海角大神

Vatican Secret Archives: 6 of the most intriguing documents in church history

One hundred documents held in the Vatican鈥檚 Secret Archives are now on display in Rome for the first time. Read our list here of six standouts.

A letter from a Native American tribe

One of the most intriguing documents is a letter written on birch bark in 1887 by the Ojibwe tribe of Native Americans from Grassy Lake, Ontario, to Pope Leo XIII.

The letter was written in May but is datelined 鈥渨here there is much grass, in the month of the flowers鈥 and addresses the pope as 鈥渢he Great Master of Prayer, he who holds the place of Jesus.鈥 It was written in the Ojibwe language, with a translation in French given by a Catholic missionary.

The letter thanks God and the Pope for sending a bishop to work among the Ojibwe.

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