CULTURAL HERITAGE AND RELIGION

This volume brings together the national reports prepared for the 36th Conference of the European Consortium for Church and State Research, devoted to the legal protection of religious heritage in Europe. The conference, hosted in Sibiu, provided a forum for scholars from across the European Union to examine the legal, historical and social dimensions of religious heritage and the role of the state in its preservation. A central theme of the volume concerns the very definition of religious heritage. The reports explore how religious heritage is conceptualized in international instruments, European norms and national legislation, and how the notion extends beyond places of worship to include sacred sites, movable goods, memorial heritage, religious music and intangible traditions. Another major focus of the studies is the relationship between the religious and the cultural dimensions of heritage. Contemporary challenges affecting religious heritage form another important thread of the volume. Finally, the volume explores future developments in the protection of religious heritage, including questions of ownership, responsibility for maintenance, public and private funding and the role of European programmes.