Exclusive | NYC priest gifts sprawling, 100-piece Nativity scene he spent his life collecting to Italian American museum
Just in time for the holidays, Father Louis Scurti, an 80‑year‑old Manhattan priest, surprised the city’s Italian American Museum with a remarkable gift: more than a hundred wooden figurines that make up “the Persipica,” the traditional Italian nativity scene he had collected over a lifetime.
Scurti handed the pieces to the museum in Lower Manhattan. He called the occasion “bittersweet,” but he also said it was a joy to know the collection would be enjoyed by people beyond his family. “They have tons of visitors every year, and they have children going to the museum, and that’ll be a great education and exposure for them,” he told The Post. The museum’s director, Joseph V. Scelsa, described the donation as a classic emblem of Italian American Christmas.
The priest explained that timing is everything, and that the gift’s arrival felt like destiny. He’s been obsessed with the Persipica since childhood in Jersey City. Instead of buying toys, he would sit under the tree with his family’s delicate nativity scene—a practice his relatives encouraged. When his parents gave him and his brothers money to buy holiday treats, he chose to buy more pieces of the scene, like sheep or a bridge. “My brother did the comic books. I did the Persipica,” he recalled. “My parents supported my addiction.”
Scurti’s passion never faded, even as he turned his first career into teaching, then into priesthood, and finally into marriage and family therapy. In the meantime, he kept traveling, collecting figures from Rome, the Middle East, and elsewhere. While many of the items were classic, he also gathered whimsical additions: a German Shepherd, a Border Collie, a miniature turkey, and a Greyhound dressed as a Wise Man offering gold to baby Jesus. His most expensive acquisition was a set of towering Roman columns, bought for a flat $500.
As friends traveled, they would bring him souvenirs, and he would proudly display them. By 2024, the collection—now more than 100 pieces—had become a logistical challenge to set up for Christmas. “It was getting to be a lot of work to set it up each year. It got to be a burden,” he admitted.
When Scurti was reassigned to preach in Little Italy, he discovered the newly opened Italian American Museum on Mulberry Street. On his first visit, he offered the entire collection to Director Scelsa—save for a few tiny figurines he couldn’t part with. “The rest was history. The Holy Spirit runs the whole show. I’m just an actor,” he said. He noted that the collection was “priceless” and that he needed an appraisal to determine its true value.
Scelsa, however, emphasized that the worth lies not in money but in cultural significance. “Almost every Italian American home has a Persipica,” he explained. “It’s something that reminds us and brings us back to our family and our roots.” He added that many visitors have felt touched when seeing the display over the last two weeks.
This is the museum’s first own Persipica, after renting one last holiday season. According to Scelsa, the eclectic nature of Scurti’s collection is what truly appealed to him. “I love it because it’s so indicative of what we do as an Italian American community. We put every possible element into it, and he’s got so many different, different pieces,” he said. “It’s more representative of people as a whole … not just polished, beautiful figures. Sometimes there are young ones, others are disfigured or lame, but everyone is under God’s eye. Everyone is welcome to participate.”
Stay informed on all the latest news, real-time breaking news updates, and follow all the important headlines in world News on Latest NewsX. Follow us on social media Facebook, Twitter(X), Gettr and subscribe our Youtube Channel.
