The Vatican and The Treasures of the Church

It has been two hours since I entered the Vatican Museums, tracing the suggested path of discovering the priceless works of art collected over the centuries by the popes since the earliest years of the Catholic Church.  

Earlier during the day, after two bus rides from the home of Maurizio and Margarita, my hosts, in the Monte Sacro area in Rome, I was at the entrance of the Vatican Museums with my prepaid ticket and fresh legs, ready to discover the ‘treasures’ of the Vatican.  

And with my camera and the Museum’s brochure, I stepped into a different world, one that showcased the Church’s acquisitions that were gathered in one place and have been on display since 1506.

(Priceless marble statues from the antiquities 

on display at the Vatican Museums)

One by one, these bigger-than-life marble sculptures showcased in different galleries fascinated me knowing that each was one-of-a-kind and must have been created by the hands of Renaissance masters I only read about in history books, and that each painting and fresco hanging on the wall or decorating a ceiling was a priceless masterpiece created by the brush strokes of the world’s greatest painters from images and colors of centuries past.

But other than these statues of Roman and Greek gods like the Apollo of the Belvedere, believed to be 1,800 years old and sculpted from one solid marble;  the bejeweled candelabras, ancient maps and priceless tapestries; or the Egyptian monuments and artifacts that outlived the dynasties that created them, there are more artifacts, manuscripts, letters, and books that are kept away and hidden from public view. 

Of all the 70,000 items in the Vatican collection, only 20,000 are on display and I think one could not even digest the enormity and importance of each masterpiece.

Being one of the biggest museums in the world, the collections of the Vatican Museums are in itself an exhibition of humanity; a display of man’s creations over the past millennia.

But after walking more than seven kilometers through the corridors of time, art and intellect, I realized I overlooked the lesson I should learn from this visit. The works of art owned by the Vatican were all physical creations, things that were created by man as an expression of his humanity. They are ‘treasures of a museum’. 

     (The Bramante spiral staircase at the Vatican)

But as I continued to ponder while walking down the famous ‘Bramante’, a spiral staircase designed in 1932, at the end of my visit to the Vatican Museums, a question came to mind. And with both my train of thought and path going in circles, literally and figuratively, I asked myself this: what are the real treasures of the Church?

And I had to turn to a pope for an answer.

I found it, of all places, in a movie.

In the classic 1983 film, The Scarlet and The Black, which was based on a true story and voted as one of the best Catholic films ever made, Pope Pius XII tells Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty that “The real treasures of the church, what makes it imperishable is that every once in a while, someone comes to it … like you.” The Pope was referring to the monsignor’s heroic deeds during World War II.

But that line, though, was from a movie and its setting was a century ago.

Nevertheless, taking a hint from the Pope, I think the real treasures of the church are not the cold, white marbles sculpted into human forms by Renaissance artists. They are not the ones hidden in guarded museums, kept in cold halls and are lifeless.

The treasures of the Vatican are spread all over the world and you don’t even have to travel to Rome to discover them. They are right there in your own parish and you only need to look beyond what you actually see.

It is us.

We, who uplift the souls and lives of our parishioners; we, who help spread the Word as modern-day evangelists; and we, as useful part of Christ’s body, who preserve and practice Catholic values and traditions as they have been kept during past millennia - are the real treasures of the Church.

(The apostles guarding the Saint Peter's 

Basilica in Rome)

So, someday, after you visit the Vatican Museums, you can ask yourself the same question, and I hope you'll arrive at the same answer. 🙏

(December 15, 2019 ADSUM Newsletter edition)