The walls still smell of fresh paint and the white leather benches are unmarked.
The Missionary Museum of Propaganda Fide, now known as the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, has recently opened in Rome.
It is the only museum belonging to the Holy See, operated outside the walls of Vatican City.
The
beauty of the vessel far exceeds the value of its contents; the
collection of 10,000 photographs of the evangelisation of Africa and
Asia are of specialist interest.
On the other hand, the restored
palace, a masterpiece of Italian baroque with a facade overlooking
Piazza d'Espana, deserves a visit.
The official opening last month
rekindled the controversy around this project.
The palace, which flies
the yellow and white flag of the Papacy, required restoration work to
the tune of $20m.
The Vatican
therefore appealed to the Italian government.
In 2004 the Society for
the Development of Art, Culture and Entertainment (Arcus), a public
body, agreed to cover $6.5m of the costs.
For six years
restoration work proceeded smoothly, then last spring an investigation
by public prosecutors took them to Piazza d'Espana.
Between 2001
and 2006 the then infrastructure minister, Pietro Lunardi, purchased a
building in Rome's historic centre at a price below its market value.
The seller was the Congregation, then headed by Cardinal Crescenzio
Sepe.
The investigators suspect that the sale was agreed to compensate
for the government funds Propaganda Fide received.
In June both Lunardi
and Sepe, now archbishop of Naples, were charged with corruption.
Since
then the controversy has grown.
With drastic cuts to the arts budget
and a lack of money for urgent work on the Coliseum and Pompeii, did the
government really need to subsidise repairs to the headquarters of the
powerful Congregation?
"Bernini and Borromini are a part of our Italian
heritage. This public money is serving the country," says Ludovico
Ortona, the former Italian ambassador to France and now head of Arcus.
Be
that as it may, the Italian state will never see a return on its
investment. Admission fees go into the Vatican's coffers.
Might
taxpayers be allowed a free visit, we inquire.
"No one has thought of
that," Ortona replies, "but it is maybe a good idea.
SIC: TG/UK