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Vatican to Reveal Unpublished Armenian Genocide Documents From Its
Secret Archives
Tuesday, January 20th, 2015
The Vatican's Secret Archives
The chilling testimonies will be published in a book. The news came
during the presentation of the "Lux Arcana" exhibition which will
display the treasures of one of the world's oldest archives
BY ALESSANDRO SPECIALE
>From the Vatican Insider
http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/genocidio-armeno-archivio-segreto-archivo-secreto-secret-archive-armenian-genocide-4385/
VATICAN CITY--In the Secret Vatican Archives are stored documents that
testify to the unprecedented and shocking Genocide by the Ottoman
Empire against the Armenians after the First World War, documents that
will be published soon in a book co-edited by the same Vatican
Archives.
The advanced news arrived, a little by surprise, during the
presentation in the Vatican of the exhibit "Lux Arcana", which - from
next February - will open to the public, for the first time, the
treasures of one of the oldest and most extensive archives in the
world.
The testimonials, explained the prefect of the Secret Archives,
Monsignor Sergio Pagano, describe "in detail" the "procedures of
torture that the Turks used towards the Armenians." For example, he
said, there is evidence of how the soldiers of the Sublime Porte would
bet "on the sex of fetuses in the wombs of pregnant women before they
quartered them and with the same knife killed the babies".
These episodes, said the Vatican archivist, who "make me ashamed to be
a man, and if it were not for faith, I would see only darkness".
It is easy to imagine that the publication of these documents reignite
the tension between the Holy See and Turkey, at a time when the memory
of the killing of Monsignor Luigi Padovese, Apostolic Vicar of
Anatolia, a year ago June 3rd, is still alive.
The Catholic Church is still waiting for an acknowledgment by the
Turkish state, although recently some progress has been made. For
example, it has become easier to perform pilgrimages to the church in
Tarsus, the birthplace of St. Paul.
>From the presentation of the exhibit many expected new light on the
pontificate of Pius XII, always controversial, because of his role
during World War II and with regards to the Holocaust. On this point,
Bishop Pagano announced that we must expect "interesting tidbits"
within three or four years, when the inventory of documents relating
to his pontificate will be completed and the Archive opened to
scholars.
In the exhibit, however, there will be a display of "emotional
documents" such as photographs and diaries of the war but nothing that
"can shed light on Pius XII's pontificate, since it is still closed".
In light of the controversy over his role during the Holocaust and the
delicacy of relations between the Catholic and Jewish communities, for
decades scholars have hoped to find a document that can attest
unequivocally that Pius XII had called on Catholic institutions
worldwide to protect persecuted Jews - a document of which there are
various indirect evidences.
The issue is still very delicate as shown by the echo caused by the
recent words of the Israeli ambassador to the Holy See, Mordechay
Lewy, who had at first defended Pacelli as a "protector" and was later
forced to clarify his statements after the controversies that erupted
at home.
The Vatican Secret Archive is surrounded by a halo of mystery, and not
just for its name ('secret', in this case, is the medieval Latin
meaning for 'private'). Not surprisingly, Dan Brown set some scenes of
his 'Angels and Demons' and strangely enough, a video prepared to
present the exhibit points heavily on the enigmatic atmosphere of the
Hollywood movie.
Actually, for centuries the Archives preserve records and government
documents of popes and the Holy See.
The intention of the exhibit, explained Monsignor Pagano, is precisely
to dispel this storybook myth: "In addition to a natural intent for
aesthetic vision of historic relics, famous and less so, fascinating
vestments, it intends to shed light on the reality of the venerable
institution, on its nature, its contents, its activity".
For the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, 'Lux in
Arcana' (light on hidden places, in Latin) is therefore a more than
appropriate title for the exhibit. "The 'arcane' - he explained - are
not to be construed as 'arcana imperii', or the secrets of the
government, but the hidden and vast areas of the archives, which by
their nature are jealous, protective, alert to the treasures they
watch over."
At the exhibit will be displayed, for example, the 'Dictatus papae' in
which Gregory VII (1073-1085) sanctioned the supremacy of the papal
theocracy over any other power; the next 'Deposition of Emperor
Frederick II' (1245); the letter which members of the British
Parliament sent to Clement VII on the known and controversial marriage
of King Henry VIII (1530); an autographed document of Michelangelo.
Also present were two findings in the middle between the archival and
art: a letter on silk from Helen of China to Innocent X (1650) and a
letter on birch bark of the American Indians to Leo XIII (1887). Also
on display will be documents of the breach of Porta Pia and the
unification of Italy.
Among the highlights of the exhibit, there are also the authentic and
complete dossier of the trial of Galileo Galilei, including the
indictments of the Holy Office, the documents of the prosecutor Robert
Bellarmine, and the sentence and signed abjuration of the scientist
from Pisa.
http://asbarez.com/130918/vatican-to-reveal-unpublished-armenian-genocide-documents-from-its-secret-archives/
Secret Archives
Tuesday, January 20th, 2015
The Vatican's Secret Archives
The chilling testimonies will be published in a book. The news came
during the presentation of the "Lux Arcana" exhibition which will
display the treasures of one of the world's oldest archives
BY ALESSANDRO SPECIALE
>From the Vatican Insider
http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/genocidio-armeno-archivio-segreto-archivo-secreto-secret-archive-armenian-genocide-4385/
VATICAN CITY--In the Secret Vatican Archives are stored documents that
testify to the unprecedented and shocking Genocide by the Ottoman
Empire against the Armenians after the First World War, documents that
will be published soon in a book co-edited by the same Vatican
Archives.
The advanced news arrived, a little by surprise, during the
presentation in the Vatican of the exhibit "Lux Arcana", which - from
next February - will open to the public, for the first time, the
treasures of one of the oldest and most extensive archives in the
world.
The testimonials, explained the prefect of the Secret Archives,
Monsignor Sergio Pagano, describe "in detail" the "procedures of
torture that the Turks used towards the Armenians." For example, he
said, there is evidence of how the soldiers of the Sublime Porte would
bet "on the sex of fetuses in the wombs of pregnant women before they
quartered them and with the same knife killed the babies".
These episodes, said the Vatican archivist, who "make me ashamed to be
a man, and if it were not for faith, I would see only darkness".
It is easy to imagine that the publication of these documents reignite
the tension between the Holy See and Turkey, at a time when the memory
of the killing of Monsignor Luigi Padovese, Apostolic Vicar of
Anatolia, a year ago June 3rd, is still alive.
The Catholic Church is still waiting for an acknowledgment by the
Turkish state, although recently some progress has been made. For
example, it has become easier to perform pilgrimages to the church in
Tarsus, the birthplace of St. Paul.
>From the presentation of the exhibit many expected new light on the
pontificate of Pius XII, always controversial, because of his role
during World War II and with regards to the Holocaust. On this point,
Bishop Pagano announced that we must expect "interesting tidbits"
within three or four years, when the inventory of documents relating
to his pontificate will be completed and the Archive opened to
scholars.
In the exhibit, however, there will be a display of "emotional
documents" such as photographs and diaries of the war but nothing that
"can shed light on Pius XII's pontificate, since it is still closed".
In light of the controversy over his role during the Holocaust and the
delicacy of relations between the Catholic and Jewish communities, for
decades scholars have hoped to find a document that can attest
unequivocally that Pius XII had called on Catholic institutions
worldwide to protect persecuted Jews - a document of which there are
various indirect evidences.
The issue is still very delicate as shown by the echo caused by the
recent words of the Israeli ambassador to the Holy See, Mordechay
Lewy, who had at first defended Pacelli as a "protector" and was later
forced to clarify his statements after the controversies that erupted
at home.
The Vatican Secret Archive is surrounded by a halo of mystery, and not
just for its name ('secret', in this case, is the medieval Latin
meaning for 'private'). Not surprisingly, Dan Brown set some scenes of
his 'Angels and Demons' and strangely enough, a video prepared to
present the exhibit points heavily on the enigmatic atmosphere of the
Hollywood movie.
Actually, for centuries the Archives preserve records and government
documents of popes and the Holy See.
The intention of the exhibit, explained Monsignor Pagano, is precisely
to dispel this storybook myth: "In addition to a natural intent for
aesthetic vision of historic relics, famous and less so, fascinating
vestments, it intends to shed light on the reality of the venerable
institution, on its nature, its contents, its activity".
For the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, 'Lux in
Arcana' (light on hidden places, in Latin) is therefore a more than
appropriate title for the exhibit. "The 'arcane' - he explained - are
not to be construed as 'arcana imperii', or the secrets of the
government, but the hidden and vast areas of the archives, which by
their nature are jealous, protective, alert to the treasures they
watch over."
At the exhibit will be displayed, for example, the 'Dictatus papae' in
which Gregory VII (1073-1085) sanctioned the supremacy of the papal
theocracy over any other power; the next 'Deposition of Emperor
Frederick II' (1245); the letter which members of the British
Parliament sent to Clement VII on the known and controversial marriage
of King Henry VIII (1530); an autographed document of Michelangelo.
Also present were two findings in the middle between the archival and
art: a letter on silk from Helen of China to Innocent X (1650) and a
letter on birch bark of the American Indians to Leo XIII (1887). Also
on display will be documents of the breach of Porta Pia and the
unification of Italy.
Among the highlights of the exhibit, there are also the authentic and
complete dossier of the trial of Galileo Galilei, including the
indictments of the Holy Office, the documents of the prosecutor Robert
Bellarmine, and the sentence and signed abjuration of the scientist
from Pisa.
http://asbarez.com/130918/vatican-to-reveal-unpublished-armenian-genocide-documents-from-its-secret-archives/