Doesn’t God dwell here any more?

The conference “Doesn’t God dwell here any more?” hold on 29th and 30th November in the lecture theatre of the Pontifical Gregorian University. Disposal of places of worship and the integrated management of ecclesiastical cultural heritage assets / “Doesn't God dwell here any more?” Decommissioning places of worship and the integrated management of ecclesiastical cultural heritage assets, promoted by the Pontifical Council for Culture – Department of Cultural Heritage, the National Office for Ecclesiastical Cultural Heritage and Sacred Buildings of the Episcopal Conference of Italy and the Pontifical Gregorian University – Department of Cultural Heritage of the Church. The proceedings was opened by Father Nuno da Silva Gonçalves SJ, Rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University, the host; Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture; Bishop Stefano Russo, Secretary General of the Italian Episcopal Conference, the sponsor of the event. Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, President of the Council of Episcopal Conferences of Europe – CCEE and the Italian Minister for Cultural Heritage and Activities, Mr Alberto Bonisoli was also present.

The “disposal and reuse of churches” will be the theme of the first morning, when the sociologist Luca Diotallevi (University of Roma Tre), the canonist Pawel Malecha (Pontifical Gregorian University), the historian of architecture Thomas Coomans (Catholic University of Louvain) and the jurist specialized in cultural heritage Maud de Beauchesne-Cassenet (Department of Sacred Art, the French Episcopal Conference) speak. In addition to the quantitative aspect – for which there are no reliable statistics – the phenomenon of the divestiture of religious buildings dealt with under the profile of opportunities for reuse by the community for ecclesiastical purposes.

With regard to the above, on the second morning, dedicated to the “integrated management” of ecclesiastical cultural heritage, the need to consider their appreciation and full utilization as an integral part of the diocesan pastoral ministry will be discussed (Valerio Pennasso, National Office for Ecclesiastical Cultural Heritage and Sacred Buildings of the Episcopal Conference of Italy), through the presentation of some virtuous examples of the Italian Diocese of Padua (Andrea Nante, Director of the Diocesan Museum) and Trapani (Liborio Palmeri, Episcopal Delegate for Culture) and the Catalan diocesi (Josep Maria Riba Farrés, Director of the Vic Diocesan Museum). A discussion on a cross-section of themes of particular importance such as intercultural and interreligious dialogue (Albert Gerhards, University of Bonn) and the training of operators and involvement of Christian communities (Sandra Costa Saldanha, National Secretariat for Ecclesiastical Cultural Heritage, of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference) will follow.

The two afternoon sessions were reserved for 35 delegates from 23 episcopal conferences (Europe, North America and Oceania). Each participant was invited to submit a report on the situation of their respective country on the two themes of the conference. The delegates  called on to discuss and approve a non-binding bilingual orientation document: The disposal and ecclesiastical reuse of churches. Guidelines for the ecclesiastical community/Decommissioning and ecclesiastical reuse of churches. Guidelines for ecclesiastical communities, consisting of 5 chapters (socio-pastoral context, canon law, international regulatory framework, criteria for immovable assets, criteria for movable assets) and some final recommendations.

In Koinè from 16th to 18th February, the theme of disposal and reuse of places of worship will be discussed on Monday 18th at a Congress, beginning at 9.30.