Vatican City, Oct 28, 2019 / 06:15 am (CNA).- Pope Francis declared Monday that the Vatican Secret Archive be changed to the title of Vatican Apostolic Archive, to avoid the negative associations which accompany modern interpretations of the word “secret.”
In an apostolic letter issued motu proprio Oct. 28, Francis declared that “from now on, the current Vatican Secret Archive, nothing changing in its identity, its structure, and its mission, be called the Vatican Apostolic Archive.”
This change, the pope wrote, is to avoid associations with the evolving interpretation of the word “secret,” which instead of denoting “private,” has, he said, “assumed the prejudicial sense of being hidden, not to be revealed and to be reserved for a few.”
Francis added that this interpretation is “the complete opposite of what the Vatican Secret Archive has always been and intends to be.”
The Vatican Secret Archive is an office which has preserved, since the beginning of the 17th century, documents and books of historical and cultural importance to the Church and to the world. It originated from the private archives of the popes. Since 1881, the archive has been open to qualified researchers on request.
The collection began to be called the “secret archive” around the mid-17th century, Pope Francis wrote, and served to indicate only that it was a “private archive, separate, reserved to the Pope.”
He stated that this change in name to Vatican Apostolic Archive “highlights the close link of the Roman See with the archive, an indispensable tool of the Petrine ministry” and that this new title also underlines its similarity to the Vatican Apostolic Library in its dependence on the Roman Pontiff.
Research in what will now be called the Vatican Apostolic Archive is free of charge and open to qualified scholars with a five-year university degree or equivalent doing scientific research. Access has only been allowed, however, to documents up until the end of the papacy of Pius XI, which is February 1939.
Pope Francis stated in his apostolic letter, that from March 2, 2020, he would extend that access to the end of the pontificate of Pius XII, whose papacy ended in October 1958.
The change in title for the archive was something suggested by the superiors of the archive, by some bishops, and by his “closest collaborators,” the pope explained.
He noted that the archive was first called “Archivum novum,” then “Archivum Apostolicum,” and finally, since around 1646, the “Archivum Secretum.”
“As long as the awareness of the close link between the Latin language and the languages that descended from it persisted, there was no need to explain or even justify this title of Archivum Secretum,” he explained.
But, he added, “with the progressive semantic changes that have occurred in modern languages and in the cultures and social sensitivities of different nations, to a greater or lesser extent, the term Secretum, linked to the Vatican Archive, began to be misunderstood, to be colored with ambiguous shades, even negative.”
Francis said he decided to change the name, because “the true meaning of the term secretum” has been lost, and there is a growing instinctive association “with the concept expressed by the modern word ‘secret,’ in some areas and environments.”
“Historical experience teaches that every human institution, having arisen even with the best protections and with vigorous and well-founded hopes of progress, touched fatally by time, in order precisely to remain faithful to itself and to the ideal aims of its nature, perceives the need, not to change its appearance, but to transpose in the various ages and cultures its own inspiring values and to make those updates that are convenient and sometimes necessary,” he wrote.
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Vatican City, Oct 27, 2018 / 05:05 pm (CNA).- The final document of the Synod of Bishop’s fifteenth general session was approved by the members and released late Saturday. While the session was convened to discuss the topics of young people, the … […]
Vatican City, Jun 5, 2018 / 08:18 am (CNA/EWTN News).- With the death count of a massive volcanic eruption in Guatemala already at 65, Pope Francis has offered his prayers for the victims, their families and the thousands who have lost their homes due to the calamity.
In a June 5 telegram, the pope said he was “deeply distressed in hearing the sad news of the violent eruption” of Guatemala’s Volcano de Fuego, meaning “Volcano of Fire,” which so far “has caused numerous victims and enormous material damage which has affected a significant number of the area’s inhabitants.”
Signed by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and addressed to Guatemala’s apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Nicolas Henry Marie Denis Thevenin, the telegram conveyed Pope Francis’ prayers for the deceased and for all those “who are suffering the consequences of this natural disaster.”
The pope assured of his spiritual closeness and support to the families “who weep for the loss of their loved ones,” to wounded and to those who are working in relief efforts, asking that God would grant them “the gifts of solidarity, spiritual serenity and Christian hope.”
Francis’ telegram came after the June 3 eruption of Volcano de Fuego, one of the Guatemala’s most active volcano’s, resulting in a death toll of at least 65 people so far, with many still unaccounted for.
During the eruption, a heavy pyroclastic flow – an especially deadly combo of hot toxic gases and volcanic matter – poured out of the volcano and an engulfed several villages below, burying houses and covering surrounding areas with a thick blanket of ash.
According to CONRED, Guatemala’s national disaster agency, so far some 3,265 people have been evacuated and at least 46 others injured due to the volcanic eruption. The nation’s airport was also reportedly shut down due to the hot ash still hanging in the air.
Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales has declared three days of national mourning over the tragedy, and, according to ABC News, has also called in his ministers to discuss declaring a state of emergency in several affected areas.
The eruption of Volcan de Fuego is Guatemala’s largest volcanic eruption since the 1902 eruption of the Santa Maria volcano, which killed thousands.
In a June 4 statement, Bishop Víctor Hugo Palma Paúl of Escuintla, one of the hardest hit areas, assured the people of his diocese of the Church’s “closeness and solidarity, illuminated by faith in the God of Jesus Christ, God of life and not of death, of peace, and not destruction.”
The bishop asked both local and national Guatemalan authorities to continue offering relief services with “promptness and civic commitment.”
In Escuintla, the villages of Los Lotes and El Rodeo – known for the rich agricultural diversity they provide to the nation – have practically been buried, leaving inhabitants largely cut off from aid and from their livelihood.
In his statement, Hugo said three make-shift welcome centers have been set up in parishes in his diocese for those who have lost their homes.
He thanked those working to support victims, and voiced confidence in God’s providence toward “the victims of this tragedy,” and entrusted “the life and spiritual and material well-being” of Guatemalans to the care of Mary, Mother of the Church.
Pope Francis prays during Christmas Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 24, 2023. / Vatican Media
Vatican City, Dec 24, 2023 / 18:00 pm (CNA).
Below is the full text of Pope Francis’ homily for the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, delivered on Dec. 24, 2023, in St. Peter’s Basilica.
“A census of the whole earth” (cf. Lk 2:1). This was the context in which Jesus was born, and the Gospel makes a point of it. The census might have been mentioned in passing, but instead is carefully noted. And in this way, a great contrast emerges. While the emperor numbers the world’s inhabitants, God enters it almost surreptitiously. While those who exercise power seek to take their place with the great ones of history, the King of history chooses the way of littleness. None of the powerful take notice of him: only a few shepherds, relegated to the margins of social life.
The census speaks of something else. In the Scriptures, the taking of a census has negative associations. King David, tempted by large numbers and an unhealthy sense of self-sufficiency, sinned gravely by ordering a census of the people. He wanted to know how powerful he was. After some nine months, he knew how many men could wield a sword (cf. 2 Sam 24:1-9). The Lord was angered and the people suffered. On this night, however, Jesus, the “Son of David”, after nine months in Mary’s womb, is born in Bethlehem, the city of David. He does not impose punishment for the census, but humbly allows himself to be registered as one among many. Here we see, not a god of wrath and chastisement, but the God of mercy, who takes flesh and enters the world in weakness, heralded by the announcement: “on earth peace among those whom he favors” (Lk 2:14). Tonight, our hearts are in Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace is once more rejected by the futile logic of war, by the clash of arms that even today prevents him from finding room in the world (cf. Lk 2:7).
The census of the whole earth, in a word, manifests the all-too-human thread that runs through history: the quest for worldly power and might, fame and glory, which measures everything in terms of success, results, numbers and figures, a world obsessed with achievement. Yet the census also manifests the way of Jesus, who comes to seek us through enfleshment. He is not the god of accomplishment, but the God of Incarnation. He does not eliminate injustice from above by a show of power, but from below, by a show of love. He does not burst on the scene with limitless power, but descends to the narrow confines of our lives. He does not shun our frailties, but makes them his own.
Christmas Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on the night of Dec. 24, 2023. Vatican Media
Brothers and sisters, tonight we might ask ourselves: Which God do we believe in? In the God of incarnation or the god of achievement? Because there is always a risk that we can celebrate Christmas while thinking of God in pagan terms, as a powerful potentate in the sky; a god linked to power, worldly success, and the idolatry of consumerism. With the false image of a distant and petulant deity who treats the good well and the bad poorly; a deity made in our own image and likeness, handy for resolving our problems and removing our ills. God, on the other hand, waves no magic wand; he is no god of commerce who promises “everything all at once”. He does not save us by pushing a button, but draws near us, in order to change our world from within. Yet how deeply ingrained is the worldly notion of a distant, domineering, unbending, and powerful deity who helps his own to prevail against others! So many times this image is ingrained in us. But that is not the case: our God was born for all, during a census of the whole earth.
Let us look, then, to the “living and true God” (1 Thess 1:9). The God who is beyond all human reckoning and yet allows himself to be numbered by our accounting. The God, who revolutionizes history by becoming a part of history. The God who so respects us as to allow us to reject him; who takes away sin by taking it upon himself; who does not eliminate pain but transforms it; who does not remove problems from our lives but grants us a hope that is greater than all our problems. God so greatly desires to embrace our lives that, infinite though he is, he becomes finite for our sake. In his greatness, he chooses to become small; in his righteousness, he submits to our injustice. Brothers and sisters, this is the wonder of Christmas: not a mixture of sappy emotions and worldly contentment, but the unprecedented tenderness of a God who saves the world by becoming incarnate. Let us contemplate the Child, let us contemplate the manger, his crib, which the angels call “a sign” for us (cf. Lk 2:12). For it truly is the sign that reveals God’s face, a face of compassion and mercy, whose might is shown always and only in love. He makes himself close, tender, and compassionate. This is God’s way: closeness, compassion, tenderness.
Pope Francis brings a figure of the Christ child over to the nativity scene inside of St. Peter’s Basilica at the end of Mass. Vatican Media
Sisters and brothers, let us marvel at the fact that he “became flesh” (Jn 1:14). Flesh: the very word evokes our human frailty. The Gospel uses this word to show us that God completely assumed our human condition. Why did he go to such lengths? Because he cares for us, because he loves us to the point that he considers us more precious than all else. Dear brother, dear sister, to God, who changed history in the course of a census, you are not a number, but a face. Your name is written on his heart. But if you look to your own heart, and think of your own inadequacies and this world that is so judgmental and unforgiving, you may feel it difficult to celebrate this Christmas. You may think things are going badly, or feel dissatisfied with your limitations, your failings, your problems, and your sins. Today, though, please, let Jesus take the initiative. He says to you, “For your sake, I became flesh; for your sake, I became just like you”. So why remain caught up in your troubles? Like the shepherds, who left their flocks, leave behind the prison of your sorrows and embrace the tender love of the God who became a child. Put aside your masks and your armor; cast your cares on him and he will care for you (cf. Ps 55:22). He became flesh; he is looking not for your achievements but for your open and trusting heart. In him, you will rediscover who you truly are: a beloved son or daughter of God. Now you can believe it, for tonight the Lord was born to light up your life; his eyes are alight with love for you. We have difficulty believing in this, that God’s eyes shine with love for us.
Christmas Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on the night of Dec. 24, 2023. Vatican Media
Christ does not look at numbers, but at faces. However, who looks at him amid the many distractions and mad rush of a bustling and indifferent world? Who is watching? In Bethlehem, as crowds of people were caught up in the excitement of the census, coming and going, filling the inns, and engaged in petty conversation, a few were close to Jesus: Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, and then the Magi.
Let us learn from them. They stood gazing upon Jesus, with their hearts set on him. They did not speak, they worshiped. Tonight, brothers and sisters, is a time of adoration, of worship.
Worship is the way to embrace the Incarnation. For it is in silence that Jesus, the Word of the Father, becomes flesh in our lives. Let us do as they did, in Bethlehem, a town whose name means “House of Bread”. Let us stand before him who is the Bread of Life. Let us rediscover worship, for to worship is not to waste time, but to make our time a dwelling place for God. It is to let the seed of the Incarnation bloom within us; it is to cooperate in the work of the Lord, who, like leaven, changes the world. To worship is to intercede, to make reparation, to allow God to realign history. As a great teller of epic tales once wrote to his son, “I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament… There you will find romance, glory, honor, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves on earth” (J.R.R. TOLKIEN, Letter 43, March 1941).
Brothers and sisters, tonight love changes history. Make us believe, Lord, in the power of your love, so different from the power of the world. Lord, make us, like Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the Magi, gather around you and worship you. As you conform us ever more to yourself, we shall bear witness before the world to the beauty of your countenance.
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