The Rome chapter of the Order Sons and Daughters of Italy in America, the first chapter of the order founded outside the American continent, took part in a special papal audience at St. Peter’s Basilica, bringing together members from across Italy in a day marked by devotion, culture and fraternity.
Led by chapter President and founder Carmelo Cutuli, the gathering brought together the chapter’s Roman members with others who traveled from Sicily, Calabria and Abruzzo to pay homage to the Holy Father, joined by a number of distinguished guests, among them professor Cinzia Rossi of the Consorzio Universitario Humanitas and professor Pietro Luigi Matta of the University of Palermo.
The day offered several moments in which members of the chapter took center stage. Pietro Viola presented the Holy Father with an original work of his own depicting the pope during his recent visit to Lampedusa, a gift that spoke both to the artistic sensibility of the chapter and to its appreciation of the pope’s pastoral closeness to those on the margins. Several members offered the Holy Father their published works: Cutuli presented his book on the Italian American experience, “A Tale of Two Motherlands,” which carries a preface by Caterina Di Chiara, second vice president of the Rome chapter; Fabio Reali offered his recent volume on the figure of Amadeo P. Giannini; and Palmiro Noschese, herald of the chapter, presented his own book and shared a particularly warm and heartfelt exchange with the Pope.
In the course of the ceremony, the chapter also presented a substantial donation for the benefit of those in need, the fruit of the generosity of its members and a concrete expression of the charitable mission that has always animated the order.
“This audience was a moment of great joy for our chapter, and above all a moment of gratitude,” Cutuli said. “Rome was where our story in Italy began, and seeing how many chapters have since taken root across the country is the finest reward we could hope for. If our chapter has a role today, it is one of service to that wider family. Our members came from every corner of Italy, united by faith and by a shared identity, and we leave this day strengthened in our purpose. The Catholic devotion that has always accompanied our work will continue to guide the initiatives we are preparing for the year ahead.”
The day concluded with a luncheon near the Vatican, an occasion that further cemented the friendship binding the group together. Looking ahead, the chapter’s committee for relations with the Vatican, chartered by Cutuli, is preparing a series of encounters and initiatives over the coming months. The committee is led by second Vice President Caterina Di Chiara with the support of first Vice President Mery Clementoni, and its work confirms the distinctly Catholic character that has come to define the Rome chapter.
