Council of Europe: Holy See joins Agreement on Cultural Routes

(Strasbourg) The Holy See is now the 32nd member of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes. It has been announced by the news service of the Council of Europe, telling that, “on Wednesday 21st March, archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, secretary for relations with the states of the Holy See, informed Thorbjørn Jagland, general secretary of the Council of Europe, of the Holy See’s partly joining the Assembly on Cultural Routes”. In the notice, he thanks mgr. Paolo Rudelli, permanent observer of the Holy See to the Council of Europe, “for his support in the membership procedure” and says “they are looking forward to having the Holy See in their statutory meetings and projects”. These are managed by the Luxembourg-based Institute for Cultural Routes. The purpose of this work of the Council of Europe is certifying some major routes for the development of a European cultural identity. Currently, the list of certified routes includes over thirty routes, some of which are associated with the religious heritage of Europe (Way of St James, Via Francigena, Route of Benedictine Abbeys, and others). For further information about cultural routes: https://www.coe.int/en/web/cultural-routes/all-cultural-routes