Note on Access
By the very nature of archives, all archival institutions evolve over time. This can be evidenced in the accessioning of additional material, the presentation of new finding aids, and the release of information previously restricted. Repositories of the Vatican certainly experience these changes. Until recently Vatican Archival repositories, open for research use, restricted all material dated after January 22, 1922 ( the end of the pontificate of Benedict XV). Recently, however, it was announced that on February 15, 2003 (Bollettino della sala Stampa della Santa Sede N. 0090, February 15, 2002) that series of documents of the Holy See relating to Germany from 1922-1939 (the pontificate of Pius XI) would be opened for research. The documents would be made available through the services of the Archivio Segreto Vaticano. Series of particular interest include: Baviera (1922-1939) and Germania (1922-1939) from the archives of the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs; and the Archivio della Nunziatura Apostolica de Monaco di Baviera (1922-1934) Guide 4.8.1, and Archivio della Nunziatura Apostolica in Berlino (1922-1930) Guide 4.41.1. Note that records 1931-1942 for the Nunciature in Berlin were destroyed in the bombing of Berlin in 1943. The archives of the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs contains sensitive matters of a diplomatic nature and is generally not accessible for research purposes and was not inventoried in the Guide. The named series will be transferred from that archives to the Archivo Segreto. It is expected that all records in the Archivo Segreto Vaticano for the pontificate of Pius XI (1922-1939) will be opened to research by 2005.
After that, on December 17, 2002, it was announced that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith will also make available, from February 15, 2003, its own records through 1939 on matters relating to Germany, Nazism, Fascism and the condemnation of racism.
With a decree of July 26, 2001, responsibility was delegated to the Vatican Library for the control, inspection, and protection of all goods related to books and archives of Vatican City and extraterritorial property of the Holy See. The same law mandated that within two years a summary inventory of all books, archive material, and museum items be prepared. It is still not clear what form this survey may take. It does offer the opportunity to see for the first time the full extent of archival holdings within the total framework of the Holy See.