Catholic World News News Feature

Ratzinger explains opening of Inquisition files January 23, 1998

VATICAN (CWN) -- At the Vatican yesterday, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger addressed a meeting of scholars convened to discuss the opening of the archives of the Holy Office-- the Inquisition. The archives have been opened to serious scholars in order to encourage dialogue and understanding of that historical epoch.

Cardinal Ratzinger observed that the Vatican has opened the way to scholars gradually over a period of years, beginning in 1881, when Pope Leo XIII made the decision to allow access to what had been secret archives. The cardinal pointed out that Pope John Paul II, in his apostolic letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente, had called upon Christians to look back across the history of the Church in order to undertake a thorough "examination of conscience." The decision to open the archives of the Inquisition was a product of that directive, Ratzinger said. He expressed the hope that the decision would help scholars to understand the history of the Inquisition "without prejudice." Cardinal Ratzinger also cited the "legitimate aspirations of researchers" as an additional reason to open the archives, which contain some 4,500 documents. He cited, for example, a letter written by an American Jewish scholar, Charles Ginzburg, and addressed to Pope John Paul soon after his election to the pontificate, asking for access to these resources. Ginzburg had reasoned that by opening the archives the Holy See could show "openness to the world." And Cardinal Ratzinger added that the Church was also showing "she has nothing to fear, even on this subject, from critical and scientific research." Since 1979, the cardinal revealed, his Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith-- the successor to the Holy Office-- has been in consultation with scholars, in order to work out plans for the opening of the archives. In 1991 some of the archives were opened to some scholars, on a limited basis, to test the plans. The archives of the Holy Office had been the last resources to remain closed. He acknowledged that some of the materials contained in these archives are "very delicate" and "very serious," and require some discretion and prudence on the part of those who make them public. In the past access to such sensitive archives has been allowed on a case-by-case basis.

Citing a series of decisions over the years in which scholars had been given access to materials related to particular subjects, Cardinal Ratzinger said that the Second Vatican Council encouraged the move toward a more open approach. However, his Congregation lacked the time and personnel necessary to inaugurate an ambitious program of open access.

At the same time, he said, the Church recognized that whenever the archives were opened, the result was a greater understanding of the faith. In the case of the Inquisition, he observed, most of the documents clearly affirm the role of the Roman Pontiff to "confirm his brothers in the faith." Citing the phrase of St. Thomas Aquinas that "all things under heaven and on earth tend toward the truth," the cardinal concluded that full and open investigation, leading to a greater appreciation for the truth, would serve the goals of the Church.