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The institutionalisation of Christian archaeology
The Pontificio Istituto di Archeologia Cristiana – PIAC (Pontifical Institute for Christian Archaeology) was founded on 11 December 1925 through Pope Pius XI’s motu proprio, ‘I primitivi cemeteri’. From the very beginning, the PIAC was intended to work closely with two other research institutions: the Pontificia Accademia Romana di Archeologia (responsible for traditional archaeology) and the Pontificia Commissione di Archeologia Sacra (responsible for managing the catacombs of Rome). Since 1927, the head office of the PIAC has been located in Via Napoleone III in the centre of Rome.
Today, the PIAC is still a teaching and research institution which educates numerous undergraduate and PhD students every year in various branches of Christian archaeology. This is not solely about teaching, as the institute is also involved in international excavations and plays a key role in organising them.
Jean-Pierre Kirsch
The PIAC has close ties to Luxembourg: the Luxembourg priest and academic Jean-Pierre Kirsch was given the role of founding the PIAC in 1925.
Jean-Pierre Kirsch moved to Rome in 1884 as a young priest to study. There he swiftly earned an exceptional reputation and created an international network in both ecclesiastical and academic circles. In 1890, he became professor of patristics and Christian archaeology at the newly founded University of Fribourg in Switzerland. This experience was invaluable to the later founding of the PIAC.