In a note published today, the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household announced that this evening the Holy Father will travel to the Apostolic Palace of Castelgandolfo, where he will spend the summer.
Over the summer months private and special audiences will be suspended, as will the Wednesday general audiences of 13, 20 and 27 July. On Sundays and Solemnities during this period, the Pope will pray the Angelus from the Apostolic Palace of Castelgandolfo. General audiences will resume again from Wednesday 3 August.
FORTHCOMING EXHIBITION OF THE VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES
Yesterday at the Holy See Press Office, a press conference was held to present an exhibition entitled “‘Lux in Arcana’ – the Vatican Secret Archives unveiled”. The exhibition will be inaugurated in Rome’s Capitoline Museums in February 2012.
Participating in Wednesday’s conference were Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B.; Cardinal Raffaele Farina S.D.B., archivist and librarian of Holy Roman Church; Bishop Sergio Pagano B., prefect of the Vatican Secret Archives; Giovanni Alemanno, mayor of Rome; Dino Gasperini, Rome’s local councillor for culture and the historical centre, and Umberto Broccoli, superintendent for the city’s cultural heritage.
Cardinal Bertone pointed out that “the inherent richness of this exhibition is amplified by the fact that it is being organised outside the Vatican, on the Capitol Hill which symbolically represents the ‘heart’ of Rome and its relationship with the papal city down the centuries. The challenge was to make the resources of the Vatican Secret Archives, with all their academic knowledge and experience, converge with those of the capital city, the Capitoline Museums and the office of the superintendent for archives and museums of the local authorities of Rome”.
For his part, Cardinal Farina explained that “ancient pontifical documents of great importance, as well as letters concerning significant aspects of the life of the Church in the world, will be leaving the Vatican for the first time and will be available to be viewed by visitors to the Capitol Hill, traditional headquarters of the government of Rome”.
Bishop Pagano noted that the exhibition “aims to throw light on the reality of this venerable institution (the Vatican Archives), on its nature, its contents and its activities. Hence the choice of theme as ‘Lux in Arcana'”.
”Among the millions of documents held in the Vatican Secret Archives we have chosen around one hundred which illustrate the complexity of the overall holdings”, said the bishop. These include “the ‘Dictatus papae’ of Gregory VII (1073-1085); Clement VII’s letter to the English parliament on the matrimonial cause of Henry VIII (1530), and the codex of the trial of Galileo Galilei (1616-1633)”.
VATICAN CITY, 7 JUL