Opening of the new fittings of the Christian Museum and the Ethnological Missionary Museum, presentation of the restoration of Pinturicchio’s frescoes in the Sala dei Misteri of the Borgia quarters and then meetings, stamps and liturgical celebrations. These are just a few of the initiatives that have been planned to celebrate the V centenary of the Vatican Museums (1506 – 2006) that was presented this morning at a press conference in the Vatican. As he went though the history of the Museums, starting from that first "sparkle" that was the finding of the Laocoon in 1506, card. Edmund Casimir Szoka, president of the Governatorate of the State of the Vatican City, recalled the "artists of all times" who "were called to express themselves and give vent to their talents by serving Beauty and Faith" and bringing into the world "a wealth of incomparable spiritual value" provided to the whole of mankind. So, the building of the Museums shows "that the Church was open to the world of culture and to the cultures of the world, as it related to them, made changes and gained new lifeblood". Art become "a language with which to communicate universal messages and values". "Because of the way they have been formed and their spiritual meaning, their historical significance and natural bent concluded the cardinal – the Vatican Museums are a unique, unparalleled example among the the great museums of their kind".
