The church was built in Gothic style based on a design by engineer Giuseppe Gualandi. The interior features three naves.
**Description:** The original collection of the Museum of the Afterlife, presented to Pius X in 1914, consisted of 12 items: imprints of fire, hands, and fingers left by the deceased on everyday objects. These were supplemented by accounts of souls in purgatory, photographic evidence, and engravings on the theme.
**Date of Use:** Between 1897 and 1917
**Type:** Unclassifiable devotional object (neither an image nor a relic)
**Location:** Other
**Notes on the Collection:** Initially, gratitude for received graces was expressed through donations of silver hearts, later replaced by more liturgically useful items such as candles, lamp oil, and church furnishings. Over time, votive offerings declined and were replaced by written accounts of miracles accompanied by monetary donations. On the bell tower, there is a votive offering from Fr. Jouët to the Souls in Purgatory, who had protected him from danger during a journey.
**Types of Votive Offerings:** Illuminations, Goldsmithing items, Miscellaneous objects
The bulletin *”Purgatory Visited by the Piety of the Faithful”* collected around 2,000 accounts of graces, published regularly until the 1950s, when declining pilgrim numbers forced the editors to “reprint” previously published miracles.
Victor M. Jouët of the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, founded in 1851 by Jules Chevalier, requested approval from Cardinal Vicar Lucido Maria Parocchi on March 20, 1893, for the “Pious Association of Suffrages for the Souls in Purgatory under the Protection of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and St. Joseph.” On May 2, he obtained an oratory in a former café chantant on Via dei Cosmati, and on May 31, official approval was granted. Meanwhile, he founded a magazine, *Purgatory Visited by the Piety of the Faithful*, which was soon translated into Spanish, French, English, and German, reaching millions of copies and readers worldwide.
Later, he purchased a villa on Lungotevere Prati, where the church now stands. In August 1896, a new chapel was inaugurated inside, quickly becoming a popular place of worship and pilgrimage, as evidenced by the records of Mass offerings. The cornerstone of the new church had been laid in 1894, but construction was completed only in 1917, the same year the Association was elevated to the rank of Archconfraternity. By then, Fr. Jouët had already died (1912), and Pietro Benedetti was appointed as the first pastor of the new parish. When Benedetti became Bishop of Tyre on January 12, he was succeeded by Fr. Gilla Gremigni.
On December 12, 1917, Benedict XV signed the bull establishing the new church as a parish, and on January 15, 1918, the temple was canonically inaugurated. Devotion to the souls in purgatory, believed to grant favors in exchange for prayers, gained momentum after a fire on July 2, 1897, in the temporary chapel left a painting of the Madonna on the altar untouched—an event interpreted as a miracle. The fire also left shadows on the walls, seen as outlines of a suffering soul in purgatory.
From then on, the confraternity began collecting and cataloging documents and objects related to souls in purgatory. On August 4, 1914, the collection was presented to Pius X, who encouraged Jouët to continue his work. Initially displayed in the confraternity’s parlor, it attracted many visitors and pilgrims. After the new church was built, the museum was moved to an adjacent room. However, by the 1930s, with declining pilgrim numbers, the collection was drastically reduced and stored in a large cabinet.
In the 1950s, the sanctuary’s decline continued, with only a few dozen registrations, mostly women. By the 1960s and 70s, souls in purgatory lost their privileged place in parish life. Today, the museum occupies a single display case and is mostly visited by curious tourists or spiritualism enthusiasts. Few Romans are even aware of its existence.
As mentioned, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart were supported by the Archconfraternity of the Sacred Heart of Suffrage.
Via Ulpiano, 29, 00193 Roma, Italy
