VATICAN-RELIGION-HISTORY-ARCHIVE

An attendant opens the section of the archive dedicated to Pope Pius XII on February 27, 2020 in the Vatican Apostolic Secret Archive, at the Vatican, the central archive of the Holy See where are kept all the documents concerning the government and pastoral activity of the Roman Pontiff and offices of the Holy See. - The March 2 unsealing of the archives of Pope Pius XII, the controversial World War II-era pontiff, whose papacy lasted from 1939 to 1958, has been awaited for decades by Jewish groups and historians. The controversy over Pius XII hinges on whether the head of the Catholic Church, a former diplomat of the Holy See in Germany, remained too silent during the Holocaust, never publicly condemning the Nazis. (Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP) (Photo by ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images)