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A Roma! OSDIA Establishes First Lodge in Italy

Last February, the Order Sons & Daughters of Italy in America (OSDIA) proudly installed its first lodge in Italy: the Capitolo di Roma Lodge #3002. After 115 years of existence, the OSDIA presented the lodge’s founder, Car melo Cutuli, and its 25 members with the very first charter for a lodge outside of the United States and Canada. The Capitolo di Roma Lodge is made up of members all across Italy—Sicily to Lombardy, Apulia to Lazio—and is located in Rome, close to Piazza Barberini along Via Veneto.

“I went on OSDIA’s website,” Cutuli said, “and when I read the story, I found me. People like Vincenzo Sellaro from Palermo.” Like OSDIA Founder Dr. Vincenzo Sel laro, Cutuli was also born in Sicily, hailing from the city of Catania. He now lives in Rome and was searching for a club that would facilitate connections and projects between Italy and the United States. Having been an At-Large Member in the past, OSDIA came to the forefront of his mind. He contacted OSDIA’s National Office and worked closely with the Membership Committee and its Co-Chair Dr. Mark DeNunzio to form the first-ever lodge in Italy.

“This is a landmark moment in the Order’s 115-year history,” said OSDIA National President Nancy DiFiore Quinn. “It’s with the utmost pride that we have installed the first lodge in the country where our ancestors came from.”

In just a short time, the Capitolo di Roma Lodge has already made its mark. It initiated its first honorary

Clarissa Burt is presented with Capitolo di Roma’s Honor ary Member Certificate by (L. to R.) Claudio Frasca, Secretary; Carmelo Cutuli, Founder and President; and Paolo Quattrocchi, Co-founder and Trustee.

member, Clarissa Burt, an American model and actress well-known throughout Italy. In addition to this, the lodge has also received several commendations celebrating its establishment, including official letters from the Sicilian Regional Government and The Italian Association for the European Council of Municipalities and Regions (AIC CRE). The lodge also created a podcast to commemorate the inaugural “Dante Day” on March 25, 2020.

Though the coronavirus outbreak has made its first few months more difficult for the lodge, Cutuli embraces their good fortune for having been installed prior to the pandemic. He insists that with “the same spirit as Vincenzo Sellaro” the lodge will transcend.

“We have the Italian DNA, the capacity to overcome,” he said. “I feel this spirit, and this is the reason I am in OSDIA. OSDIA is an organization with a soul. Italian soul.”

The members of Capitolo di Roma Lodge #3002.

Capitolo di Roma’s charter is the first for a lodge outside of the U.S. and Canada.

When Impulse Pays Off in Paesani

BY CHARLES SACCHETTI

In the fall of 2012, I saw the PBS promo for Paesani: Italian Culture in Northeast Pennsylvania, which would air the next evening. Being a grandson of Italian immi grants, I was naturally drawn to the title. The program documented how a group of Italians settled in the area around Scranton, Pennsylvania, and showed their hard ships as they traveled on crowded boats in hope of a better life. The program included interviews with older people who immigrated as children or whose parents did so. They related personal stories in a way that made you feel as if you were among them. With one such interviewee, that’s exactly what would happen.

Eighty-five-year-old Al Pisa was interviewed from his home in the “Bunker Hill” section of Dunmore, Pennsyl vania. He reminded me of my father’s beloved deceased cousin, Frank. Like Frank, Al’s personality filled the room. His family stories were told in a way that grabbed your attention and made you smile. When he spoke, you could see and feel his love. His wife, Angie, and son, Carlo, also appeared in the show, with Carlo explaining how his neighbors came from the same mountain village, Guardia dei Lombardi in the Campania region. Their close relation ships simply relocated to Pennsylvania.

The next morning, my wife and I returned from Sunday mass. Still thinking of the Paesani documentary, I suddenly decided to call Al. I reasoned, how many 85-year-old Al Pisa’s can there be? After googling Al Pisa, Dunmore, PA, the first one listed was him. I called the number, and Angie answered. I explained I was an Italian guy from New Jersey who saw the PBS show and wanted to tell Al how much I enjoyed him. “Ok hold on,” Angie simply said.

After Al’s warm greeting, we had a wonderful conversa tion in which I shared just how much I admired his story. By the end of the conversation, he invited me to visit, and after I agreed, we said ciao. Moments later, my phone rang. The caller ID said Al Pisa.

“What’s up, Al?” I said.

“No, this isn’t Al. It’s his son, Carlo. I just wanted to thank you for calling and making my father’s day.” I told Carlo I’d be in touch in the spring so we could all meet for lunch.

In May, I called Carlo and was greeted with a moment of silence. Al had passed away just weeks before. After of fering my condolences, I said that I intended to honor my promise to Al, and we set a date to get together.

My friend, Bill Winarski, and I made the 2½ hour trip and had a lunch that was like spending time with your beloved family. Carlo told me about Al’s annual tradition of hosting a Bocce Tournament for his friends at his home. Carlo vowed to continue it and invited Bill and me to attend in October. We did and, boy, did we have a ball!

Under the large grapevine we enjoyed many appetiz ers—salami, prosciutto, various cheeses, hot and sweet peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, and crusty Italian bread. After hours of food, wine, laughs, hugs, and of course—bocce— we had a large dinner that ended with incredible pastries created by Dave “The Mailman” Evanko, who makes his living as a postman though his true passion is baking.

Now dubbed “The Jersey Boys,” Bill and I will be making our annual trip for the Al Pisa Memorial Bocce Tournament this fall. Carlo, his son Alfredo, Mailman Dave, and about 25 others have become cherished friends.

All because of one impulsive moment in which I picked up the phone to call Al. And God bless Al, who I know orchestrated every move.

Charles Sacchetti (Worthwhilewords21@gmail.com) is the author It’s All Good: Times and Events I’d Never Want to Change and Knowing He’s There: True Stories of God’s Subtle Yet Unmistakable Touch.

The Al Pisa Memorial Bocce Tournament is hosted every fall in Dunmore, PA.

I Gatti di Roma Roaming the Ruins of Rome

BY PETER J. OGNIBENE

In the 1920s, Benito Mussolini sought to demolish the Roman ruins in Largo Torre Argentina to make way for the stark architec ture that was then transforming the face of Italian cities. But everything came to a halt when workers unearthed the large marble head, right arm and feet of Fortuna Huiusce Diei, a Roman goddess whose name can be translated as “Fortune of this Day”—or more colloquially, “Lady Luck.” The statue was sculpted to commemorate the Roman victory at Vercellae in Cisalpine Gaul in 101 BC. Excavated more than 2,000 years later, it now resides at Centrale Montemartini, a branch of Rome’s Capitoline Museums dedicated primarily to statues, burial vaults, and mosaics.

(Kathleen Ognibene)

The large marble head, right arm, and feet of Fortuna Huiusce Diei, a Roman goddess whose name can be translated as “Fortune of this Day” or, more colloquially, “Lady Luck.” Excavated in 1929, it now resides at Centrale Montemartini, a branch of Rome’s Capitoline Museums dedicated primarily to statues, burial vaults and mosaics.

The statue’s discovery signified that this was no ordinary ground but a place once held sacred in Rome. Land clearing ceased, and archaeolo gists began research that would uncover, and ultimately identify, four temples—including Pompey’s Theater, the place where Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC.

I Gatti Move In

As the archaeologists finished their research and began moving out, feral cats began moving in. With upturned slabs of stone perfect for sunning and innumerable hiding places perfect for shelter against wind and rain, it proved prime feline real estate. Regrettably, it also became a dumping ground for cats and kittens abandoned by their owners.

Fortunately, some kind-hearted Romans, almost exclusively women, stepped in and began feeding the cats. Perhaps the most prominent gattara was actress Anna Magnani, who lived in Rome and often per formed at the Teatro Argentina, just across the street from the ruins.

(Kathleen Ognibene)

Largo Torre Argentina is just three blocks directly south of the Pantheon.

(The singular feminine noun, gattara, has its English-language counterpart in “cat lady.”)

The area lacked running water. So, the gattare not only brought in food, but also collected water in jugs from Roman street fountains. They cleaned up feces and debris and often took sick or injured cats to a veteri narian. They paid for everything out of their own pocketbooks.

There was a brief period in the early 20 th century when the City of Rome paid butch ers for cattle stomachs (tripe) and fed it to the cats that patrolled government offices

Silvia Viviani, Co-founder and Director of Torre Argentina Sanctuary. (Kathleen Ognibene)

to prevent mice from devouring documents. When the mayor decided to eliminate the expense, an underling explained to the pub lic: “Non c’è trippa per gatti.” (There’s no tripe for cats.)

That expression lives on and is today the Italian equivalent of “No way!” or “Not gonna happen!” A century later, the policy itself remains unchanged: no government funding for cats.

Le Gattare Get Organized

In 1993, Silvia Viviani, recently retired from her job of 30 years, took a leisurely stroll through the city and paused along the perimeter of Torre Argentina, as Romans of ten do, to watch the cats at play and (mostly)

at rest. She saw two gattare amid the cats and assumed they were part of an organized group that looked after the animals. When she met the women, she learned there was no organization. They were simply volunteers who saw a need and were trying to fill it.

That encounter introduced Silvia to Lia Dequel. The two soon began working together to feed and care for the cats—an experience that inevitably forced them to conclude that the hit-and-miss efforts of volunteers, however heartfelt and well-intentioned, would never be enough. That led in 1994 to their creating the Colonia Felina di Torre Argentina (Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary), a non-profit organization dedicated to meeting the daily needs of i gatti di Roma.

“Some cats are brought in by cat ladies because they have been hit by a car—the cats, not the ladies—or have been the victims of various accidents, or just need some days of rest after sterilization,” Silvia told me. “We offer a sort of hospitalization in our transit room, and those treatments that can be given with the prescription of a vet.

“Once recovered, they can go back to their colonies. If they are permanently injured or handicapped, or too old, or too sick, they are upgraded to the status of permanent boarders or residents, and, after recovery, tests, and vaccinations, transferred to the nursery. There may be healthy and young cats abandoned because of the death of their owners. Of course, they become permanent residents, too, and after the period in the transit room, spend their first two or three months in the nursery just to make [them] acquainted with their companions and with us. Then, in due time, they are released and left free to choose to remain in the common space or go and live [among the feral cats] in the great area.”

An Ongoing Mission

The sanctuary relies on donations from individuals, who see cats frolicking or sleeping amid the ancient ruins, spot the Welcome sign at street level, and go down the adjacent set of stairs to the gardinetto (little garden) tucked between the ancient walls. That’s how my wife, Kathleen, and I happened upon the sanctuary several years ago. We return every time we go to Rome.

(Kathleen Ognibene) (Kathleen Ognibene)

Silvia, her staff, and their many cats are based in a utilitarian space of about 1,100 square feet amid the pillars and steel beams that support the street above. It resembles nothing so much as an old underground garage. Cats are everywhere—in the make shift office and adjacent dormitory—and can freely wander into the gardinetto through a gattaiola, the delightful Italian word for a cat-sized door flap.

The total cat population numbers about 150. Some are feral cats that found their way into the ancient ruins and stay because the sanctuary provides food twice a day. The rest are domesticated cats that have been fostered by volunteers as kittens or older cats that have been placed in the shelter when their owners can no longer care for them.

The primary goal of the sanctuary is to protect the health and well-being of both groups by: • Testing for communicable diseases to prevent their spread, and • Spaying each female and neutering each male to prevent reproduction

Each new arrival is tested for feline leu kemia, feline immunodeficiency virus, and other diseases. The cat is then spayed or neutered and, once it has recuperated from the procedure, set free within the grounds.

(Kathleen Ognibene)

Grumpy (center) and his companions, Brutus (left) and Calibano (right).

Some feral cats occasionally choose to stay in the sanctuary, but most opt for the open archaeological area, returning to their separate feed ing spot twice a day.

Though local veterinarians give the sanctuary a discount, the cost per cat for the full battery of tests, inoculations, and sterilization runs about 76 Euros (roughly $84 US). Multiply that by the number of cats (6,912) that the sanctuary sterilized in 2019, and it provides a glimpse into the magnitude of the annual expenses the sanctuary must bear.

Romans know that this is the place to adopt a cat, and when they do, they reimburse the costs associated with their new pet. In 2019, the sanctuary received 101 new cats and arranged 82 adoptions. While feral cats cannot be adopted, most of the domesticated cats are eligible for adoption. Those that are not, typically animals with significant injuries or disease, become permanent residents. Italian law forbids euthanizing healthy shelter animals.

Though actual adoptions are limited to people who live in or near Rome, the sanctuary also encourages “adoption at a distance.” The typical donation is 15 Euros per month, which the donor can extend over several months or the entire year.

On our visit in 2018, Kathleen and I met Grumpy, whose gentle disposition belies his name. Kathleen “adopted” Grumpy on the spot and renewed his adoption for another year during our return in 2019.

It is, of course, a symbolic adoption, but the sanctuary keeps in touch by email and sends each “adoptive parent” a photo of the cat and an update on his or her activities every year.

I Gatti vs. Coronavirus

To fight the coronavirus that has been devastating Italy, the government prohibits public gatherings. As a result, Torre Argentina has been closed to visitors since March 9. Silvia and her colleagues are keeping the sanctuary in operation, but, she said, “Our activities are at the lowest level ever. Cats are fed, cared for and rooms and cages are sanitized… but no steriliza tions, no adoptions, no welcoming disabled cats. We are not doing what is in our DNA! And we don’t know when coming fully back to our work will be possible.

“We were fortunate that feeding stray ani mals was considered vital. So, five volunteers were allowed to go and feed the cats, mak ing shifts. Usually they are on the spot from 11am to 5pm. They can circulate thanks to a certificate they must always bring with them and produce on request. Usually the police man, reading that they are going to feed the Torre Argentina cats, smiles and lets them pass, without any further delay. This means being popular.

(Kathleen Ognibene)

“Sometimes we feel in despair. This awful virus is a damned traveler! And maybe very soon all the countries will be overwhelmed. How can our shelter survive?”

Because visitors can no longer drop into the shelter and make a contribution on the spot, the sanctuary is increasingly reliant on individuals worldwide who appreciate what it has been doing for more than a quarter of a century and continues to do under the heinous specter of COVID-19.

You can follow the work of Torre Argenti na via its website (https://www.gattidiroma. net). There is also a Facebook Group, Gatti di Roma – Roman Cats. On either site, you can make a donation by credit card or PayPal.

Peter Ognibene (pjognibene@gmail.com) has authored two books and hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles. This is his tenth feature article for Italian America magazine.