5.2. Formation of Personnel

5.2.1. Principles for the formation of the clergy

In the overall plan, the formation of candidates for the priesthood and the clergy is of utmost importance. Those who are aiming at the priesthood and the religious life should in fact be formed to appreciate the value of the cultural assets of the Church as a basis for the work of cultural promotion and evangelization. Usually priests caring for the souls of the faithful also have the responsibility of maintaining the physical church building, and the artefacts contained therein. In the Circular Letter addressed to Diocesan Bishops on the Training of candidates for the priesthood (15 October 1992) (In regards to the problem of formation, the Pontifical Commission thought advisable issuing a first Circular letter [October 15, 1992] to all Bishops in the world regarding The necessity of preparing future priests for the care of the cultural heritage of the Church [Pontifical Commission for the Preservation of the Art-historical Patrimony of the Church - currently the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church, Circular Letter to the diocesan Ordinaries on The formation of candidates to the priesthood for the care of the cultural heritage, citation]. Since it deals with a fundamental aspect, three years later the Commission dedicated again a specific Circular to all the Episcopal Conferences [February 3, 1995] in order to ask what initiatives were taken so far for the formation of the clergy in this field [Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church, Circular Letter, February 3, 1995, Prot.N. 15/95/2]. Similarly attention has been turned to the work conducted by Catholic Universities on the cultural heritage of the Church. In this regard a Circular was addressed on January 31, 1992 to all the Catholic universities around the world and afterwards important data was gathered to orient the future work of the Commission [Pontifical Commission for the Preservation of the Art-historical Patrimony of the Church - currently the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church, Circular Letter to The Rectors of Catholic Universities, January 31, 1992 and Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church, Letters to the Rectors of the Catholic Universities accompanying the mailing of the Final Report on the replies of the Catholic Universities regarding the activities promoted for the cultural heritage of the Church, September 10, 1994, Prot. N. 239/89/18]. The Congregation for Catholic Education asked the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church to dedicate an issue of the Journal Seminarium on the theme The Formation of Seminarians Regarding the Pastoral Value of Cultural Ecclesiastical Goods [see Seminarium N.S. 39/2-3 {1999}]. A copy of this issue was sent to all the Episcopal Conferences around the world), this Pontifical Commission recommended that as part of the cycle of formation of these candidates "be included courses in which one can deal with in more depth and in a systematic way the history and the principles of Sacred Art, Christian archeology, archive science, library science. Such courses can contribute in identifying certain students to assign to these disciplines in order to prepare them to carry out in the future a stimulating role as well as assistance towards their brothers in Christ" (See Pontifical Commission for the Preservation of the Art-Historical Patrimony of the Church - currently the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church, Circular Letter to the Diocesan Ordinaries on The Formation of the Candidates to the Priesthood regarding the Cultural Heritage, see citation n. 22. The document speaks of the responsibility of the Church for the artistic patrimony "as an integral part of her ministry to promote, care for, and enhance one of the highest expressions of the human spirit in the artistic and historical fields"). It is therefore advisable to deal with themes relating to art, aesthetics, libraries, archives, museums in various courses of philosophy and theology. In addition, one should establish specialized study centres in order to train experts in the areas of the cultural heritage of the Church in which to address the problem issues inherent to ecclesiastical museums (To this end the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome since 1991 has launched an "Advanced Studies Program in the Cultural Heritage of the Church". This example was followed by similar programs instituted in Paris, Lisbon, Mexico and Brescia [Italy], etc. In the public academic centres of many nations, academic programmes of sacred music have also been established that can offer a valid support for the general preparation of employees of ecclesiastical museums).

Adequate training of the clergy assures the protection of our cultural heritage and favours the relationship between ecclesiastics and lay people in order to come up with a cultural project that is able to enhance the entire art-historical heritage according to ecclesiastical and civil criteria. In such a context one can orient the strategies inherent in the formation of ecclesiastical museum personnel. Even if priests will not always be able to be directly responsible for such institutions, they should, nevertheless, have the requisites necessary to promote ecclesiastical museums, to coordinate them within the entire network of cultural assets present in the territory, and to insert them in the pastoral plan not only of the Diocese but also of the individual local institutions (parishes, monasteries, convents, religious institutions, confraternaties, associations).

It is therefore advisable that proper courses be organized to update formation for the clergy in order to make them better aware of the importance of organizing and managing ecclesiastical museums and of safeguarding the cultural heritage in their territory.