Christian archaeology seeks to see, hear and touch the Word made flesh, Pope Leo XIV said in a new Apostolic Letter, inviting the world’s bishops and others to encourage young people, lay people and priests to study archaeology. Source: OSV News.
Ancient relics, catacombs, artifacts and ruins from the early Christian communities help the faithful “rediscover the roots of their faith,” and they speak “to those who are distant, to nonbelievers and to those who question the meaning of life, because they find an echo of eternity in the silence of the tombs and in the beauty of the early Christian basilicas,” the Pope wrote in the document.
“Moreover, archaeology speaks to young people, who often seek authenticity and significance; to scholars, who view faith as a historically documented reality rather than an abstraction; to pilgrims, who find in the catacombs and shrines a sense of purpose and an invitation to pray for the Church,” he wrote.
The Vatican released Pope Leo’s apostolic letter “on the importance of archaeology,” overnight in Rome “on the occasion of the centenary of the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology,” which was founded by Pope Pius XI in 1925. The Pope also met with members of the institute in an audience at the Vatican the same day.
The institute is a graduate-level research and teaching institution that offers degrees in Christian archaeology and has trained hundreds of archaeologists who specialise in ancient Christianity.
FULL STORY
Christian archaeology can serve evangelization, pope says in document (By Carol Glatz, OSV News)
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Pope Leo: Christian archaeology is vocation and form of love for Church and humanity (Vatican News)
