"Come Ponti sul Mondo – Storie di Vita, Racconti di Missione" (like bridges all over the world – life stories, mission journeys) is an immersive exhibition hosted in the Santo Spirito in Sassia Complex in Rome, running from October 3 to November 16, 2025. Conceived for the Jubilee of Migrants and the Missionary World, it pays tribute to the legacy and modern relevance of Italian Catholic Missions around the globe.
The project was developed by the National Museum of Italian Emigration (MEI) Foundation and the Migrantes Foundation to retrace the history and continuing vitality of these missions – a journey through faith, solidarity, and service that spans continents and centuries.
According to Paolo Masini, president of the MEI Foundation and curator of the project, the museum’s mission is to tell Italy’s collective story through the lives of its people. The Jubilee, he said, provides the perfect opportunity to honor the Italian missionary tradition, which for centuries has brought both faith and concrete aid to communities worldwide.
Monsignor Pierpaolo Felicolo, director general of the Migrantes Foundation, noted that the Jubilee’s theme – hope – captures the spirit of migration itself: the courage to move, the endurance to rebuild, and the comfort offered by those who accompany migrants on their path.
The exhibition blends geography and history. It highlights Italian missionary presence on every continent – more than six million Italians now live abroad – and traces a timeline from the late 19th century to today. Through interactive maps, archival letters, photographs, and recorded voices, visitors follow the journeys of priests, nuns, and lay missionaries who supported Italian emigrants in Europe, the Americas, Africa, and beyond.
Key figures include Vincenzo Pallotti, Geremia Bonomelli, Giovanni Battista Scalabrini, Luigi Guanella, and Francesca Saverio Cabrini – the first American citizen to be canonized and the patron saint of migrants. The exhibition also recounts everyday acts of service: teaching Italian abroad, broadcasting in postwar Europe, and founding schools and hospitals across continents.
By combining advanced multimedia design and historical research, “Like Bridges Across the World” creates an emotional and immersive experience – one that connects past and present, faith and migration, memory and hope.
