Vatican Secret Archives

"Investigative stories behind the most controversial events in the Church's history, for example: the Knights Templar trial, the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Galileo Galilei trial, and Pius XII's attitude towards the Holocaust"--

The Vatican Secret Archives have fuelled people's imagination for centuries. This is largely due to its incomparable long and interesting history. Today, the entire documentation kept in the Vatican Secret Archives occupies 85 kilometres of bookshelves and is constantly growing. It covers a continued chronological space of over 800 years. Moreover, its unique location, the majestic documentary treasures and the limited access contribute to this aura of mystery. The shroud of secrecy that has always surrounded this important cultural institution of the Holy See, due to the allusions to inaccessible secrets, as well as to the publicity it has always enjoyed in literature and in the media, makes this publication even more attractive. And now, for the first time, a publisher was allowed to walk around this wonderful location without any restrictions. The result is a magnificent book with impressive and atmospheric illustrations. Take an unforgettable walk past the most exceptional places and documents in these secret archives, including reading rooms that are only open to academia, as well as rooms that remain closed to the public, some of which are decorated with gorgeous 16th and 17th century frescos, while others accommodate several thousands of documents. You will be able to discover more than 100 of these documents in this book. Specialists of the Vatican Secret Archives have selected these documents and provided each one with a precise explanation. It is a careful selection of documents that show the richness of the Vatican Archives' contents. A highly appealing, unique and attractive book, for a large audience as well as for the academic!

Wolf presents astonishing findings from the recently opened Vatican archives--discoveries that clarify the relations between National Socialism and the Vatican. He vividly illuminates the inner workings of the Vatican.

In the corridors of the Vatican on the eve of World War II, American Catholic priest Joseph Patrick Hurley found himself in the midst of secret diplomatic dealings and intense debate. Hurley’s deeply felt American patriotism and fixed ideas about confronting Nazism directly led to a mighty clash with Pope Pius XII. It was 1939, the earliest days of Pius’s papacy, and controversy within the Vatican over policy toward Nazi Germany was already heated. This groundbreaking book is both a biography of Joseph Hurley, the first American to achieve the rank of nuncio, or Vatican ambassador, and an insider’s view of the alleged silence of the pope on the Holocaust and Nazism. Drawing on Hurley’s unpublished archives, the book documents critical debates in Pope Pius’s Vatican, secret U.S.-Vatican dealings, the influence of Detroit’s flamboyant anti-Semitic priest Charles E. Coughlin, and the controversial case of Croatia’s Cardinal Stepinac. The book also sheds light on the powerful connections between religion and politics in the twentieth century.

As Archivist and Librarian of the Holy Roman Church, I have the rare pleasure of presenting the catalogue of an exhibition that concerns not only an institution as prestigious as Vatican Secret Archives, but also an equally prestigious Roman municipal institution, the Capitoline Museums, which are hosting the event. For the first time ever, very ancient papal documents and significant papers concerning the life of the Church in the world are issuing from the Vatican Walls and opening up to visitors'eyes on Rome's Capitol Hill, the traditional seat of the city's government. -- Publisher.

‘This 5-star thriller is a non-stop action-packed adventure... Reads like the latest blockbuster film... I was left breathless, my heart pounding as I turned the last page’ NetGalley review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ You’ve cracked the Da Vinci code, now uncover the Vatican secret...