Soon historians will finally be able to access the Vatican Archives from the time of the Papacy of Pius XI (1922-1939). The archives may allow historians to gain a much greater insight into the attitude of the Vatican to the rise of Nazism.
Aside from this there could also be a new wealth of information on the Catholic Church’s view on the Spanish Civil war from 1936-39.
The successor to Pius XI, Pius XII has long stood accused of acquiescing during the holocaust in which approximately 6 million Jews are believed to have been killed.
However the key records that could be contained in the archive of Pius XII will still remain closed. Many rabbis and Jewish historians requested that these key records become available when Pope Benedict XVI was elected.
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