Ecclesial Cultural Goods and Abandonment of Monastic Heritage

Abstract

The work is based on the analysis of the relevance of ecclesial cultural goods for the Church's order, for the symbolic-representative function of the spiritual values embodied in the ecclesial tradition, and highlights the need to provide special instruments of protection that promote their use by the community. By applying an extensive interpretation of the notion of sacredness, it is believed that it is possible to extend to the goods of monastic patrimony the qualification of ecclesial cultural goods, connoted by the characteristics of preciousness, culturality and sacredness. In order to guarantee respect for the symbolic-sacral value of these goods even when it is not possible to maintain their original destination, it is proposed to adapt, in the face of the lack of specific regulations, the current provisions for the reduction of places of worship to profane use, which establish precise conditions and precautions to ensure the decorum due to their intrinsic dignity.