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Participants at a conference in the Vatican’s Apostolic Library heard Pope Francis speak on the importance of libraries for academic growth and cultural preservation. The gathering brought together representatives of 23 libraries from around the world, who, the Pope reminded, are tasked with an “exciting mission.”
Pope Francis began his talk by remembering the pontificate of Pope Pius XI, who is sometimes referred to as “the librarian pope,” in a nod to his prior work as librarian of the Venerable Ambrosian Library in Milan and eventually the Vatican Library.
He recalled how, in the time between the First and Second World Wars, Pope Pius XI expanded the Vatican library, earnestly trained librarians, and carefully cataloged the Vatican library to ensure the protection of history:
“Under his protection, the Vatican Library became a safe refuge for many scholars, including those persecuted by the totalitarian regimes that the Pope firmly opposed.”
Pope Francis continued to find parallels between Pope Pius XI’s time and now, when we “find ourselves likewise faced with significant cultural and social challenges calling for timely and appropriate responses.”
Poor countries need support
Next, touching upon the technological innovations to libraries, he warned that such systems need better quality control, but hailed some of the benefits they have brought. He noted a difference in the levels of access to printed collections between rich and poor nations, for which the latter may benefit greatly from digital libraries.
“Less advantaged nations can experience not only material poverty, but also intellectual and cultural poverty,” he warned, adding that “there is a great risk that the current world war being fought piecemeal will slow down the progress already made.”
The Pope extrapolated that the cost of developing tools of war may draw resources from libraries, impeding the growth of culture. Furthermore, the wars waged by such weapons may see the destruction of schools and universities, exacerbating the restraints war places on young learners. He urged the end of war so that such events "never happen again."
He concluded his address by offering four points of guidance from his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium: "time is greater than space,” "unity prevails over conflict,” "realities are more important than ideas,” and that “the whole is greater than the parts.”
He urged librarians to create spaces for reflection on the transcendent, respect academic debate and the primacy of reality, and to seek the greater good when reconciling local and global needs.
