Vatican says documents from Pius XI's papacy to be available Sept. 18

Published: 2006-06-30

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI has authorized the Vatican Secret Archives to make available to researchers all the documentation from the pre-World War II pontificate of Pope Pius XI. The documents of the 1922-1939 pontificate -- documents held in a variety of Vatican archives, including those of the Secretariat of State and the Vatican Secret Archives -- will be available to scholars beginning Sept. 18, said a statement published June 30 by the Vatican. In 2002, Pope John Paul II ordered the archives to begin preparing the material, particularly with a view to responding to requests for information about Vatican diplomatic contacts with Germany after Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933. In addition, he authorized the archives to make available to scholars the material from Pope Pius' pontificate that dealt directly with Vatican-German relations.

Copyright (c) 2006 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .