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    Detroit's Holy Family Church: 100 Years of Sicilian Tradition
    Detroit's Holy Family Church: 100 Years of Sicilian Tradition
    Detroit's Holy Family Church: 100 Years of Sicilian Tradition
    Ebook223 pages37 minutes

    Detroit's Holy Family Church: 100 Years of Sicilian Tradition

    By Bonnie Leone

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    About this ebook

    A treasury of photos and stories celebrating this historic landmark and Detroit’s Italian-American community.
     
    The traditions of the Sicilians and Italians have been a part of Detroit since the early 1900s, and Holy Family Church represents the very root of this community’s soul, maintaining the culture and the rituals their ancestors brought with them to America over a century ago.
     
    Some of these customs date back hundreds of years in their homelands of Cinisi, Terrasini, Trapani, and many other cities. Bonnie Leone was born, raised, and still resides in Detroit. Originally appointed by Gov. John Engler to the position of Wayne County jury commissioner, Leone is a member of several genealogical societies, tracing some of her ancestors as far back as the 1500s. Her strong sense of history, art, and tradition brought her to this church, so that she may help to preserve and protect the traditions of the Sicilians in Detroit—and in this richly illustrated book, she shares its story.
     
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateApr 14, 2008
    ISBN9781439619223
    Detroit's Holy Family Church: 100 Years of Sicilian Tradition
    Author

    Bonnie Leone

    The Images of America series celebrates the history of neighborhoods, towns, and cities across the country. Using archival photographs, each title presents the distinctive stories from the past that shape the character of the community today. Arcadia is proud to play a part in the preservation of local heritage, making history available to all.

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      Book preview

      Detroit's Holy Family Church - Bonnie Leone

      Detroit’s Holy Family Church:

      100 Years of Sicilian Tradition

      Bonnie Leone

      Copyright © 2008 by Bonnie Leone

      9781439619223

      Published by Arcadia Publishing

      Charleston SC, Chicago IL, Portsmouth NH, San Francisco CA

      Printed in the United States of America

      Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2007941897

      For all general information contact Arcadia Publishing at:

      Telephone 843-853-2070

      Fax 843-853-0044

      E-mail sales@arcadiapublishing.com

      For customer service and orders:

      Toll-Free 1-888-313-2665

      Visit us on the Internet at www.arcadiapublishing.com

      I dedicate this book to my mother, Margaret VanDerziel;

      to my children Melissa Paalanen and Leo Leone;

      to my husband, William Leone;

      to those first Southern Italian and Sicilian immigrants;

      and to their descendants.

      Table of Contents

      Title Page

      Copyright Page

      Dedication

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      INTRODUCTION

      One - THE CHURCH

      Two - THE PRIESTS

      Three - FOUNDING FAMILIES

      Four - THEIR LIVES

      Five - SOCIETIES

      Six - CLUBS AND TRADITIONS

      Seven - SACRAMENTS

      Eight - PAST AND PRESENT

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      First thanks go to Sam DiMaggio and Angie (Maniacci) DiMaggio, who a decade ago asked my now-husband, William Leone, to bring me to the church that his grandparents, Vito Leone and Provvidenza Pagano, once belonged to on the feast day of Madonna delle Grazie, so that they might meet me. They introduced me to the tradition of the Latin mass, Italian feast days, and a church rich in beauty and history; because of this I never left Sacra Famiglia and I wrote this book.

      Throughout the last year I have spent countless hours tracing families, collecting records, and going through photographs. My gratitude goes out to all of the wonderful people to whom I will never be able to thank enough for their time, help, and photographs (or all of the above) so that I may preserve the first 100 years of Sacra Famiglia in a book. Mucho grande thanks go to Josephine DeMaria, Jack Tocco, Peter and Grace Tocco, Joe D’Anna, Joe Biondo, Vito Manzella, Bill Bagnasco, Joe Maniacci, Rose Patchett, Joe Donofrio, Fr. Lawrence Fares, Frank and Josephine Carta, Rosary Amore, Josephine Biundo, Salvatore Ciaramitaro, Doris Fanfalone, Maria Sugameli, Sandra Smith, Debbie Patterson, Maria Rosati, Grace Corrollo, Al Chirco, Elizabeth Falsone, Tony Maisano, Helen Brennan, Joe Mazzola, Rose Marie Fessler, Gina Mangiapane, Sara Scrivano, Fran Marie Silveria, Andrea and Antoniatta Pacitto, Joe and Rose Amicangelo, Fr. Peter Lentine of St. Philomena, Vittorio Re, Salvatore Palazzolo, Anthony Palazzolo, Concetta Alesiak, Vita Corrado, Domenico Mancini, Marlene Baker, William Battaglia, Post 570, Albert and Mary Fontana, Sam Scalisi, Emmanuel Gravame, Jenny Catalfio, Joann Frederick, Greg Cipriano, Armando Delicato, Maria Lamia, Fr. Carl Bonk of SS. Peter and Paul, David Miros, Northwest Jesuit archives, Archdiocese of Detroit, Fr. Mike Green of St. Scholastica, Joe Provenzano, Fr. Edward Vilkauskas of St. Mary’s, the Burton Historical staff, Antonia Valentine, Grace Perrone, Joe Toia, Carol Palazzolo, Rosalie House, Catherine Bagnasco, Annette Cipriano, Tony Badalamenti, Lena Locricchio, Angie Vitale, Charlie Bono, Kathy Stercum, Sarah Stork, Elisabeth Megna, Peter Ferro, Sam Genovese, Dr. Sal Ventimiglia, Johnnie Woolsey, Sebastiano Previti, Linda Davis, and anyone else I may have forgotten.

      INTRODUCTION

      The cornerstone of SS. Peter and Paul’s Jesuit Church was laid on June 29, 1844, under the guidance of Bishop Peter Paul Lefebvre, who served as the second bishop of the city of Detroit from 1841 until his death in March 1869. The church was originally the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Detroit.

      SS. Peter and Paul is now the oldest church building in the city still standing in its original form. Bishop Lefebvre’s successor, Bishop Casper Borgess, gave the title for the building to the Society of Jesus (the Jesuit order) in 1877, as part of an agreement under which the Jesuits would undertake to build the first catholic college, which became the University of Detroit.

      In 1900, the area around SS. Peter and Paul, on Jefferson Avenue, Larned Street, Congress Street, and Fort Street, between Brush Street and Hastings Street, started seeing an influx of Italians. Southern Italians and Sicilians began settling into this elite and quiet area, home to French and English lawyers, writers, engineers, and other professional households. The Sicilian population, steadily increasing within these parish boundaries, was originally administered by Fr. Eugene Kieffer, who had taken special notice of these immigrants when they flocked to his church, devoting himself to their spiritual needs. Father Kieffer started to learn Italian, but it was beginning to get harder and harder for him to tend to the needs of all of his parishioners.

      Father Kieffer expressed the need for assistance to Bishop John Foley and, in turn, Bishop Foley informed the Archbishop Falconi, the delegate in Washington, D.C., who then wrote to Pope Pius X on August 2, 1905, explaining the situation: out of the 17 priests at the Jesuit church and college, not one could speak Italian. If they had a priest who spoke the language of these newcomers and understood their cultural needs, a church could be built for them, eliminating further problems. Alternatively, Bishop Foley would have to consider dividing the parish. Pope Pius X agreed to provide an administrator, stating that the spiritual welfare of the Italian Americans should be protected. Archbishop Falconi sent copies of the papal message to all bishops and heads of orders, looking for a priest. The Jesuit’s father provincial finally realized that the situation demanded his attention and that the natives of southern Italy had no suitable place of worship; San Francesco Church was located further north in the city and served a mainly northern Italian institution. The provincial promised to send someone to take care of the Southern Italians. Until the church could be built, the parishioners were divided, and the Sicilians worshipped in a small chapel located on the property of SS. Peter and Paul.

      At the close of 1905, a priest was sent: Fr. Raffaele D‘Orsi. Father D’Orsi was called out of a mission in Denver to formulate plans for a new parish under the guidance of Bishop Foley. Father D‘Orsi was born in Naples, Italy, in 1858. He left Naples when he was 15, later joining the Jesuit order in 1873. Upon arrival in the United States, D’Orsi worked in missions in the Southwest.

      Detroit was Father D‘Orsi’s first big city. He quickly found that working among the Italians was not so easy; they had come from a land where the government maintained and funded churches indirectly through taxation. The idea of funding a church themselves

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