ABSTRACT
In a sparsely appointed room in the small house that served as a rectory, Father Gaetano Mariani entered a note in his diary, which, translated from his native language, read
The 23rd of the month of October 1853 was the beginning of the little Italian chapel dedicated to St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi, established in the city of Philadelphia between 8th and 7th Streets through the kindness of the Most Reverend Monsignor Neumann, worthy Roman Catholic Bishop of the city and diocese of Philadelphia
—before adding that he himself had been named as its pastor and given the authority to bless the chapel on the same day. At the moment of this vignette, the first church to be designated as being for the exclusive use of Italians as Catholics was formally acknowledged by the priest who would lead its congregation during the next twelve years. First as the “Italian Mission,” then as a parish, it would remain over the next 150 years as an important site for events, both sacred and secular, for Italians who settled in Philadelphia, as well as a template in their wider history as Catholics throughout America. Although the founding of St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi was a pivotal moment, it represented only one part within a larger, more complicated context. 1