III

It was then, gentlemen, that trusting in God and in his Providence, I dared to do something. The evils of our emigration, not to mention those that are part and parcel of emigration itself, stem from the neglect in which emigration is left. We can boil down those evils to loss of faith for lack of religious instruction, to a loss of a sense of nationality for lack of inspiration to keep that sentiment alive, and to financial ruin as a result of shameful exploitation. So I founded two societies with the purpose of diminishing and, if at all possible, eradicating those evils; two societies, one made up of priests, the other of lay people; one religious, the other lay; two societies to help and complement each other. The first is the congregation of the Missionaries aiming especially at the spiritual welfare of our emigrants, the latter at their material welfare. The first attains its purpose by setting up churches, schools, orphanages, and hospitals, through priests united family-like by the religious vows of chastity, obedience and poverty, ready and willing to rush wherever they are needed, as apostles, teachers, doctors, nurses, according to the needs. The second society carries out its task by discouraging emigration when it is unwise, keeping an eye on the work of emigration agents, seeing to it that they do not violate the law, and, if everything else fails, counseling the emigrants and channeling them toward good destinations.

Gentlemen, it is surely a colossal task for anyone, but even more so for me, bereft as I am of means and ability. I thought — and the facts proved me right — that our indifference was due to the lack of a spirit of initiative, to ignorance to what is going on, and, if you wish, to the fact that our country has lost the habit of undertaking certain ventures, rather than to ill will. I felt that if even one person, motivated simply by love of religion and country, were to raise his voice to awaken the sleepy and the indolent, he would not be a voice crying in the desert. I felt that a person who was firmly determined to eradicate so many evils would also find people with equal determination to fight alongside of him. I felt that Italy, which gives the world heroic missionaries who bring the light of the Gospel and civilization to the most inhospitable lands, and who brings uncivilized nations to the feet of the Cross, Italy which makes a generous contribution and lends its weight to the abolition of the slave trade of blacks, would not remain indifferent, much less disdainful, to the slave trade of whites, and to this work of religious, patriotic and economic liberation of our brother and sister emigrants.

I had pinned my hopes on the touching displays of Christian charity that occurred in this our Italy whenever misfortune descended upon some area of our country. If, to dry the tears a moment, the rich and poor in Italy have eagerly competed, the first by giving generously from their abundance, the latter by sharing their meager bread; oh, what will they not do when they find out that, down there, a heartrending cry has been heard for years, a cry which, if unanswered, will echo for generations to come? What will they not do when they find out that down there there is such religious and moral poverty among our emigrant brothers and sisters as to make foreigners look at us as a nation of lazy and miserable people? We who are the number one nation in the world? In fact, when I first heeded the cry of our poor emigrants and called the attention of the public to the dastardly activities of the merchants of human flesh, there arose a chorus of voices echoing mine.

When I thought about founding these societies for the emigrants, I found clapping hands, open hearts, generous wills, people determined to do something, no matter what the sacrifice.

First among all, I wish to recall with pleasure the supreme Pontiff Leo XIII in whose apostolic heart all the sorrows of his children find an echo. Not only did he grant my initiative his protection, but he also deigned to praise and bless it and to give it the greatest support I could ever have wished for. Besides being indebted to the Supreme Pontiff, I am also indebted to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide, the Italian Episcopate, the Congregation of the beloved Don Bosco, the National Association of Assistance to Italian Missionaries, the North American Episcopate, beginning with the Archbishop of New York, the press

of every persuasion, numberless lay people and a good number of you, gentlemen!

With this moral and material help, and especially with the help of God, the project was able to prosper.

I would now like to give you a report on what has been achieved during the past three years.

In Piacenza I founded an institution named after Christopher Columbus, the motherhouse of the Congregation (which is already too small and unsuitable), where the future missionaries come to prepare themselves for this holy apostolate through prayer and study. At various times, 33 priests have gone out and are now working in the field; they were accompanied by 27 catechists or young laymen, also bound by religious

vows, who, according to their abilities, are to take care of the houses, the churches, and the schools, brothers rather than companions of the missionaries with whom they live.

At the present time, there are about 300,000 Italians entrusted to their care, spread out in many missions, in both North and South America. In South America, a mission has been opened at Valvanera, Argentina. In Brazil, there is one in the fertile highlands of Curitiba with 18 chapels, which are from time to time visited by the missionaries; and three in the Province of Spiritu Sancto, at Anchieta, Todos los Santos and St. Teresa. In North America, we have more houses and missions: three in New York, where a school and an orphanage for girls have been founded – thanks to the help of an Italian noble woman living in that city – both directed by those saintly and admirable religious, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. There, through the efforts of our Missionaries, an Italian hospital is being built, so that – I am overjoyed just at the thought of it – our unfortunate countrymen will not have to knock at the door of Protestant hospitals, something that deeply upsets them and endangers their faith as well.

I hope that this year I will be able to crown with success my dream of a seminary for the sons of our emigrants who would like to embrace the priestly life and who feel, at least to some extent, the generous inclination to the apostolate. I am fully aware that I am about to undertake one more heavy burden; but Divine Providence, which watches with motherly care on all the works it has inspired, will see this difficult project of mine to a successful conclusion. We have other missions and parishes in North America: at New Haven, Providence, Boston, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Buffalo, New Orleans, Bridgeport, Cleveland, Kansas City, St. Louis, and we have a center of religious, moral and civic activity, and more are to come. To the pressing and touching requests that keep coming from there, I will respond by sending my priests who are preparing themselves at the Institute in my beloved Piacenza, in the hope that God will send me holy men and heroes. In passing, I wish to mention the priests who, through the kind services of the carrier “La Veloce,” volunteer to make a voyage to America to accompany the emigrants to their destination; they are real counselors, alleviating the miseries of the journey, to the extent possible, bringing comfort to the sick and the dying, depositaries of important concerns, trusted messengers of longed-for news between those who have emigrated and those who have

stayed behind in the motherland. I wish to mention the many lay committees that have been established under the leadership of distinguished men and women of every rank and file, as well as the other committees that are presently being formed in different places. I must not forget to salute in a very special way the Committee formed with so much dedication in this glorious city, the committee that has so kindly invited me for this conference. From its intelligent and effective intervention I hope to receive much help in the future.

So, with just three years of work we have a group of priests, catechists, sisters and laymen that constitute a little army of 400 or more people, all lovingly concerned with the religious, moral, civic and financial welfare of our far-off brothers and sisters. But what is this in comparison to the great need? There are 1,800,000 more Italians to whom we must provide religious care; 1,800,00 Italians, a number that keeps increasing; 1,980,000 Italians, hundreds of whom are writing to me from every corner of America, as if sharing a common password, “Monsignor, have pity on us; send us a priest, because here we live and die like beasts!”