[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 142 (Thursday, September 22, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Page S5898]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ST. PETER'S CENTENNIAL

 Ms. COLLINS. Madam President, on October 16, 1911, the first 
Italian Catholic congregation in the city of Portland, ME, met under 
the guidance of Father Agnello Santagnello. Seventy-five families came 
together, and plans were laid to build a church for the small but 
growing community of new Americans.
  Before year's end, just in time for Christmas mass, an old stable was 
transformed into a chapel at a cost of just under $2,800 and much hard 
work. That modest chapel was named St. Peter's--the rock of the Church 
on the rocky coast of Maine.
  By the mid-1920s, the parish numbered nearly 1,000 families and the 
thriving Italian-American community needed a larger spiritual home. 
Father Teresio DiMingo, who took the reins of the congregation in 1927, 
went house-to-house throughout Portland's Little Italy neighborhood 
soliciting funds, and found generosity at every door.
  The new church was under construction in 1929 when disaster struck--
the stock market crash and the ensuing Great Depression. Father DiMingo 
returned the contributions to those in need. He matched that act of 
compassion with determination, and continued the construction with his 
own life savings.
  The Church of St. Peter was dedicated that August. That great 
celebration included the blessing of Father DiMingo's second great gift 
to his parish--a cross made from fragments of the True Cross.
  Since that day, worshipers have noticed a curious inscription above 
the doorway--the letters ``L & L.'' That was yet another gift from 
Father DiMingo. Those letters represent the Latin words for ``him'' and 
``her.'' St. Peter's was then, and is today, a church for families.
  Today, in this centennial year, the families of St. Peter's continue 
to build on that solid foundation. Their vibrant church remains a rock 
of faith.
  And it grows as a center of charity and caring. In the early 1950s, 
an Italian priest came to America seeking aid for children orphaned 
during the Second World War. The generous response from Portland led to 
the founding of the Italian Heritage Center, which continues to enrich 
the city with a culture of great food, music, and festivals.
  That a small fellowship of faith was born in a stable and grew into a 
something mighty and lasting is more than powerful symbolism. It is a 
testament to the spirit, the resolve, and the energy of Portland's 
Italian-American community. On the 100th anniversary of St. Peter's 
Roman Catholic Church, I offer the members of that parish the 
traditional Italian wish for a long life of health and happiness--
``Cent'anni!''

                          ____________________