The archives of Pius XIIFrom John Paul II to Francis: the "multilateral" diplomacy of the Holy SeeFor centuries it has been called the Vatican Secret Archives and was created by Paul V on January 31, 1612. Pope Francis changed its name in 2019: it is now more simply called the Vatican Secret Archives. Vatican Apostolic Archives. The word "secret" comes from the Latin adjective "secretum" (from secernere, which means to separate, to distinguish, to reserve). It distinguished the papal archive as separate from the others and reserved for the use of the pontiff and the officials appointed by him. The change is only nominal, because the pope's intention was to eliminate any possible misunderstanding about the intentions of the Church, all aimed at transparency, without any desire to conceal or misunderstand.
New headquarters
The amount of documents is immense, because they refer to several centuries of activity, longer than that of any nation in the world. In the 20th century, Pope Paul VI wanted a new Archive to be built under the Cortile della Pigna. It is an immense subway bunker with 85 kilometers of shelves that make it the largest historical database in the world.
The documentary patrimony preserved in its vast deposits covers a chronological span of the last twelve centuries, and consists of more than 600 archival collections. Although it is not the largest archive in the world in terms of quantity, it is the largest in terms of geography, since it covers all the continents and all the states in which the Catholic Church is present.
The Jewish archive
After the work of sorting out entire historical periods, the archives of that era will be made available to the public in their entirety. One example is that of the activities of Pius XIIThe company has aroused much interest and curiosity for its performance during the Second World War.
The "Jewish" series of the Historical Archives of the Secretariat of State has recently been published on the Internet. A total of 170 volumes, equivalent to almost 40,000 files, are available for consultation. Initially, 70% of the total material will be available, which will later be completed with the last volumes in progress.
During the war there were thousands of requests for help addressed to the Pope by Jews of all ages. For example, mention is made of how a young German student, Werner Barasch, fared. The reader hopes for a happy ending, imagining his release from the concentration camp and his successful attempt to be reunited with his mother abroad. In this particular case, our wish has been fulfilled: if you search for resources on the Internet, you will find traces of him in 2001. Not only is there an autobiography recounting his memoirs as a "survivor," but among the online collections of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum there is even a lengthy video interview, in which Werner Barasch himself tells his incredible story at the age of 82.
The "Jewish" archive is, therefore, a precious patrimony, since it collects the requests for help sent to Pope Pius XII by the Jews, baptized and non-baptized, after the beginning of the Nazi-fascist persecution.
Nearly 3,000 files
At the urging of Pope Francis, this patrimony is now easily accessible to everyone. The first part of this archive on the Jews (1939-1948) was already available for consultation by scholars from all over the world as of March 2, 2020, in the reading room of the Historical Archives.
The then Sacred Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, equivalent to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs, entrusted a meticulous diplomat (Monsignor Angelo Dell'Acqua) with the task of dealing with requests for help that reached the Pope from all over Europe, in order to provide all possible assistance. Requests could be for visas or passports for expatriation, refuge, reunification with a family member, release from detention, transfer from one concentration camp to another, news about a deported person, provision of food or clothing, financial support, spiritual support and more.
Each of these requests constituted a file which, once processed, was destined to be kept in a documentary series called "Jews". There are more than 2,700 files, containing requests for help, almost always intended for entire families or groups of people. Thousands of people persecuted for their membership in the Jewish religion, or for mere "non-Aryan" ancestry, turned to the Vatican knowing that others had received help, as the young Werner Barasch himself writes.
The requests reached the Secretary of State, where diplomatic channels were activated to try to provide as much help as possible, taking into account the complexity of the political situation on a global scale.
Pacelli List
After the pontificate of Pius XII was opened for consultation in 2020, this particular list of names was called the "Pacelli list" (i.e., Pope Pius XII's), echoing the well-known "Schindler list". Although the two cases are different, the analogy perfectly captures the idea of how, in the corridors of the institution at the service of the pontiff, ceaseless efforts were made to provide Jews with concrete help.
As of June 2022, on the website of the Historical Archives of the Secretary of State - Section of Relations with States and International Organizations - the Jewish series will be available on the Internet in a virtual version, freely accessible to all.
In addition to the photocopy of each individual document, a file with the analytical inventory of the series will be made available, in which all the names of the beneficiaries of the aid found in the documents have been transcribed.
Accessible to family members
As in the case of young Werner Barasch's application, most of the more than 2,700 files that came to the Secretary of State, and that today tell us so many stories of flight from racial persecution, leave us open-mouthed, although sources with more information are not always available. The digitization of the entire Jewish series available on the Internet will enable descendants of those who sought help to search for traces of their loved ones around the world. At the same time, it will allow scholars and anyone interested to examine this special archival heritage freely and remotely.
The Church's objectives are to make the documents of its centuries-old history even more accessible, taking advantage of technological advances that make everything more accessible through digitization. Each year, this archive welcomes some 1,200 scholars from some 60 countries around the world. The opening desired by Pope Francis extends the possibility of consulting and studying the documents back to October 9, 1958, the day of the death of Pope Pius XII.
