By Courtney Mares
OSV News
ROME — Pope Leo XIV visited the Vatican Library for the first time as pope on his birthday, Sept. 14, and announced plans for the construction of a new modern building in Vatican City to house the holdings of the library and the Vatican Apostolic Archive.
The pope said it seemed providential to celebrate his 71st birthday at the Vatican Library because his mother was a librarian.
On the day of his visit, the pope also issued a decree ordering the construction of a new building in Vatican City State on the site of what is now a parking lot. The facility, to be shared by the Vatican Library and the Vatican archives, will be built “according to the most modern architectural and technological principles.”
It was one of two papal decrees published by the Vatican on the pope’s birthday. The other repealed provisions introduced by Pope Francis in March 2021 that reduced the salaries of cardinals and Vatican employees as a cost-saving measure during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The library decree also reverses a prior decision by Pope Francis. Citing a lack of space in the Vatican Library, Pope Francis had decided that excess library holdings would be housed outside Vatican City State at the Pontifical Roman Major Seminary. In the Sept. 14 decree, Pope Leo wrote that using space within Vatican City is “undoubtedly preferable for many reasons to the solution already identified.”
The seminary space designated by Pope Francis in 2022 will continue to store excess library and archive holdings until the new Vatican City facility is completed.
The Vatican Apostolic Library, formally founded in the 15th century, houses a collection of 2 million books, 100,000 archival documents, and hundreds of thousands of coins, medals, and graphic works.
During his visit to the library, the pope examined some of its historic books and coins and inaugurated a new exhibition, “AQVA: Catastrophe and Wonder.” The exhibit will be open to the public from Sept. 25 to May 14, 2027, and features, among other works, a massive wave installation mounted on scaffolding outside the library. Pope Leo also celebrated his birthday with library staff over cake.