2.1.2. Presentation in an ecclesial sense

Around the ecclesiastical museum environment that gathers primarily the patrimony that risks dispersion, one must develop a plan for knowing the past in order to lead to the re-discovery of ecclesial activity. Accordingly, the ecclesiastical museum becomes within a given territory a place of ecclesial, social, cultural gathering.

The ecclesiastical museum is to be connected in a strict way with the territory of which it is a part because it "completes" and "synthesizes" other Church settings. It is characterized by its reference to a specific territory in order to highlight its historical, cultural, social, and religious make-up. Thus, the protection and promotion of the entire local art-historical patrimony should refer to it in order to show how human and Christian history made a valuable contribution within the community and individuals.

"The will on the part of the community of believers, and in particular of Church institutions, to gather since the apostolic period the witness of the faith and to cultivate their memory, expresses the uniqueness and unity of the Church that lives out these recent times of history. The venerated memory of what was said and done by Jesus, of the first Christian community, of the Church of martyrs and her first Fathers, of the expansion of Christianity in the world, is a sufficient reason to give praise to the Lord and to thank Him for the "great things' that have inspired His people. In the mind of the Church the chronological memory brings about a new spiritual reading of the events in the context of the event of salvation and imposes the urgency of conversion in order to obtain that they may be one". (Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church, Circular Letter The Pastoral Function of Church Archives, note n. 1.1.).

Such memory is embodied in human treasures that have influenced the environment in order to shape it for spiritual needs. From these artefacts one can trace the path of the activities of the Church. For this reason, they should be preserved with care, for both their historical as well as their artistic value. Consequently, by stating that what is contained in ecclesiastical museums is an "asset to memory", means inserting this sector among the means of pastoral activity because what is good for the Church serves the "salus animarum" (salvation of souls).

Ecclesiastical museums are part of that specific pastoral action producing in today's reality the memory of the cultural, charitable and educational activity of the Christian communities that preceded the present ones, in order to give witness to the one and only faith. They are therefore "ecclesial places" because: 

- they are an integral part of the mission of the Church throughout time and in the present age;
- they witness to the action of the Church through the service of works of art for catechesis, worship, and charity;
- they are signs of the historical development and continuity of faith;
- they represent a part of the many social situations of the ecclesial territory;
- they are finalized according to the current development of the inculturation of the faith;
- they present the beauty of those human creative activities intended to express the "glory of God".

Accordingly, access to an ecclesiastical museum requires an interior attitude, because in such an environment one should not only see beautiful things, but in their beauty, one should also be led to perceive the sacred.

A visit to an ecclesiastical museum cannot simply represent a cultural and tourist activity because many works on display express the faith of the authors and recall the sense of the faith of the community. Such works should be interpreted, understood, used according to their complex and global sense in order that one can come to grips with their authentic, original and ultimate significance.