VIII

Diocese of Portland

1.    O’Connell to Scalabrini³¹

         Portland, January 5, 1905

Most Reverend Excellency:

I have learned from the newspaper that very soon Your excellency will come to Rome. Although I have not yet had the luck to meet you, I don’t feel, however, a complete stranger to Your Excellency because of your concern with the interesting question of Italian immigration in the United States. In fact, if Your excellency will recall, when you came to America and to Boston, I was supposed to meet you in Boston were it not that I was at that moment in the northernmost part of the diocese for confirmations.

            Now if Your Excellency coming to Rome would have the courtesy to notify me of the day, the hour and the place where you will reside, I would immensely like to meet and speak over some important issues.

            Confident that Your Excellency will forgive the trouble and looking forward to meeting you very soon, I remain

            Your Excellency’s most devoted

W.H. O’Connell, Bishop of Portland, Maine, U.S.A.