Tasovac, Archbishop Brugues: Historic visit to Serbia

BELGRADE - Archivist and librarian of the Vatican Apostolic Library Archbishop Jean-Louis Brugues and his host, Serbian Minister of Culture and Information Ivan Tasovac pointed Wednesday to the historic dimension of this visit, which is the first ever visit to Serbia by a representative of the Vatican Library.

Archbishop Brugues arrived on his first official visit to Belgrade on Monday, September 8, at the invitation of the Serbian government. During the visit, Brugues signed the Protocol on Cooperation between the Vatican Apostolic Library and the National Library of Serbia (NBS), visited the Archive of Serbia, and met with Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) Patriarch Irinej.

After the meeting at the Ministry of Culture and Information, Brugues expressed his satisfaction with the visit, referring to it as historic.

The protocol signed with NBS opens the door to cooperation between the two institutions, and I believe that the exchange of experts and researches will start very soon, Archbishop Brugues said.

He pointed out that the Vatican Library has always attached great importance to international cooperation, and welcomed scientists from South America, Japan, even the Communist China, despite the fact that the Vatican has not established diplomatic relations with this country.

All the more reason to welcome researchers from the Balkans, particularly from Serbia, said the current archivist and librarian of one of the oldest and most significant cultural heritage institutions in the world.

Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana was established in the 15th century. Along with the national libraries of London and Paris, it holds the world's largest collection of ancient books and documents, and has a long...