The Vatican Film Library is a

film archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...

established in 1959 by Pope

John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...

. The collection comprises over 8,000 films including historic films, Church events, commercial films and documentaries. It is to be distinguished from the

Knights of Columbus Vatican Film Library The Knights of Columbus Vatican Film Library in St. Louis, Missouri is the only collection, outside the Vatican itself, of microfilms of more than 37,000 works from the ''Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana'', the Vatican Library in Europe. It is locate ...

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private Jesuit research university with campuses in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Mississip ...

History

The Vatican Film Library was instituted by Pope John XXIII on November 16, 1959, with the aim of collecting and preserving films and recorded television programs on the life of the Catholic Church. It was initially entrusted to the then Pontifical Commission for Cinematography, which in 1964 became the Pontifical Commission for Social Communications and in 1988 the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. Today the Vatican Film Library is part of the

Dicastery for Communication The Dicastery for Communication ( it, Dicastero per la Comunicazione) is a division (dicastery) of the Roman Curia with authority over all communication offices of the Holy See and the Vatican City State. Its various offices can be accessed thro ...

. The library's projection hall hosted

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

on several occasions, along with numerous directors presenting a preview of their works, including

Liliana Cavani Liliana Cavani (born 12 January 1933, Carpi, Italy) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. She belongs to a generation of Italian filmmakers from Emilia-Romagna that came into prominence in the 1970s, including Bernardo Bertolucci, Pier Pa ...

Roberto Benigni Roberto Remigio Benigni (; born 27 October 1952) is an Italian actor, comedian, screenwriter and director. He gained international recognition for writing, directing and starring in the Holocaust comedy-drama film ''Life Is Beautiful'' (1997), f ...

, and

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...

History

References

See also