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Monday, October 2, 2023
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And so it was, on December
22, 1938, Father Costantino DeSantis, at the request of
the now new Apostolic Delegate, Monsignor I. Antoniutti,
arrived in Windsor with the task of organizing the Italian
parish
and building a new church.
Father DeSantis was fifty when he came to Windsor. Born in
Civita Castellana, in the province of Viterbo, Italy, he had studied
at seminaries in Pisa, Florence, and at a military school in Rome. A
captain
in the Italian army, he had served as a chaplain in Italy,
France, and Belgium during the First World War. In 1930,
he arrived in
the United States, where he became assistant pastor |
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| at St. Joachim’s
parish in Trenton, New Jersey. In 1937, he became pastor
of St. Michael’s parish in Atlantic City, N. J. |
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| Father
DeSantis’ first Mass for the Italian community
of Windsor was celebrated at Holy Trinity Church on Christmas
Day, 1938. When he arrived here, he found Windsor still in
the grips of a depression that had been going on since the early
1930s. Many men in the 300 Italian families were unemployed.
By several accounts a strict and determined man, Fr. DeSantis
is still
well-remembered for the help he gave those early immigrants.
Many mornings, he would go with the unemployed men to the auto
factories, tool and die shops, and construction firms to help
them find jobs. He also served the immigrants as an interpreter
with immigration and other government officials.
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The
opinions and interpretations in this publication are those of the author
and do not necessarily reflect those of the Government of Canada. |
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