Archive of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith
Part of a series on the |
Roman Curia |
---|
Catholicism portal |
The Archive of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, commonly referred to as the Archive of the Inquisition (or more fully the Archive of the Inquisition and Index), contains the
Origins
According to most sources, the
Most of the documents dating from these early years have been lost due to the
Development
After the archive of the Inquisition was returned to Rome in 1815, it expanded a great deal. Although the actual number of documents housed in the present archive of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith is not known because documents dated after Pope Leo XIII's death, in 1903, are still closed to researchers, there are known to be 4,500 documents available to scholars up to that point.
Over the years, there have been numerous important documents placed by various Popes in this archive. Probably the best known case is the 1944 and 1957 revelations by Fatima seer
Although little precise information is known, there can be not the least doubt that a great many individual cases concerning doctrinal orthodoxy are dealt with very thoroughly in the archives of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, simply because many theologians investigated by it have published some of the information within their own writings.
Opening
Because hostility towards liberalism and socialism was so strong and the documents dealing with them considered very sensitive, at the time the papal files in the
In 1979, a request was made to
On 22 January 1998 the Vatican opened all Inquisition archives up to the death of Leo XIII. At first, there was space for only twelve scholars within the archives, but this has been increased as demand for the use of the material has increased.
Pope Benedict XVI, formerly head of the office, described Ginzburg's letter as instrumental in the Vatican's decision to open these archives.[1]
The fact that – whereas other open Vatican archives are now open up to the death of
See also
- Index Librorum Prohibitorum
- List of authors and works on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum
- Vatican Apostolic Archive
References
- ^ Boudreaux, Richard (17 April 1998). "Putting the Inquisition on Trial". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
External links
- Vatican to computerize archives from the Holy Office, Inquisition @ Catholic World News, Dec.5, 2002.
- Palazzo del Sant'Uffizio: The Opening of the Roman Inquisition's Central Archive by Anne Jacobson Schutte, Perspectives Online, Published by the American Historical Association, May 1999