Proposal to Move Statue of Italian Saint Angers Residents in Ironbound

NEWARK — Plans to move a statue of a celebrated Italian-American figure from a neglected park have angered Ironbound residents, who turned out at a meeting Monday to voice their concerns about the proposal, which was discussed by City Council earlier this year.

The statue of Roman Catholic St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, also known as Mother Cabrini, is in a park outside of Newark Penn Station, but in April the City Council discussed moving it to a space near St. Francis Xavier Church in the North Ward — a move that prompted objections during the meeting organized by East Ward Councilman Michael Silva at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church. (St. Francis Xavier Church honors St. Francis Xavier, whose remains are at a Catholic basilica in India. St. Frances Xavier Cabrini's final resting place is in Manhattan.)

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“All that's left of any proof that any of us were ever here is Our Lady of Mount Carmel, St. Lucy's, and Mother Cabrini,” said Newark native Andrea Lyn Van Benschoten, an author and Italian heritage blogger, whose family immigrated to what was then the city’s First Ward. “So by moving that statue, you're taking more without consulting what is left of this community.”

The East Ward and the North Ward were both home to lively communities of Italian immigrants beginning in the early 1900s, populations that have since dwindled. The East Ward participants at the Mount Carmel meeting were vocal about keeping part of their heritage and history alive through the Mother Cabrini statue.

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini devoted her life to helping immigrants. She established schools, orphanages, and hospitals as she served the sick and poor. She was also the first U.S. citizen to be canonized in 1946. The statue in Newark was placed where her school for Italian immigrant children was originally located.

The relocation of the statue was not immediately known to the public, and the East Ward residents at the meeting said they felt blindsided by the council’s decision. Silva said that the idea was originally from North Ward Councilman Anibal Ramos Jr., who was not in attendance at the meeting and was approached by the Italian-American organization Columbian Foundation with the proposal.

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On Tuesday, Ramos said the organization recommended moving the statue to an area near St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church, which is set to become an Immigrant Plaza.

“We wanted to do a statue which honors Italian immigrants and other immigrants, because that (North Ward) community is, you know, changed,” Ramos told TAPinto Newark. “We figured it could be a nice open space where we would honor the Italian immigrant community and Italian immigrant experience, and at the same time, honor all our other immigrants in the area.”

About seven months ago, the Columbian Foundation identified the statue as ideal for their purpose, he said.

“We received a letter from the Columbian Foundation, identifying this statue of Mother Cabrini, which is right behind Newark Penn Station… if you know anything about Mother Cabrini, she's the patron saint of immigrants, right? So we thought it would be a good fit,” Ramos said.

Lack of communication between the city and the East Ward residents was addressed during the church’s meeting, and the members instructed Silva on the importance of the Cabrini statue and its location.

“Knowing the history of not the statue, but the location of the park, and what it represented, the outside of it and even the inside, I thought, in my opinion, to move it to a nicer place would be more respectable,” Silva said.

The statue sits in Mother Cabrini Park, near Newark Penn Station. Silva described the area as “an embarrassment to the city” due to the frequency of homeless people and drug use known to occur there.

The 75 members of the community in attendance at the meeting at Mount Carmel Church were adamant that the statue stay in the East Ward.

“[The statue] was gifted to the city. The people of Mount Carmel parish commissioned that statue, and raised the money for that statue from this parish, the people in the Ironbound,” said John Giordano, an Ironbound resident. “Mother Cabrini is a patron saint of the Ironbound and the immigrants. So she belongs here.”

Some of the attendees believe that the statue moving to Saint Francis Xavier Church is a way for the city to make up for the removal of a statue of Christopher Columbus from a park in downtown Newark in 2020.

“Now you want to patch it up and maybe appease the Italian Americans by putting Mother Cabrini there,” said the Rev. Thomas Nicastro, a Newark native whose Italian ancestors came from the same part of their homeland as St. Gerard, another Catholic saint venerated by Italian Americans in Newark . “Those people that are doing that project really know nothing about Mother Cabrini. Why don't they take the statue of Columbus that was there and put it back where it rightfully belongs?”

During the meeting, a third option was discussed: moving the Cabrini statue to Our Lady of Mount Carmel Roman Catholic Church. This option seemed to work for both parties.

“As a last resort for her to come back to Mount Carmel, sure, of course, why not? We want to have her home,” Eric Lavin, a pastoral associate at the church, said.

The residents, in the meantime, promised to help clean the area surrounding the Cabrini statue twice a month. This would allow for a safer worshiping environment until a time to potentially move the statue is discussed.

“The problem here is that we're only giving people a choice between two options, even the Cardinal. If he was aware that there was a third option to move Mother Cabrini (to Mount Carmel Church), I'm sure that would make the most sense to him, given the history,” said Carla Guerriero, an administrator at the history department of New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), referring to Cardinal Joseph Tobin, the Roman Catholic prelate who has led the Archdiocese of Newark since 2017.

“You have a teaching role to the other members of the Newark City Council about the history of your ward… Look around you, everyone in this room is willing to help support this project and spread Mother Cabrini’s message and her work. So I would just really urge you to do this. Plus, Mother Cabrini will bless you.”

Silva promised to fight for the people of Mount Carmel Church, and community members chanted their common desire regarding the Mother Cabrini statue: “Bring her home!”

Kenneth Weiss is a student at Rutgers-Newark, participating in a journalism program with TAPinto Newark. Email him at kenweiss49@gmail.com .

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