5.2.2. Principles for the formation of educators and guides

The training project should also address educators and guides. One should not only train experts on a professional level in the various areas involved in the organization of the museum (or to verify their preparation), but more so introduce them to the specific Church environment that characterizes it. They should be able to place the art-historical patrimony of the Church in its proper context in terms of its catechetical, cultual, cultural, charitable aspects so that the availability of this patrimony may not just reduce itself to aesthetic criteria, but may become a pastoral instrument through the universal language of Christian art.

- Internal guides. In particular, the museum employee in charge of guiding the public is called to identify the characteristics of the visitor he is dealing with in order to introduce him to appretiate the works exhibited through special itineraries, for example, organized around specific subjects, individual objects, homogenous groups of masterpieces.

- Internal educators. The task of other internal employees in charge with the awareness raising of visitors, is to create occasions to meet, exchange knowledge, compare with one another.

- External animators. Besides employees inside the museum structure one can plan to form external educators who may be able to match the works on exhibit in the museum with the territory from where they come from by offering visits primarily to these same local communities, without leaving behind those that practice religious tourism. The entire territory must in fact become a "pastoral laboratory" open to all, besides a place of cultural education through its architecture, history, documents that witness the interest of the Church in cultural assets.

- Teachers and Church workers. In order to consolidate the tie between cultural assets and the pastoral plan one should therefore turn special attention towards the training of catechists, religion teachers and other Church workers so that they may know how to use the art-historical heritage they have at hand fruitfully by way of many kinds of activities and initiatives.

- External guides and tour organizers. With the aid of special financing one should be able to intervene also on the external guides and tour organizers for whom one should preferably lay down requisites in order to guarantee an intelligent presentation of the art-historical patrimony of the Church. In this regard one could require a certificate or diploma of attendance at an ecclesiastical course for those involved in religious tourism, similar to that which is required for religion teachers.

It is advisable that civil authorities be informed of a similar perspective, in order to coordinate orientation, procedures and accreditations.

The adequate training of those who run the museums as well as those who run the tours, in both ecclesiastical and civil environments, leads to a better collaboration in the field of the cultural heritage of the Church. In fact it creates a mature meeting point between individuals and institutions (experts in the various fields, institutions aimed at the protection of cultural assets, schools of every kind and degree, cultural and tourist centres).