During the sacking of Rome in 1527, for instance, three quarters of them were killed while providing cover for Pope Clement VII to escape. Our 9th annual '10 Issue' hits newsstands this week. (The Vatican Library, on the other hand, contains manuscripts on science, religion, and art that the Vatican has collected over the centuries.) Popes did not live at the Vatican until the 14th century. The Murder of Pope John Paul I. Today, it's even more accessible. The name itself is evocative of mystery, and many theories have naturally arisen about what might be held among the 53 miles of shelves and 12 centuries' worth of documents only available to a select few. So where does that money come from? In fact, the Vatican maintains a web site for the archives, which anyone with a functioning web browser can visit. Part of the problem was the weakened American dollar, which translated into less purchasing power. EXTRATERRESTRIALS. It is 110 acres, about the size of a golf course. When looking at the secrets held within Vatican City, perhaps the most logical place to start is the Vatican Secret Archives. Possibly. With 1.5 crimes per citizen, Vatican City has the highest crime rate in the … The vaults in Vatican City are said to house some of the most dangerous—and potentially scandalous—secrets that the Roman Catholic church possesses. Vatican Secret Archives. After Pope Julius II witnessed their ferocity in battle 500 years ago, he recruited a few soldiers to become his personal bodyguards. In the mood for an epic urban fantasy about a Vatican-backed black-ops team hunting down dangerous books to prevent the apocalypse? To celebrate, here's an article on the Vatican from last year's edition. Some sins are simply too much for a local bishop to forgive. If you're a priest who breaks the seal of confession, a priest who offers confession to his own sexual partners, or a man who has directly participated in an abortion and wants to become a priest, then your case must go before the tribunal to receive absolution. Copyright © 2020 Serial Box Publishing. The pope, as Sovereign of Vatican City, owns the material held in the archive until his death or resignation, with ownership passing to his successor. (The Vatican's legal code is based on Italy's, with some modifications regarding abortion and divorce.) Secretum, the Vatican says, translates more accurately to “personal” than to “secret” and refers to the private letters and historical records of past popes. Apparently, the Archives are home to the largest collection of pornography. That's just one symbol of the Holy See's continued devotion to the language… The Vatican Bank is the only bank in the world that allows ATM users to select Latin to perform transactions. A dress code means many a … This statement is confirmed not only by Copenhagen's Museum Erotica, where visitors are routinely informed that the Vatican holds the largest collection of erotica in the world, but also in writings by noted feminist scholar Camille Paglia and National Review founder William F. Buckley, Jr. ‍Some people speculate that the Archives are controlled by the Illuminati. Eventually, the bank had to repay more than $200 million to its creditors. Vatican City is a Unesco World Heritage Site, the only one to ­encompass a country. In the end, many masses and benedictions simply go unperformed until the Pope either passes away or recovers. In fact, Father Gabriele Amorth, the Church's chief exorcist, claims to expel more than 300 demons a year from the confines of his Vatican office, and there are more than 350 exorcists operating on behalf of the Catholic Church in Italy alone. ‍Aliens, or evidence of alien life forms, such as extraterrestrial skulls! In any case, records of clerical hijinks were kept in the secret archives of the diocese, which even now is mandated by Canon Law. The Vatican's secret archives haven't been truly secret since Pope Leo XIII first allowed scholars to visit in 1881. According to the Bible does it not seem odd to you that America, the greatest nation on Earth, the greatest evangelical Nation, the richest and the most powerful country today is not even mentioned in the Bible?. The archives also contain an abundance of red ribbons, which were used to bind 85 petitions from English clergyman and aristocrats. The Vatican is the smallest country in the world, and has an economy shrouded in secrecy. Baudelaire once said that "the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn't exist. The documents span 12 centuries and four continents. Besides priests performing exorcisms, at least two modern-day Popes have performed exorcism… Speaker and Edge discuss the Pope, the Vatican, and the Catholic church. Outsiders are free to examine the correspondences of every pope for the past 1,000 years, although there is one catch: Guests have to know exactly what they're looking for. This article originally appeared in the May-June 2009 issue of mental_floss magazine. With 52 miles of shelves in the archives, the librarians prohibit browsing. Presumably, a bunch of Hail Marys doesn't cut it. Here are some little known facts that will give you a peek into the mysterious world of the Vatican… Not only that, but there’s rumors that the Archives contain evidence that the Pope is conspiring with aliens to implant us all with computer chips. The ATMs in Vatican City speak in Latin. Proof that Pope Pius XII Helped Hitler. The archives were establish… Little do they know, however, that behind the walls lie thousands of magical texts pertaining to the existence of magic and demons…. Secrets of Vatican City Vatican City is the smallest country in the world Vatican City holds the title for several superlatives - some claim it houses the world’s most precious artwork, others say it’s the world’s most spiritual place for Catholics. The word “secret” comes from a misunderstanding of the Latin word “secretum,” or private. The actual name of the Vatican archives is Archivum Secretum Apostolicum Vaticanum . The truth behind the secret archives stems from a mistranslation of Latin. Here are 13 of the strangest rumors about what's inside... 1. Ever since, Swiss Guards have pledged fidelity to the Pope, sometimes dying for the cause. ‍Yes, you read that correctly. The city-state also gets cash from books, museums, stamps, and souvenir shops. The Vatican is posing as Snow White, but the Bible says that she is a prostitute, “the great whore,” a cult (Rev. ‘Secretum’ in Latin does not mean ‘secret’ as some may suppose. Once a cardinal becomes the Pope, he's the designated leader of the Catholic Church and God's representative on Earth for the rest of his life. With advances in the fields of psychology, neuroscience, and biology, it’s hard to believe that exorcisms are still performedby the Catholic Church. In his life and death, the beloved late Pope John Paul II has inspired millions both for his faith and service to the Catholic Church. Where Thieves Go to Prey. The Vatican Secret Archives is the central repository where all this information is stored. When the Guards are actually protecting the Pope, they wear plain clothes and carry distinctly modern weapons. Vatican City: More than 150 historians and researchers have signed up to access the soon-to-open Vatican archives of Pope Pius XII, evidence of the … Further, as modern medicine improves, even seriously ill people tend to stick around longer, meaning that a Pope could be alive but unable to perform his duties for years, as was the case with John Paul II. This secretive tribunal has met off and on for the past 830 years, but in January of 2009, for the first time ever, its members held a press conference to discuss their work. The sinner is referred to by a pseudonym, and only the Major Penitentiary, Cardinal James Francis Stafford, decides how the sin shall be dealt with. The archive also contains state papers, correspondence, account books, and many other documents that the church has accumulated over the centuries. For more info, take a look at this video: Hypnotic, serialized fiction you can listen to or read. [1]The Vatican also has its own Secret Archives (their unashamed, actual name), which are as vast as they are old. The Vatican’s supposed “release” of this Secret in 2000 did little to quell our concerns, for obvious reasons. Documents from the papacy of Pius XII may settle some long-debated questions. … Well, no one is really sure. One of these offices includes the Vatican City, where many high figures, including the Archivists, are likely Illuminati members. The Vatican needs several hundred million dollars per year to operate. The Church’s suppression of the final Third Secret fueled rampant speculation about its contents, ranging from apostasy of the papacy to nuclear holocaust, to natural disasters ushering in the Apocalypse. Not … It is very interesting. It's not that the cardinals are donning masks and repeatedly robbing the bank, it's just that the massive crowds of tourists make Vatican City a pickpocket's paradise. Messing with them is like messing with Jesus. There is more. In reality, however, the Vatican’s Secret Archives are not actually secret. The device is said to have been built by an Italian priest and scientist, Father Pellegrino Maria Ernetti, so he could record evidence of Christ’s crucifixion. The former Pope John Paul II personally performed three exorcisms during his reign, and the current Pope Benedict XVI is expanding the ranks of Catholic-sponsored exorcists throughout the world. ), The Vatican's Latin Foundation tries to keep the language relevant by translating modern phrases into the ancient tongue. In The Godfather: Part III, a shady deal between the mafia and the Vatican leads to the murder of the Pope. With a name like that, who wouldn’t speculate? As the leader, the Pope owns them until his tenure comes to an end either through resignation or death. The church stringently restricts access to its vaults, which has only fueled rumors as years have passed. At the center of this drama was an official of the Vatican curia who, as we now know from other newly revealed documents, helped persuade Pope … Crimes that the Vatican sees fit to try itself—mainly shoplifting in its duty-free stores—are usually punished by temporarily revoking the troublemaker's access to those areas. The device is said to be replete with three precious alloys, cathodes, dials, levers, and that it has the ability to display myriad historic events in biblical and Roman history. ‍The Chronovisor is supposedly a machine that allows its users to view past and future events. And then, there's the sin of attempting to assassinate the Pope. And though he was suspected of being involved in several mysterious deaths, including Pope John Paul I's, Marcinkus successfully claimed diplomatic immunity in the United States and retired to Arizona in 1990. Is the Vatican confusing and mysterious? For centuries, this secret passageway served as an escape route for the pope during desperate times. Delivered to your device in bite-sized chunks. Understanding how it all works requires parsing through centuries of religious texts. (Get your limited-edition Vatican euros here!). Interestingly, the translations can have serious consequences. A recent U.S. lawsuit was brought against the Vatican for conspiring to protect a child-molesting priest, and it was held up for months as the Church's experts rejected the prosecuting team's Latin translations of terms such as "conspiracy to commit fraud.". That's just one symbol of the Holy See's continued devotion to the language. Here are a list of some of our favorite conspiracy theories about the Secret Archives: ‍Many conspiracy theorists believe the Archives contain correspondence between Saint Paul and Emperor Nero pertaining to Jesus’ existence and his biological descendants.Some theorists also believe the Vatican may be hiding proof that Jesus did not exist. ‍Aliens, or evidence of alien life forms, such as extraterrestrial skulls! Catholics pay tithes to their local parishes and donate about $100 million every year to the Vatican itself. Three of the five sins they contemplate can only be committed by the clergy. What happens then? So these are the Vatican’s private archives. The Vatican even released an iPhone application that contains multilingual versions of the Breviary prayer book and the prayers of daily mass. Yet, as far as the general public knows, the Archives contain historical documents spanning at least 12 centuries, including original letters written by Michelangelo, documents relating to expenditure, correspondence, and even a entreaty written on birch bark by the Canadian Ojibwe tribe in 1887. But they are not secret. Another contributing factor was the lackluster performance of the Vatican's newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano. 19:2). This is the first and probably the last time that they will leave the Vatican. The Vatican has also added solar panels to the roof of the Pope Paul VI auditorium as part of its commitment to fight climate change. To boost subscriptions, the Pope has asked the editor to spice up the layout with more photos and allowed him to cover world news stories in addition to the traditional religious fare. Pope Benedict XVI has been particularly passionate about reviving the language and purportedly holds many informal conversations in Latin. With 1.5 crimes per citizen, Vatican City has the highest crime rate in the world. Pope Pius XII is commonly referred to as “Hitler’s Pope” for … So most criminals are simply marched across the border into Italy, as part of a pact between the two countries. But collection plates aren't the Vatican's only source of money. How creepy. But Marcinkus was never indicted of a crime. However, according to former exorcist Gabriele Amorth, who apparently performed 70,000 exorcisms in his office in the Vatican, there are around 300 exorcists worldwide and four working in Rome. A cardinal can take over the Pope's responsibilities as the Vatican's head of state, but no one else is allowed to carry out his ceremonial duties. (Pope John Paul II generally spoke Polish. Today, the hundred or so members of the Swiss Guard spend most of their time bedecked in Renaissance garb, twirling their halberds in ceremonies or manning checkpoints around the Vatican. Nowadays, the Swiss have a reputation for pacifism, but back in the 1500s, they were considered an unstoppable military force. - and must specifically ask to view a particular text. David I. I'm not insisting that it's all true, but it is completely reasonable to believe that the Vatican archives hold many secrets, we don't really know what's going on or how bad it is. Yet, after its medieval dissolution, the Illuminati slowly built itself up, electing members to go into the highest offices in the world. In 1917, three Portuguese children received ominous and enigmatic prophecies and multiple visions of the Virgin Mary, one of which was witnessed by thousands of people. The Vatican Bank is the only bank in the world that allows ATM users to select Latin to perform transactions. March 2, 2020. Calling all conspiracy theorists! The meetings of the Apostolic Penitentiary are kept confidential because they're a different form of confession. Naturally, many people have speculated that there must be secret documents amongst the 50+ miles of shelving in the Vatican’s Archives. That one's pretty self-explanatory. Here's a look behind the scenes. You’ve got to hand it to them, that would definitely be something the Catholic Church would want to hide. Turns out, all those years you spent learning Latin in school … As with Supreme Court justices, he can resign before his death, but that's unlikely. But that's not always enough. ‍There is a great deal of evidence that the text of the the controversial Third Secret of Fátima is one of the many secret documents hidden in the Vatican’s Archives. Its many financial responsibilities include running international embassies, paying for the Pope's travels around the world, maintaining ancient cathedrals, and donating considerable resources to schools, churches, and health care centers. " But in modern-day Vatican City, the devil is considered alive and well. 1 She uses government agency branches in every country, including the United States, as her vicious little dwarfs. But that doesn’t mean the documents are boring. Belonging to the Vatican, the Chronovisor time machine is heralded as one of the papacy’s best-kept secrets. That's just one symbol of the Holy See's continued devotion to the language… Although Vatican officials claimed the 65-year-old pope died of a heart attack, there was never an autopsy, and at the time, the Vatican definitely had ties to organized crime. Pope Benedict XVI routinely sends text messages of his homilies to mobile subscribers around the world, and in 2009, the Vatican opened up an official YouTube channel to show various Papal addresses and ceremonies. Read or listen to Bookburners — a riveting collaborative series headed by Max Gladstone — HERE! The exhibition’s title, Lux in Arcana: The Vatican Secret Archives Reveals Itself, explains its purpose. The shortest serving Pope in the history of the Vatican, Pope John … The Vatican’s Secret Archives, aka Archivum Secretum Apostolicum Vaticanum, are subject to wild conspiracy theories, and for good reason. From the New World Order agenda, to the countless money scandals, the rampant pedophilia, and accusations of satanic practices within elements of the church, Speaker and Edge pack a lot into this one hour episode. The most famous letter there is probably Henry VIII's request that his marriage to Catherine of Aragón be annulled, which Pope Clement VII denied. But the Pope's enthusiasm for technology isn't limited to cell phones and the Internet. It is more accurately translated to mean ‘personal’ or ‘private’. Amorth also teaches bishops how to tell the difference between satanic possession and psychiatric illness, noting that those who suffer from the former seem to be particularly repulsed by the sight of holy water and the cross. Vatican City may have fewer than 1,000 citizens and span only 110 acres, but it also has a multimillion-dollar budget and an unbelievably complex history. Of course, as there is no record of the machine, its most likely resting place must be hidden somewhere in the Archives. All rights reserved. The archives are in fact made up of the private letters and historic records of past popes over the past four centuries. By the end of 2007, the city-state was $13.5 million in the hole. While priests can absolve a sin as serious as murder (according to the Church), there are five specific sins that require absolution from the Apostolic Penitentiary. In 2007, the Vatican issued its first drug conviction after an employee was found with a few ounces of cocaine in his desk. Henry divorced Catherine anyway and married Anne Boleyn (and four other women), leading to Rome's break with the Church of England. Sure enough, in 1982, Vatican Bank president Father Paul Marcinkus resigned from his post after a series of scandals exposed the bank's ties to the mafia. The first, desecrating the Eucharist, is particularly bad because Catholics believe that the bread and wine transubstantiate into the body and blood of Christ. In 2003, they released an updated dictionary that included the terms "rush hour" (tempus maximae frequentiae) and "dishwasher" (escariorum lavatory). Is the Pope Catholic? But not every crime involves theft. Entertainers are too busy to work on these archives, obviously. Only select scholars, academics, and journalists are allowed to enter the Archives, a rule which is highly unlikely to change any time soon...After all, who knows what would happen if someone stumbled upon the Black Archives? Of course, no one is allowed to browse the Archives - they’re called Secret for a reason! Even after the construction of the original St. … Swiss armies were renowned for the their mastery of a weapon called the halberd, a deadly combination of a spear and an axe, and their ground troops were famous for routinely demolishing legions of enemies on horseback. Concealed inside a… Secrets of the Catholic Church #1. And is it a coincidence that the Vatican happens to own the biggest telescope in the world, the one equipped with an infrared camera? Was this based on a true story? 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