{"id":39102,"date":"2025-03-28T13:55:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-28T13:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=39102"},"modified":"2025-03-29T05:52:27","modified_gmt":"2025-03-29T05:52:27","slug":"from-censorship-to-curiosity-pope-francis-appreciation-for-the-power-of-history-and-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/from-censorship-to-curiosity-pope-francis-appreciation-for-the-power-of-history-and-books\/","title":{"rendered":"From censorship to curiosity: Pope Francis\u2019 appreciation for the power of history and books"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jo\u00eblle Rollo-Koster<\/a>, University of Rhode Island<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January 2025, while doing research at the Vatican archives, I heard Pope Francis\u2019 Sunday prayers in St. Peter\u2019s Square. The pope reflected on the ceasefire<\/a> that had just gone into effect in Gaza, highlighting the role of mediators, the need for humanitarian aid, and his hope for a two-state solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLet us pray always for tormented Ukraine, for Palestine, Israel, Myanmar, and all the populations who are suffering because of war,\u201d he concluded. \u201cI wish you all a good Sunday, and please, do not forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch, and arrivederci!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few weeks later, Francis was admitted to the hospital, where he remained for more than a month<\/a>, receiving treatment for double pneumonia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In those weeks of uncertainty, I thought back to the pope\u2019s words that Sunday afternoon. They encapsulate Francis\u2019 image: a spiritual leader using his influence to try to bring peace. He is also a down-to-earth man who wishes you \u201cbuon appetito.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Francis does not fear addressing contemporary politics, unlike many of his predecessors. And some popes<\/a> have closed their eyes to not just current events but past ones: learning and history that threatened their vision of the church<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a medievalist<\/a>, I appreciate Francis\u2019 contrasting approach: a religious leader who embraces history and scholarship, and encourages others to do the same \u2013 even as book bans<\/a> and threats to academic freedom<\/a> mount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
People in St. Peter\u2019s Square watch a broadcast as Pope Francis makes his first appearance since entering the hospital. AP Photo\/Gregorio Borgia<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Infamous index<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For 400 years, the Catholic Church famously maintained the Index Librorum Prohibitorum<\/a>, a long list of banned books<\/a>. First conceived in the 1500s, it matured under Pope Paul IV. His 1559 index<\/a> counted any books written by people the church deemed heretics<\/a> \u2013 anyone not speaking dogma, in the widest sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even before the index, church leaders permitted little flexibility of thought. In the decades leading up to it, however, the church doubled down in response to new challenges: the rapid spreading of the printing press and the Protestant Reformation<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Catholic Counter-Reformation, which took shape at the Council of Trent<\/a> from 1545-1563, reinforced dogmatism in its effort to rebuke reformers. The council decided that the Vulgate, a Latin translation of the Bible, was enough to understand scripture, and there was little need to investigate its original Greek and Hebrew version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bishops and the Vatican began producing lists of titles that were forbidden to print and read. Between 1571-1917, the Sacred Congregation of the Index, a special unit of the Vatican<\/a>, investigated writings and compiled the lists of banned readings approved by the pope. Catholics who read titles on the Index of Forbidden Books risked excommunication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1966, Pope Paul VI abolished the index<\/a>. The church could no longer punish people for reading books on the list<\/a> but still advised against them, as historian Paolo Sachet<\/a> highlights. The moral imperative not to read them remained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The title page of a version of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, published in 1711. National Library of Slovenia\/Drw1 via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Historian J.M de Bujanda<\/a> has completed the most comprehensive list of books forbidden across the ages by the Catholic Church. Its authors include astronomer Johannes Kepler and Galileo, as well as philosophers across centuries, from Erasmus and Ren\u00e9 Descartes to feminist Simone de Beauvoir and existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre. Then there are the writers: Michel de Montaigne, Voltaire, Denis Diderot, David Hume, historian Edward Gibbon and Gustave Flaubert. In sum, the index is a who\u2019s who of science, literature and history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Love of humanities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Compare that with a letter Francis published on Nov. 21, 2024<\/a>, emphasizing the importance of studying church history \u2013 particularly for priests, to better understand the world they live in. For the pope, history research \u201chelps to keep \u2018the flame of collective conscience\u2019 alive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pope advocated for studying church history in a way that is unfiltered and authentic, flaws included. He emphasized primary sources and urged students to ask questions. Francis criticized the view that history is mere chronology \u2013 rote memorization that fails to analyze events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019, Francis changed the name of the Vatican Secret Archives<\/a> to the Vatican Apostolic Archives. Though the archives themselves had already been open to scholars since 1881, \u201csecret\u201d connotes something \u201crevealed and reserved for a few,\u201d Francis wrote. Under Francis, the Vatican opened the archives on Pope Pius XII<\/a>, allowing research on his papacy during World War II, his knowledge of the Holocaust<\/a> and his general response toward Nazi Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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An attendant opens the section of the Vatican archives dedicated to Pope Pius XII on Feb. 27, 2020. Alberto Pizzoli\/AFP via Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In addition to showing respect for history, the pope has emphasized his own love of reading. \u201cEach new work we read will renew and expand our worldview,\u201d he wrote in a letter to future priests, published July 17, 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, he continued, \u201cveneration\u201d of screens, with their \u201ctoxic, superficial and violent fake news\u201d has diverted us from literature. The pope shared his experience as a young Jesuit literature instructor in Santa Fe, then added a sentence that would have stupefied \u201cindex popes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNaturally, I am not asking you to read the same things that I did,\u201d he stated<\/a>. \u201cEveryone will find books that speak to their own lives and become authentic companions for their journey.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Citing his compatriot, the novelist Jorge Luis Borges<\/a>, Francis reminded Catholics that to read is to \u201clisten to another person\u2019s voice. \u2026 We must never forget how dangerous it is to stop listening to the voice of other people when they challenge us!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Francis dies or resigns, the Vatican will remain deeply divided between progressives and conservatives. So are modern democracies \u2013 and in many places, the modern trend leans toward nationalism, fascism<\/a> and censorship<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Francis will leave a phenomenal rebuttal. One of the pope\u2019s greatest achievements, in my view, will have been his engagement with the humanities and humanity \u2013 with a deep understanding of the challenges it faces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jo\u00eblle Rollo-Koster<\/a>, Professor of Medieval History, University of Rhode Island<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jo\u00eblle Rollo-Koster, University of Rhode Island In January 2025, while doing research at the Vatican archives, I heard Pope Francis\u2019 Sunday prayers in St. Peter\u2019s Square. The pope reflected on the ceasefire that had just gone into effect in Gaza, highlighting the role of mediators, the need for humanitarian aid, and his hope for a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":39103,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10,36,2450,3410,38],"tags":[14612,191,1224,885,891,886,860,1979,6610,14272,3656,5650],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39102"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39102"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39104,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39102\/revisions\/39104"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}