[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 15]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 20261]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 TRIBUTE TO ST. LEO THE GREAT'S CHURCH

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENJAMIN L. CARDIN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 26, 2006

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay special tribute to St. 
Leo the Great's Church on its 125th anniversary of service to Baltimore 
City's Little Italy neighborhood.
  Located at Stiles and Exeter Streets, the heart of Baltimore's 
Italian-American community, St. Leo's served as the first worship and 
community center for Italian immigrants arriving in Baltimore. One of 
the many immigrant families to worship at St. Leo's was the D'Alesandro 
family, whose members would serve as mayors, members of Congress and as 
the first woman Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives.
  Over the years, St. Leo's provided spiritual renewal as well as 
community social activities and education. During the Great Baltimore 
Fire in 1904, the congregation at St. Leo's prayed for the fire to 
spare their homes and their church. Their prayers to St. Anthony were 
answered when, after raging for 31 hours and destroying most of 
downtown Baltimore, the fire stopped just short of Little Italy. Each 
year, the St. Anthony Society holds a festival to celebrate their good 
fortune and the power of faith.
  After World War II, as many Italian-American families of Little Italy 
moved to the suburbs, St. Leo's was forced to close its school and fell 
on hard times, as did many of the City's older neighborhoods. But the 
congregation at St. Leo's was loyal and inventive and today St. Leo's 
and the surrounding neighborhood have been rejuvenated.
  In Italy, the church was the locus of the village. St. Leo the 
Great's Church in Little Italy has enabled the Baltimore Italian-
American community to continue that tradition. Today, St. Leo's primary 
school has been transformed into the The Rev. Oreste Pandola Cultural 
Learning Center. Thanks to the efforts of congregant Rosalie Ranieri, 
the Center offers classes and clubs to neighbors and former residents 
now scattered across the region.
  I hope my colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives will join 
me in saluting the contributions of St. Leo the Great's Church to the 
Italian-American community of Baltimore as well as to our Nation. I 
also ask that they join me in sending best wishes for many more years 
of service to the community. Congratulazioni.

                          ____________________