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One of the central questions of the transition from communist regime to democracy in Bulgaria was the question of what should be done with the archives of communist state security. In contrast to the countries of Central Europe, the initial energy was not sufficient to bring about their opening. In the 1990s this question disappeared from the political agenda. The demand for opening up the archives did not disappear completely; it was supported by non-governmental organizations and journalists. The public pressure, reinforced by the demands of the EU in the accession negotiations led at the end of 2006 to the adoption of a law decision on the use of archival materials, and in 2007 the Commission was established.

The Commission was quick to gain confidence by revealing the names of those who had worked for the State Security, beginning with the political elite of the transitional period, with influential social groups such as the media, churches and religious communities. Another important success of the Commission is that it has succeeded in gathering documents on the former structures of state security and bringing them together in a separate archive administered by the Commission.

The rich materials are processed and published in thematic documentary collections containing the facsimile of documents. Up to now (April 2018), 46 thematic collections have been issued, each of which can be defined as a collection of documents.

The church district was established in the sixteenth century thanks to the spread of Calvinism in Upper Hungary. After the Peace Treaty of Trianon (1920), five eparchies (Abaúj, Gömör-Torna, Felsőbordos, Alsóborsod, and Alsózemplén) remained in Hungary. The others went to the Church district west of the Tisza River in Czechoslovakia. The Church district was added to the Church district east of the Tisza River in 1952. In 1957, it became independent again, but with the new eparchies created in 1952 (Heves, Borsod, Abaúj, Zemplén). Today, the Church district includes the Eparchies of Abaúj, Borsod-Gömör, Egervölgy, and Zemplén.

It was after the Velvet Revolution in the year 1989 that possibilities arose for the creation of CU in Slovakia. The Slovak bishops endeavoured to form a Faculty of Pedagogy which would educate Catholic teachers. The charter of the Pedagogical Institute of St. Andrew in Ružomberok was signed on 29 June 1995, in Dolná Krupá, and the first director was prof. RNDr. Jozef Ďurček, CSc.

The Academic Council of the University of Trnava created a Catechetical-pedagogical Faculty of St. Andrew (KPF) in 1996, through the transformation of the Pedagogical Institute of St. Andrew. The KPF was incorporated into the University of Žilina in 1997. Its statute, with the right of Church audit, as is usual for theological faculties, was registered at the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic. The first deans of KPF were prof. RNDr. Jozef Ďurček, Csc. (1996-1998) and prof. RNDr. Pavol Kluvánek, CSc. (1999-2000).

Later, on the basis of KPF, CU came into existence. The Law of the National Council of the Slovak Republic from 10 May 2000, concerning the establishment of the Catholic University in Ružomberok (CU) (this is the official name), established the creation of CU from 1 April 2000, with two faculties: a Faculty of Pedagogy and a Faculty of Philosophy. The Faculty of Theology, with its seat in Košice, was established on 1 July 2003, and the fourth, the Faculty of Health, on 1 July 2005. Although Law 167/2000 created CU as a non-governmental university, with the Law of the National Council of the Slovak Republic about universities, CU became a public university with religious character from 1 April 2002. 

The Research Centre traces its roots to the Archive for Small Press & Communication (ASPC), founded in 1974 by Anne Marsily and Guy Schraenen, and it incorporates more than 40 individual archives and special collections, including the PLG Friesländer’s Mail Art Archive, the Klaus Groh Collection, the Kunstradio Archive, and the Soft Geometry Archives.

The Research Centre’s fundamental task is to collect, develop, and explore artists’ publications since the 1950s. The mediation of the substantial works in the collections and archives also plays a significant role. The medial diversity of the artistic publications is brought to a wide audience through exhibitions, publications, and events.