General Archives

The Archives Générales Société du Sacré Coeur (AGSSC) are the historical archives of the Generalate of the Society of the Sacred Heart. Since 1973 these, along with the provincial archives of Italy, have been permanently housed in the beautiful and historical Villa Lante in Rome.

As the provider of materials relating to the cultural heritage and history of the Church, the General Archive needs to ensure its materials are accessible and searchable through the systematic and scientific arrangement of materials and their description.

The primary mission of the AGSSC is to preserve and make available the memory of the Congregation and its charism through the documents and other materials that bring testimony to the mission as it has been lived since its foundation and in different places around the world.

Starting in 2013, more archival material has been transferred to the Villa Lante from different ex-provinces of the Society of Sacred Heart: two sections of the archives of France, and later the archives of Belgium and Netherlands (the former provinces of France, Belgium and Netherlands are now one province called BFN, whose archives are located in Lyon).

The arrangement and archival descriptions of the archives of the Villa Lante are currently being revised and updated, in compliance with the ICA’s (International Council of Archives) archival standards.

The archival descriptions and some collections are being added to the digital archives and will be available for consultation online via AtoM, the AGSSC’s archival description software. Currently available materials include the description and digital documents of the Philippine Duchesne Collection, specifically, her correspondence and writings, biographical documents and the documentation regarding her beatification and canonization process. Other collections will be added in the near future.

Philippine Duchesne is a key figure of the Society of the Sacred Heart, a fascinating character who left France in 1818 to become a pioneer of the Catholic mission in the Mississippi River valley.

Visit AtoM

See a list of holdings of the archives of Villa Lante and our access policy