March 5, 2007 — The world's oldest known copy of the Gospel of Saint Luke, containing the earliest known Lord's Prayer, and one of the oldest copies of the Gospel of Saint John have been acquired by the Vatican, according to reports from Rome.
A nonsectarian New York nonprofit, Pave the Way, helped facilitate the acquisition.
Now stored in the Vatican's Library, the documents are for the first time available for scholarly review. In the future, excerpts may be put on display for the general public.
Collectively known as the Bodmer Papyrus XIV-XV, the documents date to 175-225 A.D. and consist of 51 leaves from a manuscript that originally consisted of 72 leaves folded in the middle to form a single quire, according to Father Richard Donahoe, rector of the Cathedral of St. Paul in Birmingham, Alabama, who also helped with the acquisition.
"The papyrus authenticates that which has been passed down over the millennia," Fr. Donahoe told Discovery News.
He believes it is even possible the texts may have been copied from the original gospels.
Many of the earliest Biblical texts are in the possession of private collectors. In this case, the materials were found, along with other papyri, in 1952 at Pabau, Egypt, near the ancient Dishna headquarters of the Pachomian order of monks.
The papyrus was mysteriously smuggled to Switzerland, where collector Martin Bodmer purchased it.
To fund the construction of a library, the Martin Bodmer Foundation contacted the auction house Christie's about a sale. Gary Krupp, founder of Pave the Way, Donahoe and others learned of the sale and, with the Vatican's help, sought a buyer who could purchase the papyrus for the Vatican.
Frank J. Hanna III , CEO of an investment management company and co-chairman of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence, agreed to be the buyer. Hanna privately purchased the documents for an undisclosed, "significant" price.
