News

ST. LOUIS, Missouri, JULY 17, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Since structural weaknesses forced the Vatican library in Rome to close for three years of renovation, researchers are finding assistance at a U.S. university.

Gregory Pass, the current librarian of the Knights of Columbus Vatican Film Library at St. Louis University, told ZENIT that since the announcement was made about the closure of the Vatican Library, his offices have gotten busier.

"We have seen a rise in the number of inquiries regarding the availability of our microfilms and of space in our reading room, as well as a rise in the number of inquiries regarding our fellowships and general inquiries about the Vatican Film Library itself," Pass said.

He added: "We are preparing to accommodate an influx of readers, looking into expanding the number of fellowships available, as well as adding to our already extensive reference collection and microfilm collections."

Pass explained what researchers can find in St. Louis: "Our collections hold approximately half of the Vatican Library's manuscripts, comprising major portions of the Greek and Latin collections, as well as the Western European vernaculars and Arabic, Ethiopic and Hebrew."

"The bulk of the collection was acquired in our initial period of microfilming from 1951 to 1957, with other materials acquired in the 1960s," Pass added. "We also have about 2,500 manuscripts on microfilms from other libraries.

"The collection has grown at a much slower pace since then, but we add films as research or teaching needs require."

Father Lowrie Daly received permission from Pope Pius XII to house Vatican microfilm in St. Louis to protect the contents of the documents, shortly after the threat of World War II had subsided.

The Knights of Columbus Vatican Film Library thus opened in 1953 at the university.

Pius XII wrote to the then president, "Such a plan strikes a sympathetic chord in our own heart, intent as we are, and as the Church has always been, on fostering knowledge and wisdom."

ZE07071705 - 2007-07-17