In the suburbs of Rome, Sassone from 29 April to 1 May 2013, the Second Conference of Church Archivists of Europe was organized by the Church Archives Association (Associazione archivistica ecclesiastica) in cooperation with the Pontifical Council for Culture. The members of the mentioned association were invited to participate, and other archivists who deal with church archival material applied. The conference lasted 3 days and was attended by representatives of Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, France, Italy, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Switzerland. The following representatives from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina participated: Goran Crnković (Director of the State Archives in Rijeka), Ante Gverić (Director of the State Archives in Zadar), Milenko Krešić (Church historian from Mostar), Mirela Mrak (Head of the Department of Church Materials in the State Archives in Pazin), Nataša Mučalo (Director of the State Archives in Šibenik) and Elvis Orbanić (Director of the State Archives in Pazin).
On the first day of the conference on 29 April, Mons. Gaetano Zito, president of the Church Archives Association, who in his speech emphasized the need to get to know the different experiences as well as their exchange among the participants, possible solutions to the difficulties that arise in the work and the potential of the Church Archives of Europe. A particularly inspired speech was delivered by Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, who, among other things, quoted several European intellectuals about the importance of church archives for the identity of the Old Continent. In the first session, and after the welcome speeches, some representatives of the countries presented their experiences of working over the protection of church archives. Elvis Orbanić presented Croatia by talking about the practice of working over the church archives of the Poreč and Pula dioceses and the cooperation between the State Archives in Pazin and the mentioned Diocese in the direction of protecting the archival heritage that began in the early 70s of the 20th century and continues successfully today. In the afternoon, an expert visit to the Secret Vatican Archives was organized, where the participants were welcomed by Mons. Jean-Louis Brugués, archivist and librarian of the Holy Roman Church and Mons. Sergio Pagano, prefect of the Secret Vatican Archives. This was followed by a lecture on the relationship between archival and informatics given by Daniele Gallinella, Head of IT Support at the Secret Vatican Archives.
On the second day of the conference, April 30, Thomas Aigner (Director of the Diocesan Archives in St. Polten) gave a lecture on the Monasterium project. Thamas Toth (Rector of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Hungarian Institution in Rome) then spoke about public archives and ecclesiastical funds on the example of Hungary. In the closing part of the morning part of the conference, participants discussed the digitization of church archives and church funds in public archival institutions. In the afternoon, Mons. Slavatore Palese (former president of the Church Archives Association) gave a stimulating lecture on the pastoral function of church archives after 1997.
On the last day of the conference, May 1st, Mons. Carlos Alberto de Pinho Moreira Azevedo, Delegate for Ecclesiastical Cultural Goods of the Pontifical Council for Culture, made a closing statement summarizing what had been said over the past two days and sparked a discussion about the future of joint steps by church archivists. The discussion emphasized the need for greater connection between the church archivist associations of Europe. (Mrak Mirela, Department of Church Archives, DAPA)
