Tourism, religious identity and cultural heritage

What is it about?

Religious tourism is a very recent form of tourism. The motivations of these visitors are mostly mixed. For anthropological, cultural and also religious reasons, the Catholic Church is convinced that tourist activities at religious sites cannot be considered only from an economic point of view. Rather, she considers it necessary to share the identity of her heritage artworks and religious events. Here, the new media communication and the pastoral approach to Christian art in the new evangelization could be important factors to share the said identity. The special issue of the journal «Church, Communication and Culture» deals with these issues in two sections. Readers of the first section, entitled ‘The artistic heritage of Christianity: promotion and reception of identity’ (edited by Ralf van Bühren), gain insights into how the identity of the Christian artistic heritage is promoted by religious or civil authorities, and how it is received by tourists. Regarding the statements of the Catholic Church’s magisterium on tourism, this section informs about doctrinal norms and pastoral proposals after Vatican Council II (1962–1965). The historical and cultural frames for these directives are also given. The second section of this special issue, entitled ‘ICTs and travelers’ experience at sites of religious heritage’ (edited by Lorenzo Cantoni and Silvia De Ascaniis), is devoted to studying the role and use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in tourism and religious experience at sites of religious heritage. On the one hand, in fact, tourism is probably one of the sectors where ICTs are playing a major role – starting from the dreaming and planning phase, during the visit itself, and also in the ‘after’ phase. On the other hand, ICTs might also support the religious and spiritual dimension.

Featured Image

Photo by Henrique Ferreira on Unsplash

Photo by Henrique Ferreira on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This special issue of the journal «Church, Communication and Culture» deepens the knowledge about the current dialogue between religion, communication and culture in the public area.

Perspectives