WOW...JUST WOW.
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Asked what he had been most struck by, Bertone said it was the "historical truth" in documents on Pope Pius XII's papacy during World War II, who has been criticised by Jewish groups for not doing enough to ease their persecution.
"The research on the period of Pius XII has so far generated more than two million files and information about prisoners of war," he said.
One of the documents in the exhibition is a report from papal envoy Francesco Borgongini-Duca on the conditions in seven internment camps in Italy in 1941, asking for aid to be sent to the prisoners.
At a press conference on Wednesday, the head of the Vatican archives Sergio Pagano said all the documents in the vaults from Pius XII's papacy would be made available to researchers "within one or two years".
"The final decision however depends on the pope," he told reporters.
"Benedict XVI's willingness to accelerate the opening, also as a way of silencing dissonant voices on the pontificate of pope Pacelli (Pius XII), can only benefit the Church," he said.
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Among other treasures are a 10th-century parchment on the division of powers between pope and emperor and a document on the nomination of 13th-century hermit Pietro Morrone as Celestine V -- the only pope ever to resign.
It also has minutes from the 14th-century trials of the Knights Templar.
There is also a 15th-century edict from pope Alexander VI on carving up the New World between Spain and Portugal after Columbus's discovery of America, as well as a secret code he used when he was besieged by French troops.
http://news.yahoo.com/vatican-archiv...181715020.html