In the month of May this year, our schools experienced an intense experience, full of emotions and meanings, a pilgrimage to Rome on the occasion of the Jubilee. For the Pio Institute, it was also the best way to celebrate the 140th year of its founding by the will of Don Carlo San Martino. It was a community experience in which many students from the Bolchini, Rigola, and Lucino schools participated, accompanied by their parents. The family of the Pio Institute was also well represented by many teachers and educators, by the school principals, and by several members of the management, the board of directors, and the benefactors’ committee. The President of the Foundation also did not want to miss it.
The trip, organized with care and participation, was the starting point of an experience that left a deep mark on the hearts of all participants. Already the journey to Rome, experienced as a time of waiting and preparation, became an opportunity to get to know each other better, to dialogue, to create a sense of community that made the entire experience even more meaningful.
Once arrived in the Eternal City, we let ourselves be amazed by its beauty, the ancient streets, the monuments steeped in history, the squares animated by daily life and spirituality. Our families, with their children, even the youngest, participated with enthusiasm and curiosity, showing great attention and respect. Rome, with its charm, proved to be a silent teacher, capable of speaking to everyone’s heart, through art, history, and faith. The visits to the Jubilee Basilicas were engaging, especially to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore where Pope Francis, who had passed away a few days earlier, is buried.
The Pilgrimage had its most significant moment with the approach to St. Peter’s Basilica, accompanied by the prayer led by our priest Don Tarcisio Bove, who then concelebrated the Holy Mass at the Altar of the Chair presided over by His Eminence Cardinal Mauro Gambetti. A moment full of emotions and meaning that made this experience unique, which will certainly remain in the memory of all participants.
Very significant were the concluding moments of the trip with participation in the Angelus of Pope Leo XIV and with the community lunch.
This pilgrimage represented much more than a simple trip: it was a journey of faith, encounter, and belonging. It united generations, different roles, and personal experiences in a single experience of deep sharing. The emotions experienced, the strengthened bonds, and the spirituality breathed at every stage will remain etched in everyone’s heart. It was a precious opportunity to rediscover the roots of our Institute, to feel part of a large family that walks together, with our gaze turned to the future and our hearts full of gratitude. Rome welcomed us and transformed us: we return home enriched, united, and even more aware of the value of our educational and community mission.
