Society and Church: Italian books catalogue donated to Moscow Theological Academy

The spouse of the Russian President - Svetlana Medvedeva - transferred a catalogue numbering 26,739 books from different libraries of Northern Italy and pontifical universities of Rome to Moscow Orthodox Theological Academy.

“These are books on the history of religion, theology, philosophy assembled by representatives of Moscow Theological Academy in different corners of Italy”, she said during the ceremony of transferring the catalogue to Archbishop Eugene - Rector of the Orthodox Academy.

The Foundation for Social and Cultural Initiatives, led by Svetlana Medvedeva, took an active part in efforts to discover these books, and also in the reconstruction of Moscow Theological Academy Library. “Its reconstruction as one of the major moral, spiritual and cultural centers of Russia, has a great significance, - said the President’s spouse.

She recalled that March 2011 saw the opening of the Center for Russian Cultural Studies at Ca' Foscari University of Venice. “The librarian of the National Library of St. Mark’s on behalf of the President of the Council for Promoting Christian Unity, the main donator - Cardinal Kurt Koch, gave us a certificate on transferring books”, said Svetlana Medvedeva. “At the moment they are kept in Tarquinia, in the ancient St. Antonius Church”, specified the First Lady.

“When the cataloguing process of books totaling 26,739 is over they will be brought to Russia and will be kept by Moscow Theological Academy Library”, Svetlana Medvedeva informed. “I’m very glad that the selected editions are not limited to religious books, but feature secular editions as well, - she added. – In the upbringing of our children it is highly important to be guided by the traditions and experience of previous generations, spiritual basics of Orthodoxy, and here the great role belongs to the Russian Orthodox Church”.

The catalogue transferred to Moscow Orthodox Theological Academy, in particular, contains books from the Vatican Secret Archives, the Pontifical Oriental Institute, the Pontifical Lateran University, the Pontifical Gregorian University, the Seminary in Malan, and San Fedele community.