III

No cry more agreeable with the intentions of the Sacred Congregation for Propaganda than this could have arrived.

            Desirous of coming quickly to the aid of those derelicts, in its prudence, propaganda set itself to study the suitable and apt means to its high mandate, especially for territories subject to its care and jurisdiction;

it overlooked nothing to execute them. In the meantime in Florence a lay institution was starting, called the Italian National Association for the spreading of Christianity and Italian culture, especially in the Middle East and Africa, with the intention of achieving its purpose:

A.    By expanding some of the already existing missionary institutes and eventually establishing new ones, to be placed under the dependence of Propaganda.

B.    By distributing subsidies to those missionaries who would request them, in order to establish schools where the Italian language would be taught.

C.    By distributing to the Italian missionaries who would request them textbooks, prizes, and material for charity.

As sincere and praiseworthy as such a purpose could be, such a work, inspired by a zeal that is more simple than prudent, could not correspond precisely with the plans of the Sacred Congregation, which are essentially religious and Catholic. It has more than once declared that it cannot favor, in any country, particular centers of assistance to missionaries, at the expense of the universal work of the Propagation of the Faith, so as not to destroy its own sublime Catholic concept with purposes of nationalistic interests (Summary, XI). Another Italian society for immigration and colonization was instituted in Naples, authorized with a royal decree of May 20, 1887, with a registered capital of Lire 2,500,000 in shares. Its purpose is:

1.     To direct and efficiently assist emigration in its natural development, taking it away from illegal speculators; to maintain between the migrant and the native country constant and useful relations, so as to focus on the economic potential of Italian immigration for the exclusive benefit of Italy.

2.     To acquire land in appropriate places and there transport the migrants. To provide for their needs, procuring for them work that fits their habits, with such an arrangement that would interest them in the benefits of each enterprise in which they participate.

3.     To cooperate in the creation of factories and commercial colonies in places apt to determine new or direct streams of traffic, in view of supplying national markets; and even to procure direct national representations to Italian overseas commerce. This society will last fifty years with the right to extend itself.

Naturally, the Sacred Congregation limited itself to gathering information on the reliability of such an association, in view of the material advantages that the migrants could receive from it. But this information was not very satisfactory.

            Instead, its lofty vigilance was directed to the fortunate result which, despite the practical difficulties, the Society of St. Raphael for German Immigrants met, since it is a society that does not aim at acquiring political influence by making use of religion, but rather uses patriotism to preserve its fellow countrymen in the old religion (Summary, XII).

            This Society, born under the protection of the Episcopate in 1872 in Mainz, on the proposal of Prince Isemburg-Birnstein and developed by the care of its secretary general Mr. P. Cahensly, has for its purpose the preservation of the Catholic faith and the German nationality of the migrants, defending them with a well-organized system from the dangers that surround them as soon as they leave their native country.

            In each port of embarkation where they gather, the Society has a salaried commissioner, who offers his services to the migrants for free. He counsels them, directs them, and helps them in money exchanges. He provides them with convenient lodging and after having exhorted them to strengthen themselves with religious practices and the Sacraments, he provides for them embarkation under the best conditions. He supplies them with letters of recommendation for the commissioner of the port of arrival. The commissioner in turn receives them at the moment of landing, provides them with lodging, with appropriate destination and maintains with them continued correspondence as he regularly maintains it with the Central Committee.

            There is now in preparation in New York a reception center for unmarried girls under the direction of religious women, a hospital for the sick who arrive, and a special church for the practices of religion. A watch-dog committee established in that city looks after the scattered immigrants, gathers them in colonies and exercises on their behalf a beneficial care inspired by religion and patriotism. The members of this charitable Society are active or honorary: the former pay annually Lire 1,25, the latter, Lire 7,50 or Lire 30 just once. Besides all contribute with prayer and enjoy the indulgences granted by the Holy See to the Society itself. The good results produced by this Society on behalf of the Germans awakened in many the desire to see them reproduced on behalf of the Italian migrants. Msgr. Scalabrini, Bishop of Piacenza, who had shown a lively interest for those unfortunates and had offered his services for them, invited by the Sacred Congregation, presented it a project destined to provide for the most urgent spiritual needs in which they find themselves.

            The Bishop of Piacenza proposed:

1.     That Italian priests should be sent without delay to the regions where the migrants are scattered to continually give there missions lasting from 15 to 20 days according to the need. They should have no permanent residence. They should stimulate those Catholics to erect churches and to provide for the support of the priest. They should examine their needs, the places, the distances, and the number of inhabitants for the purpose of informing who might be placed by the Holy See to head this holy work. Such priests should be favored by the Apostolic See. If canons and beneficiaries with the obligation of residence, they should be dispensed from choir and the obligation of residence for the entire period which they would spend in the mission. For the duration of that time, even though subject for the ministry to the local Bishops, they would still belong to their own dioceses, maintaining their positions and rights and the services which they render to the missions should be held in their favor as though they had been rendered to their original dioceses.

            Through these measures he foresaw the following advantages:

            a.     To have quickly a certain number of zealous and suitable priests for this holy endeavor.

            b.     To provide practical knowledge on where and how to intervene.

            c.     To avoid the consequences of an unhealthy environment on young priests who might go there permanently, before they have been sufficiently tested.

            d.     To prepare the way for permanent missionaries to be sent there afterwards

To this first measure he adds the norms for the acceptance of the missionaries. That is, they should be Italian, approved confessors, over 30 years of age, or active in the ministry for at least three years. There is no need for medical examinations or certificates. They should be distinguished for their piety and they should have the other appropriate qualifications. They don’t have to oblige themselves to stay in the colonies for more than one year. It is up to them to stay longer or even permanently.

            Before departure, they will apply themselves for one month to spiritual exercises, studies, and conferences in preparation for the mission. They will bind themselves with an oath not to keep as their own money or anything else, but they will leave to the mission everything they have received in it. They shall not be able to take up in the colonies any other commitment foreign to the purpose for which they have been consecrated.

            Every three months they will gather in groups of five or six for their spiritual needs or those of the ministry. They will bring back with them the appropriate certificate of the local Ordinary.

2.     As a second step the Bishop of Piacenza proposed that a circular letter be addressed to the Bishops of Italy and through them to the clergy inviting them to this work and making known to them its scope and intentions.

3.     To establish in the seaports committees which would help the missionaries, would direct to them the migrants, would collect material means, etc.

4.     To send a circular letter to the Bishops of America inviting them to manifest as soon as possible the needs of the Italian migrants and to indicate how they could provide for the priests that might be sent to them from Italy. To stir them up to help the effort by collecting offerings for this purpose, and especially for the founding of an Italian seminary in some American city, where a native Italian clergy could be formed that would dedicate itself exclusively to the Italians, a task which he feels should not be difficult, given the fact that in 1886, 15,642 Italian children emigrated.

5.     That the Italian pastors should oppose emigration, pointing out its dangers and hazards and, since this will prove useless in most of the cases, they should furnish the emigrants with letters of recommendation for the clergy of the colonies. The same should be done by the clergy of the colonies in case of their return.

6.     To found Italian Catholic colonies, similar to those founded there by the Irish and the English, which would provide the nucleus for parishes and would have the advantages of the parishes.

7.     To establish that in every colony or group of immigrants without a priest, religious exercises should be held in common on holy days: the catechism should be taught to the children; the gospel should be read: In sum, all those things that can be done by lay people.

8.     To provide the colonies with appropriate books and religious periodicals that would take the place of the priest’s instruction. For his part, he offered the services of the editors of the Catechista Cattolico, founded by him in Piacenza.

9.     Finally, he suggested that the greatest possible publicity be given this work through the usual means of communication, especially through the religious press and pamphlets, so as to make the Italian public aware of the project.

The Bishop of Piacenza decided to follow up this project with the publication of a pamphlet aimed at moving the Italian in favor of the immigrants.

            In this pamphlet he deals at length with the topic of Italian immigration. He characterizes it as a painful necessity, a safety valve of modern society and he shows its usefulness from a socioeconomic point of view. He elaborates on recent developments in Italian emigration and reports some statistical data. He touches on the principal causes of emigration and mentions its destination. He describes the colonial situation of Italy in the past and the present and compares it with that of the other principal countries. He also describes what has been done elsewhere for

the immigrants and the little or nothing that has been done for them by the Italian government. He also describes the miserable condition in which many migrants find themselves.

            Depicting in a general way the dangers and risks that threaten the immigrants on account of the speculators, the unhealthy climate and the neglect in which they are left, and touching upon their material and spiritual needs, Scalabrini formulates a plan for economic, political and religious assistance.

            Thus he proposes:

1.         To set up a society with members who are active and members who simply contribute. The active members would form committees in the principal ports of Italy and overseas. These committees would help the immigrants at the points of departure and arrival and would watch over, advise and protect them. In a word, they would do all that is done for the Germans by the aforementioned St. Raphael Society.

2.         To establish an office to do what is necessary for the placement of migrants once they have disembarked in the American ports. In this way, the society would be able to promise with assurance a useful job or, if that is not possible, it would discourage from emigrating whoever comes to it. To achieve this goal, the Bishop of Piacenza thinks it would be necessary that the Society establish relations not only with the Italian government but also with the various American governments in order to give the national migration a logical and practical direction and to keep the migrants from making a bad choice, since they are mostly ignorant of the places to which they are going. Thus he thinks that greater success will be derived in the Italian agricultural colonies, which will be better organized and in a position to receive help and protection from the national government.

3.         To provide assistance in case of disasters and sickness both during the journey and after the arrival. To this end, the society would provide that the emigrants be accompanied during the journey by one of its members, or at least one person enjoying its confidence, to aid them in case of need. On the ships, moreover, there should always be a priest to give the services of his ministry to those who would ask for them and especially to the sick. It is necessary to have special funds in those places where the migrants concentrate, to obviate accidents and destitution. To this end, it would be necessary that migration be better regulated so that, instead of dispersed small groups, strong and well-organized colonies might be formed.

4.         To wage implacable war against the traders in human flesh, i.e., against those who speculate upon the misery of the immigrants. He is of the opinion that in order to achieve something practical in this direction the society will need the cooperation of the government and that the latter will not fail to lend its support in view of the nefarious things that are happening, provided the press give them adequate publicity.

5.         To promote religious assistance during the journey, after disembarking and in the places where the migrants are accustomed to settle. At this point, without mentioning it, he refers to the project on this matter that he has transmitted to the Sacred Congregation.

He concludes by appealing to religion, charity and national sentiment, showing how religion and fatherland must unite in assistance to the poor migrants. He cites the noble dispositions expressed by the Holy Father and by the Most Eminent Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda for this holy cause. He recalls that the Church loves the people and never abandons its children.

            With the project and the pamphlet of the Bishop of Piacenza in its possession, the Sacred Congregation wanted to have the opinion of Msgr. Ireland, Bishop of St. Paul in Minnesota, who, because of his work of evangelizing the Far West, had enough experience to evaluate the suggestions of the Italian Bishop and point out their practicality and their agreement with the aims of the Holy See.

            Bishop Ireland, in his turn, presented the following memorandum. He starts by confirming the deplorable condition of the Italian immigrants in the United States, to which he limits his observation. To this effect he cites as worthy of particular attention the pamphlet from which much of the above-mentioned information was derived. He affirms the absolute necessity of doing something so as to find a remedy.

            In his opinion, the work must start in Italy. It is very difficult to say at this moment what should be done. Circumstances and experience will suggest the minute details, which will depend on the precise information that will emerge as to what can be attempted and the means on which one can rely. The key points of the plan that should soon be enacted would be the following:

1.         First of all, to organize in Italy a committee or society to add the emigrants in their spiritual and temporal needs, more or less on the model of the St. Raphael Society for the Germans. The committee would have a President or General Director, a Secretary, a Treasurer and some Counselors.

            This committee would meet every so often to formulate the plans of action, to direct the agencies in Europe, America and elsewhere, and to study the means for the implementation of the plans that have been worked out.

            The secretary would keep an active correspondence with the various agencies and with all persons in Europe and elsewhere who might interest themselves in this work and could be useful to it. Its bureau should have all possible information on Italian

migration. The financial means necessary for this work could come from the offerings of the few persons well-disposed toward it or from annual dues collected from the members by supporters located in various places.

            In order to facilitate such contributions, local and subsidiary committees could be created, dependent everywhere on the general committee.

2.         To place priests consecrated to the service of the migrants in the Italian ports of embarkation. They would try to see the migrants individually and give them sound advice, counsel and information. They would induce them to receive the grace of the Holy Sacraments before starting the journey and they would console them in the best possible way. Similarly, to place other priests in the ports of entry, especially New York, to receive those poor exiles, preserve them from intrigues, etc., and direct them where they can find work. The Bishop of St. Paul remarks that in New York there are one Irish and one German priest to receive their compatriots and as many as thirteen Protestant agents to watch over the interests of their co-religionists! He adds that the priest to be placed in New York should be zealous, prudent, knowledgeable of the needs of his charges, and well versed in the language and customs of the host country.

            In New York, a local committee could be formed to assist him and to keep in contact with the general committee in Italy, which would retail the general direction of this work both in America and elsewhere.

3.         To establish in America centers for Italian priests who would frequently give missions to their scattered compatriots. These missions could give origin to Italian parishes.

            He could not agree with the proposal of the Bishop of Piacenza to send priests from Italy for one year, etc. They would not know America. The cost of these round trips would not be indifferent. He would fear serious abuses.

            Priests are needed who would consecrate themselves to this work in a permanent way and who would settle in America. Two houses would suffice: one in New York, where the Pallottines who are already there could serve, another in Chicago where the Servite Fathers, already there, could be conveniently chosen. Naturally it would be necessary to increase the number of priests.

            The Sacred Congregation would let the American bishops know its intentions, encouraging them to make use of such priests for the Italians. It would preserve the priests’ zeal for the missions by demanding from them frequent reports, encouraging them, etc.

4.         The Bishop of St. Paul thinks that the idea of forming Italian colonies, like those of the Irish, deserves serious consideration. Since the project is difficult, we should not worry too much about it in the beginning.

5.         The Italian general committee would write to the Bishops and Pastors of Italy, asking them to dissuade the Italians as far as is possible from emigrating to America. Should this effort prove useless, the Bishops and Pastors should give good and useful advice and entrust the immigrants to the priests placed by the committee in the ports of departure. Many evils will be minimized, if the wise control of the direction of migration should be successful.

6.         Finally, the committee could gradually extend its assistance to other areas of the world to which the Italians migrate. Bishop Ireland notes, however, that he sees greater danger in the United States because it is a Protestant country. He will continue to study the problem and places himself at the service of the Sacred Congregation for a task so useful for the good of souls.