Vatican City, 23 March 2016 – The director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., in response to questions from journalists, confirmed this morning that for some time Pope Francis has expressed his intention to open up for consultation the Vatican archives relating to the period of dictatorship in Argentina (1976-1983). This naturally presupposes the cataloguing of the material.

This task is proceeding in a regular fashion and it is expected to be completed during the coming months, after which the times and conditions for consultation may be studied, in agreement with the Argentine Episcopal Conference. So far, Fr. Lombardi explained, the intention is to respond to specific legal questions requested by rogatory or matters of a humanitarian nature.