A rare look at the Vatican Library's treasures

Safer: What is that doing in the Vatican Library?

Collins: We don't know how they ended up here in the Vatican. It may be that some spy maybe one of my priestly predecessors may have stolen these letters and brought them to Rome to present in the case if a trial was made for Henry's request for a divorce.

But the church refused to let Henry divorce from Catherine of Aragon so he could marry Anne. He married her anyway, broke with Rome and took control of the church of England. The country was largely converted to the Protestant faith.

Celenza: This is one of the moments in the 16th century that leads to the fracturing of Christianity and to much of the bloodshed and the wars that, especially, the later 16th century was known for.

As man explored the planet, a scientific revolution was also underway. By the mid 17th century, navigators had mapped much of the world in remarkable detail.

[Adalbert Roth: Rio de Janiero. Cuzco. Mexico City...]

Galileo turned his eyes and his telescope on the heavens. Here - from 1612 - are his drawings of sunspots. For his insistence that the sun is the center of the universe and the earth moves around it, the church branded him a heretic.

Collins: The pope at that time, Pope Urban VIII, was a very good friend of Galileo. Said to him 'Look, you know, I agree with you. You're right. But I can't approve of this because I'm the pope. And if I go against this it looks as if I'm going against the Bible. And I'm going to shake to the foundation the belief of the world, and the world's Christians, not just Catholics.

Just 380 years later - in 1992 - Pope John Paul II apologized for the Galileo affair. His successor Benedict XVI has sought middle ground in the centuries-old skirmishes between the church and science. In a recent sermon he said even the Big Bang Theory of the creation of the universe is not in conflict with faith because God's mind was behind it.

And backstage at the pope's library, science is brought to bear on crumbling books, as restoration workers deal with water damage, mold and the ravages of time.

Safer: It seems endless, this work, yes?

Angela Nunez Gaetan: It's endless, yes, obviously.

Angela Gaetan and the others go inch-by-inch: patching and strengthening ancient pages. Scratching off paste put on by well-meaning restorers centuries ago - paste that's turning acid, eating away at the page. Mario Tiburzi seldom reads what he's repairing, it's too distracting. Especially if the writer happens to be Michelangelo.

Mario Tiburzi: When I work on the Michelangelo papers it was the same that I work on Mickey Mouse paper.

Safer: Mickey Mouse, eh?

A difficult job may take months or even years. But consider the result.

Angela Nunez Gaetan: One thousand years after us, I hope that they can read the same thing that we are reading now.

The library's most valued documents go back almost 2,000 years, nearly to the time of Saint Peter - the first pope - whose tomb lies beneath the basilica that bears his name.

His letters to the faithful make up two books of the New Testament. And here is a copy - written in Greek on papyrus by one of Peter's disciples around the year 200, a mere century or so after his death.

Cesare Pasini: In the beginning was the word and the word was God.

And from the same period: the gospel of Luke and part of the Gospel of John, also written on papyrus. Venerated by early Christians in Egypt, preserved for centuries in a desert monastery.

Pasini: "The bread for today give us..."

They contain the oldest known copy of "The Lord's Prayer". So fragile we were only allowed to see replicas.

Pasini: That great treasure of papyrus I think, is the most important treasure of Christianity.

With our tour nearly over, it seemed as if the library's collection had come to life in the streets of the eternal city: the centurions and crusaders, the centuries of faith and folly, time present and time past. Leaving the library we thought: there's something, something almost magical to be immersed in this place, to breathe the air, and touch the hand of history.

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[RunsWithWolves]

It's funny. A few days before Christmas, the Pope asked the world to not let consumerism rule Christmas. As the Pope sat in his gold gilded chair with his stunning wardrobe and surrounded by an unbelievable cache of opulence, and excess wealth, I couldn't help but see the total hypocrisy in his comment. When the Catholic Church liquidates all its massive wealth and gives it to the worlds poor, I will then take the Pope seriously.

[FromEthiopiaToo]

I was thinking the same all the glitter and the wheel he was being carried on....Gold and more Gold...

[expatriate2]

The presentation lacked the definition of whether this was indeed the Vatican Library or the Vatican Secret Library. There is no doubt that the secret library exists as evidenced by the works of Cardinal Cesar Baronius who was in charge of it in the 1600s as I recall.
I found it intersting that it was claimed that a disciple of Peter wrote a papyrus in the library 100 years after Peter's death? How old was the disciple at the time of the writing?
also, the claim that Peter's tomb is under the library is presumptuous. The tomb has never been found in spite of various claims. After one "official" claim that the tomb ahd been found, scientific tests proved that the bones were those of a woman.

[signseeker1717]

The Secret Library, which was separated from the main collection in 1700, contains the Pope's PERSONAL papers, handed down from one Pope to another, and would probably not be of great visual interest to the general viewer, though researchers can gain access through an application process. The story states explicitly that the manuscripts shown are from the Vatican Library.

The story also states that Peter's tomb is believed to be beneath the BASILICA (of St. Peter), not the Library. Four sets of human remains (and some animal bones) were excavated in the 1940s. In 1968, after bone testing, one set identified as a male in his 60s-70s was moved to a niche in the grotto beneath the Baldacchino; this set is considered by the Holy See to be those of Peter. One can believe (or not), that this is the "tomb" of St. Peter.

[expatriate2]

As a student at the University of Liverpool with a major in ancient languages, several of us gained two 55-day study permits into the Vatican Archives. An attempt to describe it and its contents would defy any language. One must remember that the Vatican is also a government and descriptions of any agency or department within it are given by the Vatican itself. For that reason we cannot say with any certainty what the Secret Library contains. We can choose to accept the official description or not. I learned not to accept it after discovering that the library contained documents speaking of the exile of Joseph of Arimathea from Israel written at a time contemporary to the latter years and death of Jesus. Hardly a personal letter from the Pope or any Papal business.
An example of official descriptions and historic evidence can be found in that Baronius spoke of the secret library in 1598, a hundred years before its supposed founding.

[Happy_Holidays1]

Well, the Vatican should put its money where its huge mouth is, and sell of those treasures in order to give the money to the poor.

Why are they SO hypocritical?

[expatriate2]

And you are a typical conservative so delusional that you believe any opinion you cannot agree with has to come from a liberal. I don't agree with Happy Holiday either but I would never make such a ridiculous statement as to associate his opinion with politics or label him as any particular political preference.
But then you are a conservative and they have never been know for superior intelligence or logic.

[Jwilson211]

Can't believe a professional museum staff person would handle such delicate documents with protective cotton gloves! It is NEVER done! Makes me wonder if these were copies!

[Norm204]

@kbbpll...wow. Impressive. Two Greeks five hundred years before Christ. Must have been news for centuries. The point is that Safer's statement was intentionally a false statement and insulting.

[kbbpll]

Well, my point was that "most" of the rest of the world has called it Palestine for "most" of the last 2500 years, but if you want to call them "Judean" coins to avoid the conspiracy to erase all Jewish history, feel free. They sure look Roman to me. I'd rather focus on what a beautiful day it is than whether some 80 year old journalist is out to destroy a whole religion, because he's not an expert in 2000 year old coins or the overwhelming implications involved in what we call them on TV.

[uptyyk]

Just 5 comments from a well watched show like this?

[uptyyk]

What happened to my comments that posted 10 minutes ago? Is CBS running out of disk space?

[sarcastical]

CBS is bias.
As I left a comment immediately after the report was finished.
In that CBS not had a report on the their CBS website.
Versus there previous times: when any CBS 60Minutes viewers could read about the tv reports ahead of time, before the tv viewers knew of them.

CBS has lost it.

[Norm204]

Mr. Safer is just another participant in the anti-semitic effort to erase all Jewish history in Israel, and therefore, any historical claim by Jews to their land. We will not forget this Mr. Safer.

[Norm204]

These coins were Judean coins, not Palestinian. 2000 years ago the word Palestine was totally unknown in Judea and the area that is Israel. Mr. Safer insulted every Jew, everyone of us, by making that statement and I truly believe an apology is due.

[kbbpll]

Herodotus and Aristotle both called it Palestine in the 4th and 5th centuries BC. Perhaps only Zionists are offended.