Basilica of the Madonna della Salute, in Venice
5 p.m. on Thursday, October 28, 2010

On October 28th, 2010, on the occasion of the solemn academic act, the Rector of the Studium Generale Marcianum, Prof. Msgr. Brian Edwin Ferme, was presented with a faithful replica of the document “Causa Anglica” by Dr. Ferdinando Santoro, the president of Scrinium S.p.A. This document contains the Petition of the Lords of England to pope Clement VII , whereby the signatories urged him to annul Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon. The original document is preserved in the Vatican Secret Archives. The replica has been added to the rich collection belonging to the Library of the Studium Generale Marcianum. The ceremony was held in the Venetian basilica of the Madonna della Salute: the speakers included the Most Reverend Eminence Cardinal Angelo Scola, Grand Chancellor and the Patriarch of Venice; the Most Reverend Msgr. Prof. Brian Edwin Ferme, Rector of the Marcianum; and Giovanni Mazzacurati, president of the Studium Generale Marcianum Foundation. Among the guests was Pope Benedict XVI, who admired and praised the replica of the Causa Anglica donated by Scrinium to the institution.

The opening speech was delivered by His Most Reverend Eminence Cardinal Raffaele Farina SDB, Archivist and Librarian of the Holy Roman Church, Vatican Apostolic Library.