1. Cultural policy system
Holy See
Last update: November, 2017
The Apostolica Sedes, or Holy See, considers itself a promoter and guardian of art and culture. From its beginning and even in times of persecution, works of art were used to adorn places of worship. Religious freedom in the fourth century led to the birth of a characteristically Christian art, which found its expression in religious buildings and their decoration.
In the Middle Ages, the Church, especially in Rome, became the guardian and vehicle to promote ancient cultural heritage. Old works were copied and the arts were taught in monasteries. Universities, typically European creations, were set up within the Church structure.
Following the period of Enlightenment, a rift developed between the Church and culture.
With the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, the Church shifted its focus from a classical, humanist concept of culture to one that focused on its anthropological dimension. The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et spes) devoted a chapter to the Church's relationship with culture and cultures.
Since 1965, the Holy See has been very aware of the importance for the Church of dialogue with contemporary culture and of its relationship with different cultures. In the Vatican Museums, Paul VI created a collection of contemporary art and in his exhortation Evangelii nuntiandi (1975), he drew attention to the need to evangelise culture. This awareness, together with a rich personal experience, led Pope John Paul II to create the Pontifical Council for Culture in 1982, with the aim of providing the Holy See with an instrument capable of fostering the Church's dialogue with people and institutions from the world of culture and cultural policy.
In the field of culture, Pope Benedict XVI has maintained continuity with the policy of his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, and is fostering dialogue between the Catholic Church and contemporary culture. The Holy See is also actively engaged in inter-religious and intercultural dialogue.
Main features of the current cultural policy model
The principles underlying the Church's cultural activities may be summarised as follows:
- the human person as the heart of culture. Culture is defined in relation to human beings, and all cultural activity is both from and for people. Culture is a springing forth of human potential. Pope Benedict XVI recalled, on the occasion of the colloquium "Culture, Reason and Freedom" (May 2005), with words borrowed from John Paul II's 1980 speech at the headquarters of UNESCO: "in the cultural field, man is always the first fact: man is the prime and fundamental fact of culture";
- the common basis of all cultures. "Different cultures are but different ways of facing the question of the meaning of personal existence. It is precisely here that we find one source of the respect that is due to every culture and every nation. Every culture is an effort to ponder the mystery of the world and in particular of the human person. It is a way of giving expression to the transcendent dimension of human life. The heart of every culture is its approach to the greatest of all mysteries, the mystery of God" (John Paul II, Address to the United Nations, 5 October 1995);
- openness to transcendence. "When they are deeply rooted in experience, cultures show forth the human being's characteristic openness to the universal and the transcendent. Therefore they offer different paths to the truth, which assuredly serve men and women well in revealing values that can make their lives ever more human" (John Paul II, Fides et ratio, 70);
- cultural change. "Inseparable as they are from people and their history, cultures share the dynamics which the human experience of life reveals. They change and advance because people meet in new ways and share with each other their ways of life. Cultures are fed by the communication of values, and they survive and flourish insofar as they remain open to assimilating new experiences" (John Paul II, Fides et ratio, 71);
- the Gospel and culture. "The Gospel, and therefore evangelisation, are certainly not identical to culture, and they are independent in regard to all cultures ... Though independent of cultures, the Gospel and evangelisation are not incompatible with them; rather they are capable of permeating them all without becoming subject to any one of them" (Paul VI, Evangelii nuntiandi, 20);
- promoting the study of philosophy. "Sharing this concern and encouraging fruitful collaboration among the professors of various Roman and European athenaeums, I wish to address a particular invitation to philosophy professors to continue with confidence in philosophical research, investing intellectual energy and involving new generations in this task" (Benedict XVI to participants at the Sixth European Symposium for University Professors, 7 June 2008); and
- faith, culture and the Orient. "This method of combining all the arts, the intellect, the heart and the senses, which came from the East, was to experience a great development in the West, reaching unparalleled heights in the miniature codices of the Bible and in other works of faith and art that flourished in Europe until the invention of printing and beyond (...). The need to involve, in the experience of faith, not only the mind and the heart, but also the senses through those other aspects of aesthetic taste and human sensitivity that lead man to benefit from the truth with his whole self, mind, soul and body". This is important: faith is not only thought but also touches the whole of our being. Since God became Man in flesh and blood, since he entered the tangible world, we must seek and encounter God in all the dimensions of our being. (Benedict XVI, General Audience, 3 June 2009).
Cultural policy objectives
The Holy See is a signatory of the European Declaration on Cultural Objectives (Berlin 1984) and adheres to the European Cultural Convention since 1962. It sees the declaration as a major step to generate a common awareness among policy makers for concerted action in the cultural sphere. The values incorporated in the document inform the action plan of the Holy See.
From the 19th century to the present day, the Catholic Church has been building a body of doctrine on social life and the fundamental issues of human life. These commitments include the freedom of every human being, respect for each individual and the struggle against all forms of discrimination.
The objectives of the Holy See's cultural policy are contained in the foundational letter of the Pontifical Council for Culture (1982):
- the Council undertakes appropriate initiatives to promote dialogue between the faith and cultures, and between different cultures. It follows up on initiatives generated by various Church institutions and collaborates with bishops' conferences;
- it participates in meetings to examine ways to establish a dialogue with those who do not believe in God or profess no religion, whenever they are open to sincere collaboration;
- it monitors and co-ordinates the work of the Pontifical Academies, while respecting the autonomy of the latter in their respective research programmes, promoting interdisciplinary research and making their work more widely known;
- it co-ordinates the participation of the Holy See's cultural institutions in the work of the dicasteries;
- it promotes dialogue with bishops' conferences so that the whole Church may benefit from the research, initiatives, achievements and creations that allow local Churches to establish an active presence in their own cultural environments;
- it collaborates with Catholic international, university, historical, philosophical, theological, scientific, artistic and intellectual organisations, and promotes co-operation between them;
- it monitors (in a way appropriate to it and taking account of the authority and expertise of other curial bodies in this field) of the activities of international bodies-especially UNESCO and the Council for Cultural Co-operation of the Council of Europe-and ensures the effective participation of the Holy See in international congresses on science, culture and education;
- it monitors cultural policies and activities of governments throughout the world;
- it encourages dialogue between the Church and cultures on the level of universities, research centres and organisations of artists, researchers, scholars and other experts, and promotes meaningful meetings in and for these cultural spheres; and
- it hosts representatives of culture interested in learning more about the activities of the Catholic Church and offers them a place for meetings and dialogue in Rome.
Last update: November, 2017
Last update: November, 2017
When considering the Holy See, it is important to bear in mind that there are two closely related entities, different in nature and function: the Holy See and the Vatican City State. Moreover, the Holy See is not a nation state, but a sovereign entity, whose followers live in their countries, subject to their national legislation. In matters concerning cultural policy, the Holy See has only a moral or religious authority over the cultural bodies of the Catholic Church. The Vatican City State is responsible only for the cultural organisms in its territory.
The Holy See
The Holy See, or Apostolica Sedes, is the seat of the Roman Pontiff, the Roman Curia and the various bodies that assist the Supreme Pontiff in carrying out his pastoral mission. These are generally known as dicasteries. The Holy See, as the supreme organ of government of the Catholic Church, is a sovereign juridical entity under international law.
The Roman Curia is a complex body composed of the Secretariat of State, Congregations, Tribunals, Pontifical Councils, Offices and other structures. Other institutions, such as the Vatican Secret Archives, the Vatican Apostolic Library and some Academies, fall directly under the Holy See.
The Congregations and Councils are made up of cardinals, archbishops, bishops and lay people selected from the worldwide Catholic Church, and each is chaired by a Cardinal Prefect or President who is assisted on the practical level by officials responsible for administrative tasks. Each dicastery is advised on its specific mission by a body of consulters chosen for their particular skills and knowledge.
In the cultural sphere, the mission of the Pontifical Council for Culture, created by John Paul II in 1982, is to promote dialogue between the faith and protagonists of culture, literature, sciences and arts, and cultural currents, which are often marked by non-belief and religious indifference. The Council also collaborates with the cultural activities of the Holy See. Its task is one of animation, with no jurisdiction over other cultural institutions, which are autonomous and depend on the Sovereign Pontiff through the Secretariat of State.
Some institutions linked to the Holy See play an important role in cultural affairs: Vatican Radio, the Vatican Press and Publishing House, the Vatican Television Centre and the newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, all serve the Pope's spiritual ministry. The Fabric of St Peter also plays a major role in the context of conservation of UNESCO-protected heritage and has the task of administering and maintaining St Peter's Basilica and its heritage.
Vatican City State
The Vatican City State was established in 1929 with the signing of the Lateran Treaty between Italy and the Holy See. The Treaty acts as guarantor of the independence of the Holy See, which exercises sovereignty over the Vatican City State. Its juridical organisation is laid down in the Fundamental Law (2000).
The Pope or Supreme Pontiff holds full legislative, executive and judicial powers in the Vatican City State. He, together with the Secretariat of State, is responsible for international co-operation.
Legislative power is exercised by the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, which is made up of cardinals nominated by the Sovereign Pontiff. The Cardinal President of the Commission also exercises executive power through the Governorate of Vatican City State, which is composed of directorates, offices and services concerned with administration of the temporal goods of the Holy See.
The General Management of Pontifical Monuments, Museums and Galleries (the Vatican Museums) and the Vatican Observatory fall under the Governorate. The Permanent Commission for the Care of Historical and Artistic Monuments of the Holy See is responsible for the artistic protection of buildings owned by the Holy See both in Vatican City and in extra-territorial areas.
Please find the available information on this subject in 1.2.2.
Please find the available information on this subject in 1.2.2.
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Last update: November, 2017
The Holy See is very aware of the importance of intercultural and interreligious dialogue, and so promotes a significant collaboration between these two distinct fields.
Cultural co-operation is also carried out between four dicasteries by a standing group composed of the Secretaries of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue and the Pontifical Council for Culture. The aim of this standing group is to maintain constant relations and communication with partners so that matters of common interest can be confronted together. The group produces documents, considers and invites academic studies, promotes pastoral reflection, and proposes joint initiatives, thereby harmonising their activities, especially on the issues of relations with non-Christians, sects and contemporary cultural currents. This standing group also deals with intercultural dialogue.
The Pontifical Council for Culture has the mission of monitoring and co-ordinating the activities of the Pontifical Academies through the Coordinating Council for Pontifical Academies. The Pontifical Academy of Science, Academy of Social Sciences and the Academy of Life have a special status within the organisation.
The international and multicultural composition of the Congregations and Pontifical Councils, with members from all continents, shows the intention of the Roman Curia to be an effective instrument of contact and communion between local Churches across the world. This is seen in numerous joint initiatives.
Meetings between the Presidents of all the dicasteries, together with the Sovereign Pontiff, ensure across-the-board unity of purpose. The Secretaries of the dicasteries also have their interdicasterial plenary meetings. Apart from their work on standing committees, officials of different Dicasteries regularly receive each others documents and journals and attend events whenever there are interdicasterial issues of interest or competence. Within this context, for example, the Pontifical Council for Migrants and the Pontifical Council for Culture have developed a common approach to the place of intercultural dialogue.
Last update: November, 2017
The Vatican City was created to ensure the absolute and visible independence of the Holy See, guaranteeing it as an indisputable and internationally recognised sovereignty. Thus, the Pope, as Sovereign of the Vatican City State, has the complete freedom to exercise his spiritual authority over more than a billion Catholics world-wide. The Head of the College of Bishops and pastor of the universal Church, the Sovereign Pontiff exercises ordinary, supreme and universal power in the Church. In carrying out this specific and universal mission, he is assisted by the bodies of the Holy See, which together constitute the Roman Curia.
Information is currently not available.
Last update: November, 2017
The Pontifical Academies
Benedict XVI reiterated the aims of the Pontifical Academies in a message to its Members in 2005: "offer the Church, as well as to the world of culture and arts, a project renewed with authentic Christian humanism, that is useful and meaningful for the men and women of the third millennium." He adds: "Such is your arduous task, your noble mission: give Christ to the man today, presenting him as the true measure of maturity and of human fullness".
- the Pontifical Academy of Sciences is a descendant of the Academy dei Lincei, which was founded in Rome in 1603 and of which Galileo was a member. It was revived by Pius IX in 1847, nationalised by the Italian Government after the capture of Rome in 1870, and then reconstituted by Pius XI in 1936. It is located in the Casina of Pius IV in the Vatican Gardens. The mission of its 80 members, who are chosen without regard to country or religion and about 40 of whom are Nobel prize winners, is to honour pure science, ensuring its freedom and encouraging research. It is supported financially by the Holy See;
- more recently, the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences was set up in 1994 with the aim of promoting the human sciences. The Pontifical Academy for Life was established in 1984; and
- there are seven other academies that are part of the Co-ordinating Council for Pontifical Academies. The oldest of these is the Pontifical Academy of Virtuosi at the Pantheon, founded in 1542. In recent years the various academies have undergone a modernisation process, with an updating of their statutes and a renewal of their focus. They are funded by the Holy See, and new forms of funding are being sought.
The Vatican Museums
Popes Clement XIV and Pius VII were the founders of the Pontifical Museums and Galleries of the Vatican. The Art Gallery, the Egyptian Museum, the Etruscan Museum, the Sistine Chapel and the Raphael Rooms or Borgia Apartments are the most well-known of the Vatican Museums. John XXIII assembled three Lateran museums-the Sacred and Profane Museum, the Christian Museum and the Ethnographic Missionary Museum-in a new modern building opened to the public in 1970. In 1973, Paul VI created the Museum of Modern Religious Art.
The constantly increasing flow of visitors led to the opening of a new access point to the museums. In 1982, the Patrons of the Arts Association was founded, bringing together American Catholics (and also people of other faiths) to provide financial support for the restoration and preservation of the Vatican Museums. The Egyptian Museum was fully renovated thanks to such support. Restoration of the Sistine Chapel frescoes, a huge undertaking, was carried out with the technical and financial help of a Japanese company.
Fabric of St Peter
This organisation dates back to Pope Julius II and is responsible for everything concerning St Peter's Basilica - its conservation and decoration as well as the internal organisation of its guards and pilgrimages. The large sums of money needed for the restoration work have led to a search for outside sources of funding. Thus, the façade of St Peter's Basilica and the colonnade around St Peter's Square were extensively restored and cleaned for the celebration of the 2000 Jubilee, an ongoing operation made possible by the contributions of sponsors who are financing it completely. The results give rise to hopes of other such co-operation in the future. The Fabric of St Peter also has a mosaic workshop.
Teaching centres
The Holy See has two teaching centres in the Vatican City: the Vatican School of Palaeography, Diplomacy and Archives, and the Vatican School of Librarianship. However, an extensive network of Pontifical Universities, which are financially and administratively autonomous, falls under the jurisdiction of the Congregation for Catholic Education with respect to the choice of academic authorities and approval of programmes. There are nine Pontifical Universities in Rome, as well as four Pontifical Theological Faculties, three specialised Pontifical Higher Institutes (the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology and the Pontifical Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies), while a very large network of Catholic Universities exists throughout the world. The Pontifical Universities of Rome have in recent years set up an information network incorporating all the ecclesiastical libraries of Rome, with a total of over 3 500 000 volumes.
The Central Committee of the Great Jubilee, set up in the course of celebrations for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, established many partnership agreements with different companies providing products and services, in order to help cover the expenses connected with jubilee events. Similar bilateral agreements were also made with various companies for specific interventions, especially restoration work (for example, the Sistine Chapel, the façade of St Peter's Basilica and the colonnade around St Peter's Square) and the installation of solar panels on the roof of the Paul VI audience hall. The tendency is more towards individual case-by-case partnership programmes than global agreements.
Last update: November, 2017
The Holy See fosters, through the Pontifical Council for Culture, local initiatives and meetings between major actors from the cultural sphere. It organises international meetings for academics in various fields and practitioners of film, literature, music and fine arts, etc. In cooperation with local Episcopal commissions, it also encourages projects and provides expertise and a network of contacts.
Some institutes mandated by the Holy See such as The Pontifical Universities develop research in academic fields that can be applied to culture such as historical sciences, sociology, art etc.
Due to the specificity of the Holy See, the main instrument of international co-operation is attendance at and moral patronage of meetings and organising committees, whereby it provides expertise, encouragement and access to its extended network of relations. International meetings of specialists from various disciplines on one theme foster inroads into a better understanding of various cultures.
The place of culture within universities overseen by the Holy See has changed rapidly in the last decade as the Vatican Council II document Gaudium et spes, which has a chapter dedicated to culture, continues to take effect. Many universities now have centres for culture, and culture is considered a transversal element which reaches across different faculties and courses. Some specific courses on educational culture exist. Furthermore, with the increasing mobility of catechists and clergy, many local education centres have been set up in order to help them "inculturate", that is understand and respect, use and embrace the local cultural way of life. These elements are all in accordance with the fundamental principles of the faith. From Canada to South Africa, Vietnam to Ireland, such centres follow similar patterns, imparting local language and idiom, and introducing understanding of local culture, history and symbol.
Last update: November, 2017
The Holy See participates in over 80 Council of Europe committees and working groups, as well as in many of UNESCO's working groups, and maintains active relations with the ministries for culture or equivalent bodies of many countries by organising joint activities, both in Rome and abroad. The body that animates the Catholic Church's global pastoral adoption and implementation of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions is the Pontifical Council for Culture. The implementation of the Convention is approached through all the Church's different media and all the museums, collections, and cultural goods.
Last update: November, 2017
These are a few examples of international co-operation with local cultural entities:
- a festival and international Conference on Cinema for Peace, held in 2001, in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, organised by the Pontifical Council for Culture and the Colombian Ministry for Culture. For programme and details on "Films, Spirituality and Culture for Peace" see http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/cultr/documents/rc_pc_cultr_doc_20010924_cartagena_sp.html. A follow-up took place in Guadalajara (Mexico) in 2005 and in Lubjana in 2005;
- in May 2001, an International Conference on European Cultural Identity "Many Cultures, Heading towards Political and Economic Union" was organised together with the Romanian Ministry for Culture. For details see: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/cultr/documents/rc_pc_cultr_doc_20010430_bucharest-europe_en.html;
- on 12 February 2004, a Conference on 20th Century Literature and Catholicism was held in Madrid, Spain, jointly organised by the Spanish Ministry of Culture and the Pontifical Council;
- on 27-28 October 2005, a Ministerial conference for the 50th anniversary of the European Cultural Convention was held in Faro, Portugal;
- on 3-5 July 2006, a meeting was held, in Lima, of historians in order to write a cultural history of the Church in America with the help of the local community of historians.
- from 19-21 June 2007, an international conference was organised under the title "Christianity, Culture and Moral Values" by the Pontifical Council for Culture, the Institute for the Universal History of the Academy of Sciences of Russia, the Department for External Ecclesiastical Relations of the Patriarchate of Moscow and by the Pontifical Committee of Historical Sciences, in the wake of the meeting in Vienna in May 2006 on dialogue and cooperation between Catholics and Orthodox in favour of culture;
- from 11-12 December 2007, the Conference "Identity and Disintegration. The crisis of the person in the contemporary world in fictional and documentary cinematography", under the high patronage of the President of the Italian Republic organised by the Pontifical Council for Culture, the Pontifical Council for Social Communications and the Vatican Filmoteca, in collaboration with the cinematography Journal published by Rome's "Ente dello Spettacolo", within the framework of the XI edition of the Festival of Spiritual Cinema "Tertio Millennio", (Sala Trevi, Rome) and the promotion of moral values in Europe (Moscow);
- from 4-7 February 2008, a Seminar was held on Evangelisation of Culture at Yangon, Rangoon (Myanmar / Burma) by the Episcopal Commission for Culture of Myanmar and the Pontifical Council for Culture; and
- on 4 December 2008, a study day was prepared on "Cultures and Religions in Dialogue" during the European Union's Year of Intercultural Dialogue. The study day was organised by the Pontifical Council for Culture and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.