On Thursday 23 September 2021, on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the publication of the Circular Letter on the pastoral function of the Ecclesiastical Museums of the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church (June 29, 2001), it took place at Palazzo Borromeo the Conference “Ecclesiastical Museums as Witnesses to the Future” organized in partnership with the Pontifical Gregorian University. The initiative was also promoted by the National Office for Ecclesiastical Cultural Heritage and Religious Buildings of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, the Pontifical Council for Culture, the Pontifical Gregorian University – Faculty of History and Cultural Heritage of the Church – Department of Cultural Heritage of the Church and the Association of Italian Ecclesiastical Museums.
Among the participants in the conference were: Cardinal Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture; Mgr. Stefano Russo, Secretary General of the Italian Bishops’ Conference; Fr Fabrizio Capanni, Pontifical Council for Culture; Prof. Maria Isabel Roque, European University and Catholic University of Lisbon; Prof. Ottavio Bucarelli and Prof. Ilaria Fiumi Sermattei, Pontifical Gregorian University; Giovanni Gardini, President of AMEI; Prof. Giampaolo D’Andrea, Councilor of the Ministry of Culture.
In his opening speech, Ambassador Sebastiani referred to the Circular Letter on the pastoral function of Ecclesiastical Museums recognising that a huge percentage of the Italian heritage can be linked to the Church and ecclesiastical property.
It was often repeated during the conference how the Circular Letter gave momentum to the realization of a convergence – not only technical but above all cultural – on the need for a balanced relationship between pastoral enhancement, legal protection and material conservation of the territory. From this perspective, museums are described – as highlighted by Card. Ravasi – as “extraordinary safes from which we can extract invaluable wealth at any time”, which means they should be valued, imagined and planned with courage in order to make them once again a crossroads of dialogue with contemporary society for the organization of events and educational activities.
Museums are also presented not only as tools of evangelization, conservation and cultural promotion, but also as places where the evolution of cultural and religious life is documented.
In this regard, during the dialogue, Mgr. Russo has raised the need for greater training of cultural heritage operators so that museums remain alert and open to dialogue with changing society. Thus, they would become not only able to tell what is the history of the Church, but would make it possible to create a bridge between contemporaneity and glorious tradition.
To watch the videorecording of the event click here.
