I MUSEI ECCLESIASTICI TESTIMONI DI FUTURO

Vent'anni dalla Lettera sulla funzione pastorale dei Musei ecclesiastici

On September 23 and 24, 2021, the international conference I Musei ecclesiastici testimoni di futuro (Ecclesiastical Museums as Witnesses to the Future) will be held in Rome, at the Italian Embassy to the Holy See and at the Pontifical Gregorian University, on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the publication of the Circular Letter of the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church, La funzione pastorale dei Musei Ecclesiastici (June 29, 2001). The initiative, 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, intends to focus attention on the pastoral function of the various types of ecclesiastical museums having as an essential reference the papal document. 

The reflection on the actuality of the inspiring principles of the Letter, its impact on the academic world and its declination to the future beyond the time of the pandemic, will be the premises for an analysis of museums and their pastoral practices, with particular attention to digital, contemporary art and the inclusive role of museums through ethnographic collections.