{"id":37980,"date":"2023-10-31T16:35:45","date_gmt":"2023-10-31T16:35:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsblogsnew.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=37980"},"modified":"2023-10-31T16:35:45","modified_gmt":"2023-10-31T16:35:45","slug":"ihbc-features-heritage-from-the-global-doorstep-france-launches-religious-heritage-protection-initiative-includes-100k-churches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=37980","title":{"rendered":"IHBC features \u2018Heritage from the global doorstep\u2019: France launches religious heritage protection initiative, includes 100K+ churches"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/www.frh-europe.org\/france-launches-a-major-national-initiative-to-protect-its-religious-heritage-which-includes-over-100000-churches\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright  wp-image-37981\" src=\"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/FRH_Europe_Lilian_Grootswagers_Olivier_de_Rohan_Chabot_Sarah_de_Lencquesaing_311023.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"197\" height=\"245\" \/><\/a>France launches a major national initiative to protect its religious heritage, which includes over 100,000 churches. The Future for Religious Heritage (FRH) has reported.<\/h3>\n<h6><em>image for illustration &#8211; FRH<\/em> &#8216;<em>From left to right: Lilian Grootswagers (President of FRH Advisory Board), Olivier de Rohan Chabot (Founding president of FRH) and Sarah de Lencquesaing (FRH Council member)&#8217;<\/em><\/h6>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em><span style=\"color: #800080;\">\u2026 initiative will be implemented in three phases\u2026<\/span><\/em><\/h2>\n<p>FRH writes:<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0Conference of Bishops of France (CEF) officially launched,&#8230;. 12 September 2023, the \u00c9tats g\u00e9n\u00e9raux du Patrimoine religieux\u00a0(General State of Religious Heritage), a process that aims to comprehensively address the state of religious heritage in France and make recommendations on the way forward to ensure its future.<\/p>\n<p>The initiative will be implemented in three phases between September 2023 and December 2024.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A major\u00a0national survey of religious heritage\u00a0in all the dioceses of France (more than 90 in total), in order to gain a better understanding of its diversity (immovable, movable, and immaterial).<\/li>\n<li>Regular meetings\u00a0over the 15 months of the initiative to address the issue on the state of religious heritage in the country from different perspectives (namely touristic, economic, pastoral assets, etc.) with hearings of qualified personalities and experts \u2013 clerics and lay people \u2013 to hear the most relevant national and local initiatives.<\/li>\n<li>The creation of a\u00a0guide of good practices\u00a0to help owners and tenants better support their religious heritage buildings in accordance with their primary purpose.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The General State of Religious Heritage initiative is expected to be completed in December 2024, prior to the reopening of the\u00a0Notre Dame de Paris\u00a0Cathedral.<\/p>\n<p>There no doubt that one of France\u2019s greatest treasures is its religious heritage. With more than\u00a0100,000 religious buildings\u00a0and nearly\u00a0300,000 religious movable objects, this specific type of heritage is one of the major tourist assets of the country.<\/p>\n<h2>Future for Religious Heritage at the launch event<\/h2>\n<p>As the voice of European Religious Heritage, FRH joined the launch event that took place at St Martin\u2019s Church in Bonnesvalyn, a small village of 216 inhabitants located northeast of Paris.<\/p>\n<p>The event was attended by\u00a0St\u00e9phane Fr\u00e8re, mayor of Bonnesvalyn;\u00a0Monsignor Renauld de Dinechin, bishop of Soissons, Laron and Sainte-Quentin;\u00a0Father Hugues de Woillemont, General Secretary of the CEF; and\u00a0Father Gautier Mornas, head of the CEF\u2019s Sacred Art Department and coordinator of the Etats Generaux du Patrimoine Religieux initiative.<\/p>\n<p>FRH was represented at the event by\u00a0Lilian Grootswagers\u00a0(President of FRH Advisory Board) and\u00a0Sarah de Lencquesaing\u00a0(FRH Council member) who also met\u00a0Olivier de Rohan Chabot, founding member of FRH and current president of La Sauvegarde de l\u2019Art Fran\u00e7ais, which is an important supporter of this national-wide French initiative.<\/p>\n<h2>A Romanesque jewel rescued by its local community<\/h2>\n<p>The place chosen for the launch event was not accidental. The St Martin\u2019s Church in Bonnesvalyn was built in the 12th century and it is a\u00a0jewel of Romanesque religious architecture\u00a0in France. However, at the beginning of the 20th century the building was in danger of collapse. In 1920 the church and some of its objects were\u00a0classified as a historical monument\u00a0in order to protect them. In 2009, the town council of Bonnesvalyn proposed to\u00a0repair the roof, a costly intervention which amounted to 70,000 euros. Lacking the funds to carry out the works, the mayor of Bonnesvalyn had a brilliant idea.<\/p>\n<p>St\u00e9phane Fr\u00e8re, mayor of the village, embarked on a long\u00a0pedalling journey from Nice to Rome\u00a0in order to raise the funds to repair the church. After nine days of travelling and 750 km travelled Mr Fr\u00e8re arrived in Rome having raised 2,500 euros. Far from the target but setting an example of unconditional support for religious heritage in rural areas.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.frh-europe.org\/france-launches-a-major-national-initiative-to-protect-its-religious-heritage-which-includes-over-100000-churches\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read more&#8230;.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>France launches a major national initiative to protect its religious heritage, which includes over 100,000 churches. The Future for Religious Heritage (FRH) has reported. image for illustration &#8211; FRH &#8216;From left to right: Lilian Grootswagers (President of FRH Advisory Board), &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=37980\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ihbc-newsblog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37980"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37980\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37982,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37980\/revisions\/37982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}