ICOMOS Resolution on Religious Heritage

Resolution 32 was adopted at the 15th General Assembly of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) held in Xi’an, China, in October 2005.  It recognizes the diversity of tangible and intangible cultural heritage and the strong religious presence they have in national heritage inventories and in the World Heritage List, which includes cultural, natural and mixed sites. The Assembly also considers the difficulties facing the protection of religious heritage and the various initiatives and partnerships between international organizations that have been established to address this issue. The Assembly thus calls for the creation within the ICOMOS of a thematic programme on international religious assets and proposes the study of possible agreements with UNESCO and other similar organizations.