claimed to have performed a staggering 130,000 exorcisms, residents of the Vatican consume more wine. Open gallery … If you are a researcher, and can sufficiently document your need for access, the collection is open for limited periods of time – except for a section of the library known officially as the Vatican Secret Archives. The Independent reports residents of the Vatican consume more wine per capita than any other country in the world. anyone take the underground tour of the vatican? Additionally, Vatican residents tend to eat communally in large groups. China and the Vatican renewed a secretive agreement signed two years ago. Send to a friend. If you are on a personal connection, like at home, you can run an anti-virus scan on your device to make sure it is not infected with malware. However, most don’t know about one of the Vatican’s best-kept secrets that is hidden in plain site, a secret tunnel named the Passetto di Borgo. Our Best Vatican Tours explore the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel & St. Peter's Basilica. In addition to smuggling actual Nazis out of Europe and into South America, there is little doubt the Vatican also used its privileged sovereignty to help smuggled Nazi-looted gold, art, and other property belonging to Jewish families and other victims of the Holocaust. 2. But for those that do gain access, it’s worth the trouble.Also known as the Vatican Necropolis, The Tomb of the Dead or St. Peter’s Tomb, the area was discovered beneath St. Peter’s Basilica in the 1940s (around the time of World War II) when the Vatican commissioned … However, in 2009, the Catholic Church made a huge step towards transparency and revealed the nature of these sins. Performance & security by Cloudflare, Please complete the security check to access. Despite the controversy tied to exorcism due to its sensational nature and claims of abuse in their execution, such rites have been carried out even by popes in modern times. Of course the frequent consumption of sacramental wine at Communion does affect those numbers (but should it, since it's technically blood at that point? The Vatican opens its Secret Archives to dispel Dan Brown myths . Two of them can be … The Vatican's secret archives haven't been truly secret since Pope Leo XIII first allowed scholars to visit in 1881. Thousands of high-ranking Nazi officials, many of whom were war criminals (and the rest of whom were, at best, Nazis), managed to escape across the Atlantic to a number of South American countries, most notably Brazil, Chile, and Argentina. Your IP: 68.183.230.220 In 1309, the papal court moved to Avignon in France, and seven popes ruled from there. Pope Alexander the Sixth used the tunnel … March 2, 2020. As further evidence casting out demons isn't just a thing of the past, the BBC reports in 2018 the Vatican welcomed 250 priests from around the world to an annual exorcism school, because the Church believes there has been an uptick in demonic possessions in recent years. The story comes right out of a Dan Brown mystery thriller in which Vatican secrets are targeted by state-sponsored computer hackers. Podcast, on their H1veM1nd CHINA – VATICAN. Considering normal priests and bishops can apparently deal with confessions of genocide, you might wonder what kind of mega-sins get brought before this secret court. The work was undertaken at the request of Pope Pius XI who wished to … In fact, Father Gabriele Amorth, the former chief exorcist of the Vatican who died only in 2016, claimed to have performed a staggering 130,000 exorcisms in his time. The tribunal was established by Pope Alexander III in 1179 and the type of cases that they examine has been a secret for much of its history. This information is presented to you by The Speaker and The Sharp Edge, from Dig It! Go to comments. A network of underground graves and mausoleums that were once open-air (not to be confused with the Roman Catacombs), the Vatican Necropolis is the site of many famous final resting places, including that of St. Peter the Apostle. Using cutting-edge technologies such as ground penetrating radar (GPR), LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), and 3-D imaging, scientists research fascinating underworlds of secret tunnel networks, ancient structures, and bizarre geological occurrences that offer glimpses into our history. As the home of St. Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, and the Vatican Museums, Vatican City is also a major cultural center. That said, the Archives are not fully public: they're only open to scholars who have passed a rigorous vetting process, and journalists were not allowed to see the contents of the Archives until 2010. When looking at the secrets held within Vatican City, perhaps the most logical place to start is the Vatican Secret Archives. She looked into the eyes of the “French Father” while a man looking like a priest in … At first glance, the Passetto di Borgo, Italian for “small passage,” looks like nothing more than a simple stone fortification much like other walls in the Vatican. Perhaps needless to say, efforts to reform the Vatican Bank have been in motion for several years. Today, it's even more accessible. While the Vatican claims the reason for this is how difficult it is to process the enormous bulk of documents within the Archives, conveniently this means any documents relating to Pope Pius XII's actions during the Holocaust–minus the few released painting him in a favorable light–or the church's numerous abuse scandals are still restricted from view. The vicar-general used misappropriated donations to keep a mistress, which feels like at least a double no-no (i.e., a no-no-no-no), as well as stealing half the salaries of friends whom he had appointed to monastery jobs. The tribunal hears cases regarding sins so grievous, only the pope can grant absolution for them. That's double the average of notably oenophile countries like Italy and France, triple the average citizen of the United Kingdom, and over six times as much as the average American. In fact, the average resident of the Vatican consumes 74 liters–about 20 gallons–of wine per year. Located at a depth of five floors under the most visited church in the world, the Vatican Necropolis is one of the best kept secrets of the Vatican complex. Think you know a lot about the Vatican? 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