Pope Francis has ordered the expansion of the Apostolic Archives and Library, a move that seeks to improve the overall management and preservation of its vast academic resources. The expansion will utilize space within the Pontifical Roman Major Seminary building in the extraterritorial area of St. John Lateran, where it will be most used by historians.
According to a press release, the Pope has called for the creation of a commission that will determine “the categories of documents to be transferred to the new rooms.” The commission will be formed from representatives of the Secretariat of State, the Vatican Apostolic Archives, and the Vatican Library. While Pope Francis ordered the commission to be created immediately, he did not order their work to be completed by a specific date, which suggests the endeavor could take a while.
"The centuries-old care for the preservation of acts and documents concerning the government of the universal Church, as well as the commitment to the development and diffusion of culture, are the characteristic features of the activity of the Vatican Archives and Library," Pope Francis wrote in the decree.
In order to access the new archive, researchers must make a request with the Prefect of Archives, who can issue a three-month pass, to be renewed as necessary. They must also come with the recommendation from a qualified institute or individual, have a firm theme in mind for their intended research, and be engaged in graduate or professional studies.
The reason for all the criteria is that it is a small area, with limited staff that can only serve around 60 people per day. Still, it is estimated that it will see around 1,500 visitors per year. Despite the limits, the pope is confident that the new location will allow for access of the Vatican Archive and Library’s holdings “to a greater number of people, over larger areas.”
The "Vatican Secret Archives" were renamed to the "Vatican Apostolic Archives" in 2019, because the word secret has changed meaning over the centuries. The word from the Latin title Archivum Secretum Vaticanum (or the Italian Archivio Segreto Vaticano) indicates that the archives are the “personal” records of the pope.
In March 2020, Pope Francis opened the archives concerning the pontificate of Pius XII.
