"Secret Access: The Vatican"

Thanks to my pal Dave Gibson, who alerted his readers to a History Channel special on the Vatican, airing tonight at 9 pm.

As Dave notes:

The show provides an overview of the history of the Vatican, and focuses on everyday life in the city-state today, and how it all works, or doesn’t, as the case may be. A clip of the pope at work is here, and other elements that stuck in my mind were segments on science and faith with Jesuit astronomer Brother Guy Consolmagno and the Vatican’s finances with Cardinal Lajolo, the very approachable and witty administrator of Vatican City State. (One needs a sense of humor in that job.) I learned a heckuva lot, and wish we had two hours just on the archives, for example, and the fascinating — and frustrating, and under-financed — effort to digitize and preserve centuries worth of invaluable documents.

A preview, below.