Passionists Arrive in America, 1852

Today marks the day that the first Passionists arrived in the United States. On this day Fathers Anthony Calandri, Albinus Magno, Stanislaus Parczyk, and Brother Lawrence Di Giacomo arrived in Pittsburgh to start the first American foundation at the request of the local bishop. One of the community’s main apostolates was preaching missions, which carried them far beyond Pittsburgh. Within a few years of their arrival the Passionists had expanded to New York, New Jersey and the Midwest. A particular focus of their mission work was outreach to Protestants. By the turn of the century, the community was sending men to the missions in Mexico, Argentina and Chile. By the there were over 200 Passionists working in the United States. During the twentieth century, they became active in promoting retreats for lay people, and founded their own magazine, The Sign, which was quite popular in Catholic circles. The American Passionists also expanded their missionary outreach to China, Japan, Korea and the Phillipines. At home they began an outreach to African-Americans in the South and broke into television. One of their major apostolates in the post-Vatican II has been retreat work for laypeople. In 1967 they and the Franciscans created the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.