New website for EUM Historical Archives now online

A fragment of a robe of St Ignatius, the relics of St Pius X, Lorenzo Rocci’s diary, Ciampi’s report card, not only, but over 900 linear metres of documentation and 10,000 Jesuits’ personal files are now more easily accessible thanks to the online portal of the Historical Archives of the Euro-Mediterranean Province of the Society of Jesus, which preserves, protects and enhances the archival heritage of the Province.

The portal, completed according to the digital guidelines adopted by the EUM Province for a more user-friendly service, offers in particular in Italian and English a “showcase” of significant documents and stories:relics, memoires of renowned ex-alumni, particular testimonies of historical events and past eras, and a guide for a quick search for Jesuits and works, and frequently asked questions. Since 2018 Dr Maria Macchi has been the editor of a bimonthly column that recounts stories, subjects and testimonies to a wider audience through the Province’s social media.

After years of closure, the Archive reopened in 2017 and was refurbished in 2019. In recent years, the heritage has been enhanced with various projects and collaborations such as the documentary on Majorana and Rocci’s diary, the latter an initiative carried out in synergy with the University of Tor Vergata.

The Archives holdings consist mainly of the fonds of the former Provinces later united as the Province of Italy in 1978, with documentation on Albania and other missions abroad. The sources preserved are those that follow the restoration of the Society in 1814; only those produced up to October 1958, the end of the pontificate of Pius XII, can be accessed.