Vatican School of Paleography, Diplomacy and Archivists.
The occasion of your visit - so shortly after my meeting with you and with the Apostolic Library, last December 4th - is on this happy anniversary, just the day before yesterday, of the eighty years that have passed since the election - on March 2, 1939 - of the Servant of God Pius XII, of venerated memory as Supreme Pontiff.
The figure of that Pontiff, who found himself leading the Barque of Peter at one of the saddest and darkest moments of the twentieth century, agitated and so severed by the last world war, with the consequent period of reorganization of the nations and the post-war reconstruction, has already been investigated and studied in many aspects, sometimes discussed and even criticized (it could be said with some prejudice or exaggeration). Today he is appropriately re-evaluated and indeed placed in the right light for his multi-faceted qualities: pastoral, above all, but also theological, ascetic and diplomatic.
By the wish of Pope Benedict XVI, you Superiors and Officials of the Vatican Secret Archives, as well as the Historical Archives of the Holy See and of the Vatican City State, have been working since 2006 on a common project of inventorying and preparation of substantial documentation produced during the pontificate of Pius XII, part of which was already made available by my venerated Predecessors Saint Paul VI and Saint John Paul II.
Therefore, I thank you, and through you also the other Vatican archivists, for the patient and scrupulous work you have done over the past twelve years, and which you are still partly carrying out, to complete the aforementioned preparation.
Your work takes place in silence and away from the clamour; it cultivates the memory, and in a sense it seems to me that it can be compared to the cultivation of a majestic tree, whose branches are stretched towards the sky, but whose roots are solidly anchored in the earth. If we compare this tree to the Church, we see that it is reaching out towards Heaven, our homeland and our last horizon; but the roots sink into the soil of the same Incarnation of the Word, in history, over time. You, archivists, with your patient toil work on these roots and help to keep them alive, so that even the greenest and youngest branches of the tree can get good sap for their growth in the future.
This constant and committed effort - yours and your colleagues' - allows me today, in memory of that significant anniversary, to announce my decision to open to researchers the archival documentation related to the pontificate of Pius XII, until his death which occurred at Castel Gandolfo on October 9, 1958.
I have decided that the opening of the Vatican Archives for the pontificate of Pius XII will take place on March 2, 2020, exactly one year after the eightieth anniversary of the election to the Throne of Peter of Eugenio Pacelli.
I have made this decision after hearing the opinion of my closest collaborators, with a serene and confident mind, sure that serious and objective historical research will be able to evaluate moments of exaltation of that Pontiff in its proper light, with appropriate criticism, without any doubt about moments of serious difficulties, tormented decisions, human and Christian prudence, which to some might have seemed reticent, and which instead were attempts, humanly also very hard-fought, to keep the flame of humanitarian initiatives lit during periods of more intense darkness and cruelty, of hidden but active diplomacy and of hope in possible good openings of hearts.
The Church is not afraid of history, rather, she loves it, and would like to love it more and better, as God loves it! So, with the same trust as my predecessors, I open and entrust to researchers this documentary heritage.
While I thank you once again for the work you have accomplished, I hope that you will continue your commitment to assistance and research - scientific and material assistance - and also in the publication of the Pacelli sources that will be considered important, as has already been done for some years.
With these sentiments, I impart to all of you my heartfelt Apostolic blessing and I ask you, please, to pray for me. Thank you.
Original text in Italian
Texto en espanñol
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