Guide to the Church of Our Lady of Pompei, New York, New York Records
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Biographical/Historical note
Our Lady of Pompei, currently located at 25 Carmine Street in Greenwich Village, was founded as
a small chapel at 113 Waverly Place for the New York Branch of the Saint Raphael Society for the
Protection of Italian Immigrants by Father Pietro Bandini. The first mass was said on May 8, 1892 and
in 1895, Archbishop Michael Augustine Corrigan dedicated the first parish church at 214 Sullivan Street,
which was originally erected in 1810 for an African-American Baptist congregation and later home to the
Bethel Methodist Colored Church. In 1895, Bandini was replaced by Francesco Zaboglio. In 1896, a gas
explosion killed two men who worked at the parish and the Saint Raphael Society, injured the pastor, and
damaged the building. This event, and the rising Italian population in the area to almost 15,000, Our Lady
of Pompei transferred to a larger building at 210-224 Bleecker Street in 1899. The building was a Greek
Rival building which had been erected in 1836 for the third Universalist Church and had since 1883 been
occupied by the African-American Roman Catholic Congregation of Saint Benedict the Moor. After the
church was acquired Zaboglio, because of ill health, returned to Italy and was replaced by Dather Antonio
Demo, who remained at the church was thirty-five years.
By 1917, the congregation had grown to over 20,000. Pompei stayed at this address until 1927, when the
extension of Sixth Avenue forced another move. The trustees purchased a block of lots between Carmine,
Bleecker, and Leroy Streets, and erected a complete parish plant. The rectory and church opened in 1928,
the school in 1930, and the convent in the 1950s. The building was part of a historic district designation in
2010.
In 1933, Demo was called to Rome and during his absence, Reverend John Marchegiani acted as pastor
and later procurator. Demo died in 1936. In 1937-1938, Marchegiani was called to Rome and succeeded
by Ugo Cavicchi. During his tenure, Cavicchi achieved progress with the parochial school, proceeded
with the decoration of church, and introduced the St. Vincent de Paul Society to help the poor and
provided adult American citizenship classes for hundreds. In 1946, he was replaced with Joseph Bernardi,
who served until 1952. From 1952-1964, Father Mario Albanesi was pastorm who organized the Fathers
Club which gave scholarships to the parochial students and purchased houses on Carmine and Leroy
Streets for further expansion. From 1964-1967, Anthony Del Bacon was pastor then replaced by Guido
Caverzan (1967-1970), James Abbarno (1970-1975), Edward Marino (1975-1980), Charles Zanoni
(1980-1989), Tarcisius Bagatin (1989-1993), Ralph Bove (1993-?), and John Massari.
Scope and Contents note
This collection contains the records of the Church of Our Lady of Pompei, located at 25 Carmine Street.
The collection spans from the 1890s to the 1980s, the bulk of which come from 1892 to 1935. The
collection sheds light on the life of the parish and the activities of one of its pastors, Antonio Demo,