Newswatch 16’s Valeria Quiñones stops by the 50th Mass in Italian at St. Peter’s Cathedral.
SCRANTON, Pa. — Fifty years of family, culture, and faith live within the walls here at St. Peter’s Cathedral in downtown Scranton.
This is the 50th Mass in Italian during La Festa Italiana.
In attendance was one of La Festa’s founders, Bob Pattinato. He remembers the first Mass in 1976, when eight Italian parishes united.
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“And they formed the nucleus of the initial festival, which was only one block on N Washington Avenue, and it was so popular even from the beginning that it’s grown into what it is today,” Pattinato said.
As scripture was read aloud, the special Mass honored the ancestors that came before those currently filling the church.
At 100 years old and seven decades of priesthood, Joseph Adonizio is one of the honorees, still living to feel the praise.
“I’m proud of my heritage, and also, I’m thankful for those who left their precious land to come, to make a new life for we, their children, here in America,” Adonizio said.
“A big part of the Italians’ experience when they came to this country. They brought their faith, not only, as Bishop said, their recipes and their traditions, but their faith was a big part of it. I think that’s what helped them build the community they were able to build,” La Festa Italiana Chaplain David Cappelloni said.
Led by their faith, still 50 years later, many here cherish their heritage and culture while also honoring where they stand today.