Italian Immigrant Catholic Clergy

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Italian Immigrant Catholic Clergy and an

Exception to the Rule: The ReverendAntonio Demo, Our Lady ofPompei,Greenwich Village, 1899—1933

MARY ELIZABETH BROWN

Italians have long been the exception to generalizations about ethnic

American Catholicism. As early as the 1880s, American bishops considered

them a "problem."1 In 1946, Henry J. Browne summarized the "problem":

Italians did not regularly attend mass, did not receive the sacraments, did not

contribute to the support of the church, did not educate their children in

their faith, did not respect the clergy, and did not appreciate that they should

be doing better in all these areas.2

Although Browne's work has become the

subject of revisionist criticism among students of Italian American Catholi-

cism, specialists in other aspects of American Catholicism have incorporated

into their work generalizations generated by the Italian-American experts.3

James Sanders's study of Chicago parochial schools referred to Italians as

least likely to support such schools.4

David J. O'Brien's history of the diocese

1. Silvano M. T o m a s i and E d w a r d C. Stibili, Italian Americans and Religion: An AnnotatedBibliography, second ed. (New York, 1992) is a helpful guide to the published sources.Stephen Michael Di Giovanni, "Michael Augustine Corrigan and the Italian Immi-grants: The Relationship Between the Church and the Italians in theArchdiocese ofNew York, 1885-1902" (Ph.D. diss., Gregorian Pontifical University, Rome, 1983) is agood account of late nineteenth century American and Italian plans for Italianimmigrant pastoral care.

2. Henry J. Browne, "The 'Italian Problem' in the Catholic Church of the United States,

1880-1900," United States Catholic Historical Society Historical Records and Studies 35(1946): 46 -72 .

3. The revisions take two forms. Rudolph J. Vecoli, "Prelates and Peasants: ItalianImmigrants and the Catholic Church," Journal of Social History2 (1969): 217-268,agreed that the Italians did not practice their faith with the same fervor as IrishCatholics, but argued that this wasbecause the southern Italians who made up themajority of immigrants had been twice alienated from Catholicism: once by churchofficials in Italy, whoallied with the landowners against the peasants, andonce by theanti-Italian attitudes of the Irish-American Catholics. Silvano M. Tomasi, Piety andPower: The Role of the Italian Parishes in the New York Metropolitan Area, 1880-1930 (New

York, 1975)argued that Italians did indeed practice their faith, albeit using their owndevotional customs and under the pastoral guidance of clergy of their own ethnicbackground.

4. James W. Sanders, The Education of an Urban Minority: Catholics in Chicago, 1833—1965(New York, 1977), pp. 67-71, 112-115.

Ms. Brown is assistant professor in the history department in Kutztown University,

Kutztown, Pennsylvania.

4 1



42 CHURCH HISTORY

of Syracuse emphasizes the difficulties Italians faced and the troubles theycreated for the clergy and hierarchy.5 Dolan's survey ofAmerican Catholichistory has a large bibliography on which to base its conclusion that "the

religion of the [southern Italian] people was not the same as the officialreligion of the church."6

Nineteenth-century observers and twentieth-century scholars offered two

interpretations of Italian lay-clergy relationships. Rudolph Vecoli noted the

pervasiveness ofanticlericalism among Italian men. Henry Browne cited the

poor quality of the Italian clergy. In either case, there was a greater distancebetween Italian clergy and laity than between the clergy and laity of other

ethnic groups. Reverend Antonio Demo, P.S.S.C., is a significant exception tothis judgm ent because he was an active leader whopresided over a commu-nity which considered its parish an important institution; and yet he be-

longed to the one ethnic Catholic group widely regarded as lacking strongparishes and clerical leadership.7

Antonio Demo was himself an immigrant. He was born 23 April 1870 in

Lazzaretto di Bassano, Vincenza, Italy. Hejoined the Pious Society of SaintCharles, more often called the Scalabrinians after founder Bishop GiovanniBattista Scalabrini.8 The Scalabrinians were dedicated to ministering to

Italian immigrants on their journey s and in their new settlements. Afterordination at Bishop Scalabrini's own hands in 1896, he departed for the

mission field of Boston's North End. He may have learned some English in

Italy, or he mayhave learned on the job inAmerica; hisEnglish, while alwaysclear, occasionally included an odd word or construction. He wasappointedPompei's pastor 19 July 1899.9

5. David J. O'Br ien , Faith and Friendship: Catholicism in the Diocese of Syracuse, 1886—1986

(Syracuse, N.Y., 1987), pp. 132-139, 217-222.6. Jay P. Dolan, The American Catholic Experience: A History from Colonial Times to the Present

(Garden City, N.Y., 1985), pp. 173-176, 254-255, 280, and 282.

7. Demo (pronounced DAY-mo) was profiled in the (New York) Catholic Newsin Novem-

ber 1921, a piece which was reprinted almost verbatim in January 1936. There are two

brief biographies: Remo Rizzato, P.S.S.C., Figure di Missionari Scalabriniani (New York,

1948), pp. 107-112, and a serial in Pompei's newsletter, [Charles Zanoni], The Village

Bells (Winter 1985-Winter 1986). Demo's stockpile of historical documents permits the

present view into a heretofore little-studied ethnic group. He seems to have saved every

scrap of paper that came his way at Pompei: advertisements, announcements, balance

sheets, bills, brochures, bulletins, correspondence, financial records, flyers, form

letters, invitations, newspaper clippings, minutes from meetings, notes, personal

letters, photographs, play bills, postcards, programs, sacramental registers, sodalitydues records—everything.

8. See Marco Caliaro and Mario Francesconi.yoAn Baptist Scalabrini, Apostle to Emigrants,

trans. Alba I. Zizzamia (New York, 1977).

9. Giacomo Gambera to Demo, Boston, 19 July 1899, Box 7, Folder 62. All documents are

at the Center for Migration Studies, Flagg Place, Staten Island, New York in their

collection 037. The box and folder number for each document are given here. Most of

the documents are letters, and were written in New York unless otherwise specified.

The letters are about evenly divided between business correspondence written by



REVEREND AN TO NIO DEMO 43

Pompei had been founded in 1892.10 Unlike the southern Italians who

made up the majority of immigrants and who reproduced their distinctive

outdoor feste in America, Pompei's parishioners hailed from around the city

of Genoa, a northern Italian area the religious traditions of which more

closely matched those of other parts of Europe." Parishioners divided into

two classes. A small group of men were heads of households and owners of

businesses who interested themselves in parish m ana gem ent. A larger gr ou p

in the parish were unskilled laborers and the chief recipients of Demo's

care.12 Pom pei's parishioners rem em be r D emo partly for his reco rd in parish

construction. When he became pastor, Pompei occupied a church at 210

Bleecker Street. Dem o renov ated the rectory the re, turn ed the baseme nt intoan auditorium, and opened a "kindergarten," or day care center, in 1915.

When Sixth Avenue's extension demolished the church, he purchased land

on the corn er between Bleecker, Ca rm ine, and Leroy Streets, wh ere in 1928

he ope ne d the chu rch which P om pei still uses. A school followed in 19 30.

One can think of Demo as conducting his ministry within a series of

concen tric circles, at the ce nte r of which was the p arish itself. The parish was

surrounded by a circle of sister Italian Catholic parishes. Beyond that was a

circle of social service institutions run by and for members of the ethnoreli-gious group. Beyond that was a circle of non-Italian but Catholic institutions

which parishioners could also utilize for assistance in family crises. Beyond

that was a circle of public welfare institutions and private philanthropies.

This last was territory into which the Catholic laity were warned against

venturing; one reason for the Catholic benevolent institutions was to keep

Catholics out of Protestant and public institutions. It was in his contact with

this larger universe, outside the stereotypical world of the narrow ethnic

Catholic ghetto, that D emo was most u nu sual .

persons in official capacity, and correspondence from parishioners and other Italianimmigrants and Italian-Americans. When the letter is from or to an official, the official'sname is used. When the letter is from or to someone in a private capacity, the streetaddress is used. In the interest of space, only one example will be cited; there areusually dozens of requests for the same kind of help over the thirty-five-year periodcovered by the letters.

10. For Pompei's early history, see Constantino Sassi, P.S.S.C., Parrocchm della Madonna diPompeii in New York: Notizie Storiche dei Primi C onquant' Anni dalla sua Fondazione,

1892-1942 (Rome, 1946).11. For more on southern Italians, see Robert Anthony Orsi, The Madonna of 115th Street:Faith and Community in Italian Harlem, 1880-1930 (New Haven, Conn., 1987).

12. For Pompei's demographic profile, see Louise C. Odencrantz, Italian Women in Industry(New York, 1919); Patrizia Salvetti, "Una parrocchia italiana di New York e i suoifedeli: Nostra Signora di Pompei (1892-1933)," Studi Emigrazione 21 (1984): 43-64;and my "A Case Study of the Italian Layman and Parish Life at Our Lady of Pompei,Greenwich Village, New York City" (Paper delivered at the American Italian Associa-tion Annual Meeting, New Haven, Conn., 15—16 November 1992).



44 CHURCH HISTORY

1.

Under Demo, Pompei touched its parishioners' lives from cradle to grave.At that time, there were no diocesan-sponsored workshops or retreats forengaged couples. The affianced made arrangements with the parish a fewweeks before their wedding. When children were born, there were nobaptism classes for parents or godparents: Pompei baptized weekly, after thelast Sunday Mass. Until the school was built, the children had their catechismclasses in the church , different grades occupying different sections of pews.One of Pompei's claims to fame is that M other Frances Xavier Cabrini, later acanonized saint, taught at Pompei, and came to Demo for confession. Duringmost of Demo's tenure, the Christian Brothers organized the Sunday school,and directed Pompei's young lay women in teaching some of the grades.During the week the kindergarten saw up to ninety preschoolers a day. After1930, children attended parochial school from kindergarten through eighthgrade. Adolescents met for sodalities, rehearsals for fund-raising dramaticperformances, and sports. Adults also had sodalities for their spiritual life,and from 1899 to 1923 the men of the Saint Joseph Society met monthly toassist the pastor with financial affairs.

Around Pompei was a network of other New York Italian Catholic par-ishes. By the time the Works Progress Administration counted them for oneof their projects, the re w ere forty-one parishes in the city and archdiocese ofNew York (the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island) whichused Italian for a least one Sunday serm on. These parishes' pastors attendedeach other's cornerstone ceremonies and anniversary celebrations, and, atleast until Pompei began its move to Carmine Street, Demo contributed tosome of the o ther parishes' fund-raising drives.13

There were other Catholic institutions for Italians besides parishes. From1912 to 1927 Demo served on an archdiocesan Italian Bureau, whichsupervised Italian parishes and priests. Until 1923, the Scalabrinians staffedthe New York branch of the Saint Raphael Society for the Protection ofItalian Im migrants, and after that year, the Italian Auxiliary, a join t projectof the archdiocese and an Italian agency, cared for travelers. Mother Cabriniand the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart came to New York in 1889 to openan Italian Catholic girls' orphanage. Mother Cabrini also took over theScalabrinians' Columbus Hospital. Several parishes besides Pompei had

parochial schools and day care centers, and a couple of parishes ran summercamps where city children went for country vacations. Demo patronizedItalian Catholic charities, sending Pompei's youngsters to summer camp, and

13. For an event, see Jo hn Dolan, P.S.M. to D emo, 5 July 1904, Box 2, Folder 5. Fordonation , see Giuseppe A. Caffuzzi, 28 Nov. 1930, Box 6, Folder 40.



REVEREND AN TON IO DEMO 45

donating money to other Italian day care centers. 14 He supplied ColumbusHospital with a priest to give spiritual talks to the staff, and recommended i t s

fund raisers to his parishioners.1 5

Th er e were other non -Catholic Italian organizations in New York City, bu tDemo did not correspond with them. Nor did he correspond with hiscounterparts in other ethnic Catholic benevolent activities, with the Lithua-nian national Catholic parish in Greenwich Village or with the New Yorkbranch of the German Saint Raphael Society.

Beyond this circle of Italian Catholic parishes and agencies lay a largercircle of over 200 "American" (English-speaking) Catholic benevolent agen-

cies. Some provided institutional care. O the rs assisted peo ple in their hom es.Most parishe s (Pom pei was an exce ption) ha d Saint V incent de Paul Societieswhich distributed charity, and there were Catholic foster home and parole-work societies. Each establishment raised its own money and did its ownpublic relations to let people know what help was available. Pompei's parish-ioners entered this Catholic eleemosynary archipelago in two ways. The firstway was to come to the agency's attention without g oing thr ou gh Dem o. Thisseems to have happened most often when a person got into trouble with thelaw. During the early part of his ministry, Demo received numerous letters

from a council (local organiza tion) of the Saint Vincen t d e Paul Society w hichwas located on Broome Street, not far away from the city's courts and jails.Saint Vincent de Paul "visitors" made the rounds of these institutions, notingthe arrival of any new Catholics, finding out their parishes, and notifying

their pastors that a parishioner was incarcerated. 16 Demo then performed avariety of services, such as tracking down relatives, finding jobs for peopleabout to be released, and w riting letters of reco m m end ation asking that m enbe allowed to return home to support their needy wives and children.1 7 T hesecond and m ore co m m on way to get into the C atholic welfare system was for

the parishioner to come to Demo and be directed toward the proper agency.Demo's services were most frequently called for in cases involving children.Sometimes, immigrant parents found their American-born or -raised off-spring difficult to control, and wished to put them "under stranger

14. For camp, see J[oseph] M. Congedo to Demo, 24 July 1923, Box 4, Folder 30. Fordona tion, see Sister M. Matilde Marazzi to Demo, 8 May 1926, Box 5, Fo lder 35 .

15. For sending clergy, see Mother Mary Jos peh ine , M.S.C. to Dem o, 12 Dec. 1923, Box 4,

Folder 29. For recommending Columbus Hospital events, see Pacifico C. Rossi toDemo, 24 May 1924, Box 5, Folder 31 .16. D. P. Conway to Dem o, 12 May 1910, and Anna Cornetta to Dem o, 15 Ju ne , 17 Ju ne ,

29 July, and 30 Dec. 1910, Box 1, Folder 11; Cornetta to Demo, unda ted and 19 Ja n.1911; and Djennis] J. G errity to Demo, 2 Sept. 1911, Box 1, Folder 12.

17. For tracking down relatives, see Albert Garvin to Demo, Chesire, Conn., 18Jan. 1915,Box 2, Folder 16. For finding jobs for ex-inmates, see Eastern New York Reformatoryto Demo, 1 Aug. 1913, Box 2, Folder 14. For employm ent reference letters, see 53 4-8W. Broadway to D emo, 19 May 1928, Box 5, Folder 32.



46 CHU RCH HISTORY

dom ination ," as Dem o explain ed in one reference letter.18 Sometimes impov-erished families could not care for their offspring, especially when the malebreadwinner died or deserted, for women customarily made only half asmu ch as me n and had to com bine child care with wage work.19

T h e re w ere reques ts for help with othe r Catholic institutions as well. W henparishioners had friends or relatives who faced problems getting past U.S.immigration authorities, Demo referred them to Catholic traveler's aidsocieties.20 When senior citizens needed retirement homes, Demo wrote tothe orders of religious women who ran such institutions. 21 When a parishman needed long-term medical care, Demo arranged for a Catholic sanitar-

ium bed.

2 2

When a young Italian woman became pregnant out of wedlock,Demo visited her at New York Foundling Hospital to translate for her. 2 3

2.

Beyo nd these Catholic institutions lay a larger circle of similar institutionsrun by the city or state government. Demo served as his parishioners 'intermediary in their encounters with New York bureaucracy. Some encoun-ters were amusing, as when Demo explained to the Health Department thatLucia was a girl's na m e, and asked officials to please cha ng e his p arishio ner'sbirth certificate to read "girl." 2 4 O the r transactions were tragic. On 8 July1918, a family asked Demo to find a cousin who was admitted to Bellevue 5December 1916, and, last the family heard, transferred to another cityhospital on 6 Ja nu ar y 1917. De m o finally found o ut on 23 No vem ber 1918that the patient had died — on 1 August 1917.25

Demo's most regular contacts with non-Catholic public and private agen-cies were with those that had offices in Greenwich Village. His interactionswith these institutions contrasted strongly with the remarks about non-

Catholic public and private agencies seen in the Catholic press of his day.New York's Catholic leadership always suspected that non-Catholic agenciesused charity to entice Catholics from their faith. As Cardinal Hayes ex-plained: "Recent experiences in the Charity world force on us the convictionof how organized and united are those not of our spirit and faith against ourdo ctri ne . . . . T he first thing is to know an d study th e spirit and m etho ds of

18. Demo to Catholic Charities, undated, Box 5, Folder 37.

19. 23 Bedford Street to Dem o, 31 Mar. 1915, Box 2, Folder 16.20 . 569 Hu dson to Demo, 6 April 1927, Box 5, Folder 37.21 . Little Sisters of the Poor to Demo, 13 Sept. 1908, Box 1, Folder 9.22. Demo to Saint Vincent de Paul, 28 May 1926, Box 2, Folder 17.23. New York Foundling Hospital to Demo, 20 Feb. 1904, Box 10, Folder 117.24. Demo to New York City D epartm ent of Health, 7 Sept. 1933, Box 6, Folder 43 . See also

Louise C. Spaziano to Demo, 30 Ju ne 1925, Box 5, Folder 33.25. C. B. Bacon to Demo, 23 Nov. 1918, Box 3, Folder 22. See also William P. Richter to

Dem o, 11 Mar. 1927, Box 5, Folder 37.





48 CHURCH HISTORY

parents' m eetings and to graduations.34 They excused Catholic children for

Mass on holy days of obligation.35 When the city implemented release timefor religious education, the local elementary school principal called on him to

explain the system.36 Decent relations with their pupils' pastor probablymade theeduca tors' work easier. Principals referred to Demo children whoseparents were unavailable for school conferences.37 When the children circu-lated a rumor that 1May was a holy day on which homework was forbidden,the principal rectified the situation with a letter to Demo.38 Knowing schoolofficials probably made Demo's job easier aswell, because he contacted themto obtain working papers for parishioners' children.39

It is notclear whether

the opening of the parochial school at Pompei affected Demo's relationshipswith area public schools because he died before the school had its firstgradua ting class.

There is no well-publicized history of prejudice against immigrants at the

New York Public Library. However, historians have not thought of Italianimmigrants as library patrons, because somany Italian immigrants could not

read . Demo's parishioners, though, regularly used him as a reference so thatthey could get library cards.40 Demo helped the librarian at the Hudson Parkbranch identify Italian-language books to order for the library's collection.41

The Children's Aid Society (CAS), founded in 1853, was one of the oldestphilanthropies in New York. Like the public schools, CAS had a history of

troubled relations with the Catholic church, especially where Italians wereconcerned.42

In 1855, Charles Loring Brace and A. E. Cerqua opened an

Italian Evening School at Five Points, New York's most notorious slum.According to Brace, a Father Rebeccio turned the Italians against the schooland took up a collection among them for a Catholic school. Rebecciosupposedly disappeared with the money, entering the world ofstereotype on

which non-Italians, Protestant and Catholic, drew for their image of Italianclergy. Atleast one worker at theSullivan Street CAS facility was aware of thehistory of conflict between CAS and Catholics, for she made a point of

reassuring Demo that shewas not usurping hisauthority, but supplementing

34 . For parents' meeting, see Maguire to Demo, 13 Feb. 1907, Box 1, Folder 8. For

graduation, see Katherine Bevier, 16 Ju ne 1916, Box 2, Folder 17.

35. Maguire to Demo, 21 Feb. 1912, Box 2, Folder 13.

36 . Maguire to Demo, 8 Ju ne 1915, Box 2, Folder 16, and M. C. Bergen to Michael Joseph

Lavelle, 6 Jan. 1916, Box 8, Folder 91 .37 . Peyser to Demo, 16 Ju ne 1926, Box 5, Folder 35.

38. Maguire to Demo, 1 May 1913, Box 2, Folder 14.

39 . Katherine Bevier to Demo, 12 May 1914, Box 2, Folder 15; Demo to Rochester, Dec.

1925, Box 5, Folder 32.

40 . For example, M. A. Leonard to Demo, 19 Mar. 1912, Box 2, Folder 13.

4 1 . Anna B[illegible] to Demo, 25 Oct. 1910, Box 1, Folder 11.

42. Char les Loring Brace , The Dangerous Classes of New York and Twenty Years' Work amongThem (New York, 1880; reprint, Montclair, N.J., 1978), pp . 198-199.



REVEREND ANTONIO DEMO 49

it with her own Christian uplift.43 Relations with CASduring Demo's timewere congenial. When they needed someone to teach a course, CAS sent the

job announcement to Pompei to see if any parish women were interested.44

For his part, Demo came to CAS to read Italian Christmas stories at the

children's annual Christmas party.45

Another welfare agency with which Demo dealt was the Charity Organiza-tion Society (COS). Founded in 1882 by Josephine Slaw Lowell, COS did not

give out money. It collected information on the types ofservices needed, and

on the people requesting services so that only the truly needy were helped,and only enough help wasgiven to return them to self-sufficiency. AlthoughCatholics eventually adopted COS methods, they were at first suspicious of a

charity that was not as open-handed as the Good Samaritan. John BoyleO'Reilly, editor of Boston's Catholic Pilot, summed up Catholics' views whenhe wrote the couplet "The organized charity scrimped and iced/In the nameof a cautious, statistical Christ."46

Protestant and Catholic leaders differed on howbest to help the poor, but

when Demo saw a source ofaid for his parishioners, he took advantage of it.

He supported COS, and once offered to assist in its fund raising campaign.47

He referred parishioners to the COS district office at 27 Morton Street. Since

COS did not give money, it sometimes referred Demo's parishioners back tohim to fund until COScould complete the paperwork necessary for refer-ral.48 COS paid the rent for people whowere waiting for their applications to

be processed, and there are numerous letters indicating that when the

applicants were parishioners, COS and Demo, the latter using Pompei'sfunds, each paid half the rent.49

The reference checks COS conducted weresupposed to see if the poor were the "worthy poor." Judging from the

correspondence, COS and Demo agreed on standards for worthiness, withthe predictable exception of Catholics' attitude toward divorce and remar-

riage which COS social workers found frustrating.Progressive philanthropists developed a new social service institution, the

settlement house. American-born, college-educated young men and women"settled" among the urban, working-class, immigrant poor, studying theirneeds and offering them assistance. Catholics believed settlements were a

43. M. S. Collins to Demo, ca. 14 Nov. 1918, Box 3, Folder 21 .

44 . Augustus E. Califano to Demo, 14 Oct. 1920, Box 3, Folder 25; 30 Nov. 1921, Box 3,

Folder 26; 11 Oct. 1923, Box 4, Folder 30.45. M. S. Collins to Demo, 6 Dec. 1915, Box 2, Folder 16.

46. Robert H. B r e m n e r , From the Depths: The Discovery of Poverty in the United States (New

York, 1956), p. 53.

47 . Muriel Hudnut to Demo, 9 Mar. 1926, Box 5, Folder 35.

48. M. Barrows to Demo, 22 May 1924, Box 5, Folder 31.

49 . Hudnut to Demo, 25 Mar. 1925, Box 5, Folder 31; Hudnut to Demo, 6 Sept. 1924,

Box 5, Folder 32; and L'thel Outerbridge to Demo, 21 Apr. 1925, Box 5, Folder

33.



50 CHU RCH HISTORY

new method of pursu ing the old goal of "assimilating" immigrants away fromtheir faith.50 When Mary Kingsbury Simkhovitch founded Greenwich Housein 1901, she reassured New York C atholics by asking prominent members of

the faith to serve on Greenwich House's board of directors.51 Demo had

extensive and varied contacts with Greenwich House. Social workers thereconsulted him when they wanted information about the neighborhood.5 2

The committees Mrs.Simkhovitch asked him to serve on show how involvedin neighborhood affairs he was: a conference to draw up reports to convincecity officials to limit new construction in the Village to housing units, a

meeting with "prominent residents" of the Village to discuss publicly-fundedupgrad ing in the neighborhood, a lunch with Village Catholic clergy to talkabout church-state relations, me mb ership in a steering committee to democ-rat ize set t lement management. 5 3 Demo responded to these requests. Askedto join the Greenwich Village Improvement Society, he noted that he sent in

his dollar.54 Greenwich House was involved in the performing and creativearts, and invited Demo to drama club meetings, art exhibit committeemeetings, displays of pottery made by settlement house students, Old H omeWeek festivities, and children's pageants .5 5

Its social workers apparentlywere on good en ou gh term s with Dem o that they could ask for favors, such as

requesting that he publicize their music school or lend them Pompei's slideprojector for an evening enter ta inment . 5 6

A moving example of cooperation between Pompei and Greenwich Housecame as a result of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911.57

The

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was located on the eighth, ninth, and tenth floorsof a loft building within walking distance of both Greenwich House and

Pompei . The fire broke out at about 5:30 on a Saturday afternoon. The

building itself was fireproof, but the blouse factory was not: it had wooden

5 0 . Mary Louise Sullivan, M.S.C., Mother Cabrim: "Italian Immigrant of the Century" (New

York, 1992).

51 . Mary Kingsbury Simkhovi tch , Neighborhood: My Story of Greenwich House (New York,1938), p. 162.

52 . Mary Carpenter to Demo, 9 Mar. 1916, Box 2, Folder 17; Ellen G. McDowell to Demo,

28 Ju ne 1922, Box 4, Folder 27.

53. For limiting Village construction, see Simkhovitch to Demo, 2 Feb. 1916, Box 2, Folder

17. For meeting with "prominent residents," see Simkhovitch to Demo, 14 Dec. 1921,

Box 3, Folder 26. For lunch, see Simkhovitch to Demo, 21 March 1925, Box 5, Folder

33. For steering committee, see Simkhovitch to Demo, undated, Box 3, Folder 25.

54. William Spinney to Demo, undated, Box 2, Folder 16.55. For drama, see Helen Murphy to Demo, undated, Box 6, Folder 44. For art exhibit, see

Simkhovitch to Demo, 27 Mar. 1922, Box 4, Folder 27. For pottery, see Edith King to

Demo, 16 Apr. but no year, Box 3, Folder 33. For Old Home Week, see Simkhovitch to

Demo, 13 May 1926, Box 5, Folder 35. For pageant, see Simkhovitch to Demo, 11 May

1916, Box 2, Folder 17.

56 . For music school, see Margaret W. Camman to Demo, 1 Dec. 1923, Box 4, Folder 30.

For slide lantern, see Lillian Front to Demo, 27 Nov. 1929, Box 6, Folder 39.

57 . For more on the fire, see Leon Stein, The Triangle Fire(Philadelphia, 1962).




work tables and benches, greasy oiled sewing machines, dangling electricwires, and paper patterns and thin cotton material everywhere. The fire

escape was so decrepit it pulled away from the building with a full load ofpassengers on it, and the regular exits were kept locked to prevent employeetheft. Employees tried to ju m p to safety, but the f ire nets of the day were notstrong enough to handle even a light young woman hurtling from a ten storyheight. The fire killed 146 people, eighteen of them Pompei parishioners.Demo's reaction to the fire was primarily that of a pastor whose first duty wasto bury the dead. The fire first appears in the parish records Tuesday, 28March, when Demo said Mass for Eulalia Prato, a twenty-one-year-old girlwho was identified in the newspapers by her American nickname, Millie.58

One of Pompei's three curates, Giuseppe Q uadranti, said Mass for seventeen-year-old Isabella Tortorella. On 30 March, Demo said one Mass for three ofthe deceased: Anna Treue; a married woman of twenty-four named IreneGinnastasio; and thirty-one-year-old Rose Bassino. On 3 April, anothercurate , Pio Parolin, said Mass for all the fire victims.

On 26 April 1911, Pompei held a month's mind, a memorial Mass for allthose who died in the fire. Demo sent out English-language black-borderedannouncements to people beyond the immediate parish community.59 He

sang the Solemn High Requiem Mass, and Ernesto Coppo, a Salesianmissionary who was pastor of the Church of the Transfiguration on MottStreet, gave the sermon. The church was crowded with Italian womenmourning their friends and kin, and at some points the distraught congrega-tion's weeping brought Coppo's sermon to a halt. One woman wrote to letDemo know how much she appreciated his attention to pastoral care for thebereaved: "I was eye-witness to this awful tragedy and can never forget itshorrors."60 There was an unusual conclusion to the Mass. Simkhovitch was amember of the Women's Trade Union League, which brought together

upper-class ladies and working-class women to improve working conditionsfor the latter. She and her colleagues, with what she called Demo's "cordialpermission," stood outside the church after Mass distributing English, Ital-ian, and Yiddish circulars calling for a campaign to enforce existing fire safetylaws.61

3.

Two events accelerated Demo's contact with the world beyond Pompei.

The first was World War I. On 1 August 1914, the chancery sent a circular

58. New York Times28 and 29 Mar. 1911, p. 2, col. 4-7 and p. 4, col. 4, respectively, and Box46, book labeled Messe 4.

59. Invitation, ca. 26 Apr. 1911, Box 1, Folder 12.

60. 194 W. 4th Street to Demo, 25 Apr. 1911, Box 1, Folder 12.61. New York Times, 27 Apr . 19 11, p. 6, col. 3 .



52 CHU RCH HISTORY

requesting that archdiocesan congregations say special prayers to ward off

the coming of war.62 But it was too late. At the outbreak of war, New York's

Italian Catholics mobilized to help the Italians back home. On 26 October

1915, Gherardo Ferrante, the chancery official in charge of the Italian

national parishes, called a meeting to establish a Committee of New York

Italian Clergy for the F amilies of Italian So ldiers, cha rge d with raising funds

and dispensing charity to the dependents of men who returned to Italy to

fight. Demo was the committee's treasurer. 6 3 On 7 and 8 February 1916,

Pompei's benefit performances of La Cieca Di Sorrento [The Blind Woman of

Sorrento] raised $230.45 for poor families of Italian soldiers. 64 Demo ex-

tended aid to individual Italian soldiers, such as the man who wrote askingfor help locating his immigrant sister.65

Americans still hoped the United States could stay out of war. When in

1915 Farley departed from local custom and authorized parishes to hold a

Christmas m idnig ht Mass he asked that people p ray for world peace .66 Demo

began receiving letters from interfaith committees asking him to help keep

the United States out of war.67 But in April, the United States abandoned

isolationism and marched off to war. Italians in the United States took the

position that since the United States and Italy fought on the same side, they

sha red th e same goals. In 1918, an Italian-Am erican organ ization drafted atelegram, in Italian, quoting approvingly President Woodrow Wilson's fa-

mous call to make the world safe for democracy, and assuring the president

of Italian-American su pp ort. 6 8 However, probably figuring that Wilson spoke

no Italian, Demo helpfully translated the telegram into English—and ended

up thanking the president for making "Democracy safe for Mankind." 69

Demo reported to his parishioners that Pompei got a nice thank-you letter

from Wilson's secretary, Jos ep h M. Tu m ulty .7 0

Demo compiled a list of seventy-seven of his parishioners in the military.

All of them were m en (w omen did not join the arm ed forces until World War

II) and all bu t one h ad an Italian sur na m e. A handful served in the war zone

62 . Joseph J. Mooney, circular letter, 1 Aug. 1914, Box 8, Folder 89.63. Circular letter, Dec. 1915, Center for Migration Studies, Italian-Americans and Reli-

gion Collection, Series I, Box 3, Archives of the Diocese of Brooklyn MiscellaneousFolder.

64 . Program, 7-8 Feb. 1916, Box 12, Folder 144.

65. Via Gran S. Be rnad o # 1 Milan to Demo, 7 Sept. 1916, Box 2, Folder 18.66 . Jo hn Cardinal Farley, circular letter, 14 Dec. 1915, Box 8, Folder 90.67 . For Peace Sunday, see Hamilton Holt to Demo, 10 May 1916, Box 2, Folder 17. For

anti-German protest, see William H. Owen, Jr., circular letter, 22 Jan. 1917, Box 3,Folder 19. For Bryan m eeting, see Frederick Lynch, circular letter, 26 Ja n. 1917, Box3, Folder 19.

68. Ed uardo Marcuzzi, circular letter, 29 Ju ne 1918, Box 3, Folder 22.69 . Undated draft, Box 3, Folder 22.70. Sunday an nounce me nts, 14 July 1918, Box 29, Folder 316.




itself, but one parish ioner got to see Anniston, Alaska when he was stationedthere.71 Demo thought three or four parishioners lost their lives in the war.72

Greenwich House took the lead in rallying the Village to support the war.By May, the settlement had organized a parade from Sheridan Square toWashington Square, and located Civil War veterans for the reviewing stand.73

The United Organizations of Greenwich Village invited Demo to the review-ing stand of its Flag Day "monster" parade and mass meeting. 74 In 1918,Demo gave a blessing at a flag-raising service, and, in ano ther example of theinterfaith activity the war fostered, shared the platform with the Reverend E.H. Schlueter, pastor of Saint Luke-in-the-Fields Protestant Episcopal churchon Hudson Street.75

The federal government also planned ways for people to support the wareffort. The war time agency with which Pompei had the most correspon-dence was the Food Adm inistration. The direc tor of the Food Administrationwas Herbert Hoover, whose activities in this office added to his reputationand later won him the presidency. Hoover's job was to ensure that both thecivilians and the military had the food they needed. One way Hooveraccomplished his goal was by calling for food conservation. If civilian demandfor food went down, it would be easier to divert food to the military. Also,

conserving food was a daily activity that allowed people to show their supportfor the war.

Hoover used churches to campaign for food conservation. In a circularletter asking ministers to preach a special sermon on "Food ConservationSunday," Hoover explained why he wanted the clergy's cooperation: "Thewomen of America have never failed to answer such a call as comes to themnow. Th e saving of food is within their sphere . . . the outcome of the worldwar is in the hands of women no less than in the hands of men."76 However,there was as yet no radio or television to reach women at home, nor could

Pompei's female parishioners be expected to be able to read billboard postersor even to understand English. Nor, perhaps, could one expect poor,working class, ethnic Americans to pay much attention to the federal govern-ment, which was far less involved in everyday life than it would be later.Therefore, Hoover reasoned, people needed to be reached by those theyalready accepted as their leaders. Federal officials sent Demo m ore informa-tion on Food Conservation Sunday, including pledges for housewives tosign.77 Usually, the federal government relied on the archdiocese to encour-

71. List dated 29 Sept. 1918, Box 16, Folder 195.72. Jo hn J. Dunn, circular letter, 26 Sept. 1920, Box 8, Folder 95.73. Leroy Peterson, circular letter, 14 May 1917, Box 8, Folder 95.74. Joh n F. X. O'Conn or to Demo, 12 Ju ne 1917, Box 3, Folder 20.75. Jam es J. Dover to Demo, 23 Sept. 1918, Box 3, Folder 22.76. He rbert Hoover, circular letter, Washington , D.C., 18 Ju ne 1917, Box 3, Folder 20.77. Charles S. Wilson, circular le tter, 27 Ju ne 1917, Box 3, Folder 20.



54 CHURCH HISTORY

age parish food conservation programs. When it came to his attention thatnothing wasbeing done to advertise food conservation among the Italians,the first District Director of the Bureau of Conservation wrote the chanceryofficial in charge of minority-language Catholics, and that official circulatedthe letter among the Italian clergy.78

The federal government also relied on

Greenwich House, and Greenwich House relied on Demo. Greenwich House'sassistant director and chair of a district food council invited area retailers to

food conservation meetings, and asked Demo to say a few words to them: "I

hope very much that you will be present because with the food shortagebecoming m ore and more serious we aregoing to need the cooperation ofallthose agencies which reach the women of the poorer classes."79

The refer-ence to the poorer classes raises a question. Were not poor people alreadylimiting food purchases? Apossible answer to that question may be found in

the notebooks in which Demo listed the announcements he wanted to read at

the Sunday Masses. In June 1918, a chancery official wrote Demo to requesthe announce to his parishioners an upcoming Italian Day, the purpose of

which was to impress upon the Italians the importance of diligent foodsaving.80 Demo's announcement, translated into English, read: "themayorof

New York and the cardinal recommend that everyone cooperate in every

possible way . . . in these times of great communal sacrifice."

81

Demo proba-bly figured poverty already enforced compliance with government foodconservation requests.

The Treasury Departmen t was more successful at getting Demo's support.He was the parish salesman for Liberty Loan bonds and also for war savingsstamp kits, with which people with small incomes saved toward the purchaseof a bond.82

The interest on the bonds assisted the Italians with their familysavings. The savings stamp and bond programs served both family and

patriotic needs.

The American Catholic hierarchy mobilized for the war effort along withthe rest of the population. In 1917, the bishops created a National CatholicWar Council. The Knights of Columbus provided the personnel and admin-istrative skills for nationwide collections to fund military chaplains and

recrea tion services for Catholics inarms.83 The 1917 collection was organizedquickly and the collection was modest. In July, Demo offered to take up a

78. F. E. Breithut to Lavelle, 17 Jan. 1918, Box 3, Folder 21; Lavelle, circular letter, 18 Jan.

1918, Box 3, Folder 21 .79. Mabel F. Spinney to Demo, 11 Apr. 1918, Box 3, Folder 21.

80 . Gherardo Ferrante to Demo, 15 June 1918, Box 3, Folder 22.

81 . Sunday announcements, 16 June 1918, Box 29, Folder 316.

82 . For Liberty Loan bonds, see Ernest Iselin to Demo, 10 and 18 Oct. 1918, Box 3, Folder

22 . For savings stamps, see Milton W. Lipper to Demo, Washington, D.C., 14 Feb.

1918, Box 3, Folder 21 .

83 . Chr i s tophe r J. Kauffman, Faith and Fraternalism: the History of the Knights of Columbus,1881-1982 (New York, 1982), pp . 192-224.




Catholic War Relief Fund collection in his parish.84 In August, the Knightsthanked him for the $28 collected.85 The next year, Catholics tried harder.

Sunday, 17 March 1918, which combined Sunday with Saint Patrick's Dayand was sure to encourage Irish Catholic generosity, was set aside ascollection day. The Knights again sponsored the collection, but this timearchdiocesan officials fell all over themselves to assure a good turnout.Pompei received at least a half dozen m emorandums regarding administra-tive meetings, pledge cards, and other collection supplies.86 Th e chancery setan optimistically high target for Pompei's contribution to the campaign,$8,000.87 The parishioners gave $2,285, 28% of their quota, but much morethan in 1917.88

When W orld War I ended, Italian Americans still had their responsibilitiesto those who suffered during the war. Pompei honored veterans with freeadmission to one of its fundraising programs for anyone in military uni-form.89 Th e Italian Red Cross and others continued to raise money on behalfof Italians civilian and military casualties.90 In 1921, Demo participated in aNew York service held simultaneously with Roman obsequies for Italy'sUnknown Soldier.91

A second event which altered the concentric rings of organization in which

Pompei moved occurred three years after World War I ended. Before thewar, Cardinal Farley had begun bringing together New York's Catholiccharities under an umbrella organization called United Catholic Works. Thewar and then Farley's death interrupted the plans. After the war, theorganizational process started again, and in 1922 Catholic Charities wasincorporated. According to public relations articles, Catholic Charities wassupposed to coordinate New York Catholics' efforts to do good.92 Ratherthan have two hundred separate agencies raise their own funds, CatholicCharities conducted one annual campaign, and from this collection gave

funds to the separate agencies. Also, rather than have the agencies conducttheir own public relations, and depend on hundreds of pastors to channeltheir parishioners toward the best sources of help, Catholic Charities had itsown intake workers to make referrals.

Catholic Charities m ade two changes in Pompei's service to the poor. Likethe other parishes, Pompei participated in the annual Catholic Charities

84. Edward A. Arnold to Demo, 24 July 1917, Box 3, Folder 20.

85. William P. Larkin to Demo, 14 Aug. 1917, Box 3, Folder 20.86. Most of Demo's World W ar One m emorabilia is in Box 14, Folder 168.87. John J. D unn to Demo, 21 Feb. 1918, Box 14, Folder 168.88. New York American Sun, 31 Mar. 1918.89. Program, 28-29 Jan. 1919, Box 12, Folder 144.90. Fer rante to Demo, 19 Dec. 1918, Box 3, Folder 22.91 . // Carroccio 13 (1921): 635-6 36 .92. Patrick J. Hayes, "The Unification of Catholic Charities," Catholic World 117 (1923):

145-153.



56 CHURCH HISTORY

fund drive.93 Second, once Catholic Charities opened its referral service,Demo's role as intake social worker changed. Instead of referring parishio-ners to a welfare agency himself, he referred them to Catholic Charities,explained what the problem was, and Catholic Charities was supposed totake care of the rest.94 This was a new system, and not everyone trusted it.The Italian Catholics, who had encountered discrimination in the past,especially needed reassurance. Once Demo sent a family to Catholic Charitiesand, when nothing happened, sent a second referral and an explanation."This people are under the impression that you do not care at all to act intheir favor therefore this new recommendation."95 Demo's correspondencewith Catholic Charities reveals as much about Catholic Charities as it doesabout Pompei. Like the Protestant and secular organizations on which it wasmodeled, Catholic Charities was a clearing house attempting to preventduplication and waste. Its agents contacted pastors to keep them updated ontheir parishioners' cases.96 Catholic Charities sent cases back to Demo whenthe people involved could use Italian Catholic institutions, thus savingCatholic Charities resources for those ineligible for Italian care.97

Like most welfare agencies in the early twentieth century, Catholic Chari-ties thought its mission was to support the family, and to support family

mem bers in their accustomed roles. Men were supposed to be breadwinners,and Catholic Charities tried to find jobs for the heads of households.98 If themale head of the household could not work, it might take the rest of thefamily to replace the lost income. In one instance, when a head of householdtook sick, Catholic Charities supported the family until his mother agreed tostay at home and take care of him, his wife and seventeen-year-old foundjobs, and the couple's fifteen-year-old planned to drop out of school to add tothe family's earnings.99 Also like other agencies, Catholic Charities dividedthe needy into worthy and unworthy poor. Families had to be practicing

Catholics to qualify for Catholic Charities ' aid. Catholic Charities kept pastorssuch as Demo busy verifying that potential clients had indeed been validlymarried.10 0 Demo also occasionally baptized youngsters who had come toCatholic Charities' attention.10 1

Th ere is nothing from Demo's own hand about his reasons for his exten-sive work beyond his parish. One can guess absolute necessity was among

93. Jo hn J. Du nn, circular letter, 8 Mar. 1920, Box 8, Folder 95.

94. Demo to Catholic Charities, 19 Sept. 1929, Box 6, Folder 39.95. Demo to Catholic Charities, 23 July 1926, Box 5, Folder 36.96. Jo hn Philip Bram er to Demo, 14 Dec. 1925, Box 5, Folder 34.97. Catherine Ha rt to Dem o, 18 Ju ne 1932, Box 6, Folder 42.98. Jo hn Philip Brame r to Dem o, 28 Ja n. 1926, Box 5, Folder 35.99 . Alice B. Claus to Demo, 22 Oct. 1930, Box 6, Folder 40.100. Minnie Costello to Demo, Yonkers, 22 May 1925 , Box 5, Folder 33.101. M. H. Lagrille to Demo, 1 Ju ne 1926, Box 5, Folder 35; Mary Rea to Dem o, 13 Mar.

1930, Box 6, Folder 40.




them. The early Italian immigrants' poverty meant Pompei had more peopleto care for, and fewer resources available for their care. Pompei had at least as

many services and programs as other Italian Catholic parishes, and this wasnot enough. More people required assistance than the parish, or even the

Catholic church, could provide.

Caroline Ware, a Greenwich House social scientist, offered a second reasonfor Demo's neighborhood involvement.102 "Italian" Pompei really served two

populations: Italian imm igrants and their Americanized offspring. The formerpreferred to practice their faith as they had done in Italy. This presented the

danger that the latter would reject their parents' faith along with their

parents' customs as unsuitable for young Americans. As an Italian, Democould sympathize with the older members of his congregation, and Pompeipreserved many customs brought by the earliest parishioners. As a priest,though, Demo could not afford to lose the youths. He involved himself in the

American life ofGreenwich Village, so hisyoung parishioners grew with theirparish and not away from it.

A third reason for Demo's extensive work was that there was no one else to

do it. Hisparishioners were hardly indifferent or uninvolved in their commu-nity. Several men served long and faithfully as parish financial advisors, and

younger parishioners ofboth sexes were involved for many years in puttingon fund-raising plays. However, few were ready to act as liaisons betweentheir parish and other agencies. The studies of Pompei's laity mentionedearlier indicate that this changed with time.

There were limits to Demo's participation in the world beyond Pompei.Despite an appeal that "the timid, the weak, and the youth of our city shouldbe able to look to you" to end Mayor Jimmy Walker's co rrup t administration by

voting for Fiorello LaGuardia, and despite his personal acquaintance withLaGuardia, Demo did nothing more than send his personal wishes for

LaGuardia's success.103 He never involved himself in New York City politicsexcept through his cooperation with Greenwich House's advocacy of civicimprovements. And this citizen ofGreenwich Village, whodied at Pompei on

2 January 1936, never became a citizen of the United States.

There are three possible ways to use the work already done by otherscholars to interpret Demo's experience. One way is to compare himwith the

Catholic immigrant clergy of other ethnic groups. Jay Dolan's pioneeringwork, The Immigrant Church, indicates that ante-bellum New York Irish and

German priests combined expressions ofpastoral care such as the administra-tion of the sacraments with other such expressions, such as the establishment

102. Caro line W are, Greenwich V illage, 1920-1930: A Comment on American Civilization in the

Post-War Years (New York, 1935; reprint New York, 1965), p. 312.

103. Arthur Little to Demo, 16 Oct. 1929, Box 5, Folder 39.






Catholic contact with the secular world started at the top, with the nationalleadership, and involved issues of importance to classes of people, such as

industrial workers. There are few studies of people such as parish priests,who worked close to the grass roots, and few studies which concern familywelfare.'l0 More work needs to be done in this area to flesh out the history ofthe relationship between Catholics and private and public secular socialservice institutions to find out if Demo was the exception to the rule of a wallof separation between Catholics and others in early twentieth-century Amer-ican life, or if he was part of an unnoticed current leading toward greatercooperation between Catholic and public officials on behalf of those in need.

110. One person who matched Demo in trying to use public institutions to serve Catholicneeds was Jo hn Bernard Fitzpatrick, bishop of Boston from 1846 to 1866. Rathe r tha nbuild parochial schools to rival public ones, Fitzpatrick took the position that publicschools should be accessible to all citizens, and he tried , unsuccessfully as it turn ed ou t,to make Boston's public schools more accommodating for the Catholic who shouldhave been attending them. Thomas O'Connor, Fitzpatrick's Boston, 1846-1866: JohnBernard Fitzpatrick, Third Bishop of Boston (Boston, 1984).

Documents

Italian Immigrant Catholic Clergy