The Vatican Secret Archives Officer Monsignor Sergio Pagano informed that the Vatikan will begin opening its secret archives. The secret archives, from the 8th century to the second half of the 20th century, will be opened in February 2012 and will be demonstrated in the “ Lux in Arcana” exhibition. Monsignor Sergio Pagano also mentioned that documents about the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of the 20th century are also included in the archives.
“Relating to the Armenian Genocide there are documents that present acts of brutal violence by Turkish soldiers which are basically inhuman” said Pagano. After the official announcement Monsignor Sergio Pagano, the Vatican Archives Officer, was interviewed by the Turkish Vatan newspaper, which especially mentioned that in 1896 Pope Leo XIII of Rome called upon the Sultan to show compassion and stop the carried out massacres. Pagano stressed that the documents and information about the Armenian Genocide from Vatican’s secret archives will be published in a separate book. He cited several stories from the documents;
An eyewitness from Erzurum said, “I saw how numerous children were killed. My cousin ran away from home with a 2-year-old child on her shoulders, but she was shot and fell to the floor. Two soldiers came to her and killed her in front of the child. I saw the killing of our city’s spiritual leader. They gouged out his eyes, pulled his beard. Before killing him, the soldiers forced him to dance.”
Mustafa Suleiman, a Turkish soldier, testified “We went into the Armenian villages and without regarding age or gender we killed all of them. Turkish villagers came with us and began pillaging the Armenian homes. Many elderly and disabled Armenians had hid in the school located in the city center; suddenly we got orders and killed them too. In the village of Gelieguzan 800 Armenian either murdered or burned. Father Hovannes’s eyes were taken out along with his beard, nose and his ears cut off. I have not killed any child and even saved two of them. I hid them for 3 days in my tent, but one day when I walked in I found their bodies disjointed.”
