Cultural Heritage

The term "cultural heritage" entered ecclesiastical language only with the current Code of Canon Law (CIC/1983 can. 1283, no. 2). But the Catholic Church, first through the legislation of the Papal States and later with the universal canonical legislation, has contributed greatly to the clarification of the concept of "cultural heritage," which took shape during the nineteenth century (S. Settis, Address for the Twentieth Anniversary of the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church, Nov. 26, 2009).

The Church's attention to this reality is so great that St. John Paul II established a Commission in 1988 with the task of presiding over the protection of the historical and artistic patrimony of the whole Church (cf. Apostolic Const. Pastor bonus, art. 99-104), which in 1993 was named the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church (Motu proprio "Inde a Pontificatus"). Benedict XVI finally united it with the Pontifical Council for Culture (Motu proprio "Pulchritudinis Fidei," July 30, 2012) transferring its tasks and prerogatives to it. With the most recent reform of the Roman Curia through the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium, the delegation for cultural goods came under the competencies of the new Dicastery for Culture and Education (Art. 153 - 162: 153 § 2), which unites the former Congregation for Catholic Education and the former Pontifical Council for Culture.

Included among the cultural assets are works of art (architectural and any artifact produced with any technique), especially from the past (but also contemporary works to which historical value is recognized), which must be guarded and preserved with the utmost diligence and, when their specific use has ceased, conveniently displayed in ecclesiastical museums to be enjoyed by the public (cf. Pastor bonus, art. 100). The artistic patrimony is flanked by the book patrimony, preserved in libraries, and the historical patrimony, consisting of archival documents, which have the dual value of juridical instruments attesting to the rights and duties of ecclesiastical bodies - to which their care is primarily entrusted - and as sources for the history of ecclesiastical institutions and the life of the people of God (cf. ibid., art. 101). In all cases, these goods and their respective institutions of preservation must be entrusted to competent personnel "so that these testimonies are not lost" (cf. ibid., art. 102).

While the typology of cultural goods is similar to that defined by civil state legislations, the perspective through which the Church views them is primarily religious, as an attestation of the Christian community's life of faith, and therefore cultural. According to John Paul II, they are goods "placed at the service of the Church's mission" (Allocution Oct. 12, 1995), that is, expressions of liturgical life, piety, the proclamation of the Gospel, and charity. The doctrine about ecclesiastical cultural goods has certainly received some impetus both from papal addresses to the former Pontifical Commission and from the documents prepared by the latter.

Therefore, it will now be the Dicastery for Culture and Education that will collaborate with the appropriate episcopal bodies, established within the bishops' conferences, with the dioceses and with institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life, for the protection, preservation and enhancement of ecclesiastical cultural goods. It will also be its task to oversee free access to this patrimony by all those who have an interest in it (Praedicate Evangelium, art. 155, 157 § 1 and 158). In addition, it is now entrusted with the eminently cultural task of ensuring that God's people, beginning with their pastors, are educated to appreciate the importance of such historical and artistic heritage and to realize the need to preserve and enhance it.

It will also be the task of the Dicastery to engage in dialogue with arts scholars in order to bring the Gospel message to the world of contemporary culture as well and to make use of their expertise for the Church's greater understanding of today's world (cf. Praedicate Evangelium, art. 154

The Dicastery monitors programs of action undertaken by states and international bodies aimed at fostering the appreciation of cultural heritage and, in these areas, participates, as appropriate, in international fora (cf. Praedicate Evangelium, Art. 157 § 2).

Finally, it is up to the Dicastery to authorize the Italian dioceses to loan cultural goods for exhibitions outside the national territory.