On March 6, Archbishop Carroll’s students and faculty watched the new “Cabrini” movie before its official theatrical release that Friday.
Carroll’s students were among more than 16,000 students from 107 Catholic schools in the five-county Philadelphia metropolitan region who were treated to the advanced screening through a grant from an archdiocesan fund.
“Cabrini” tells the story of St. Frances Cabrini, an Italian nun who came to the United States to start an orphanage in the Italian slums in New York City and went on to become the first American citizen to be canonized a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. “Cabrini” showcases Italian Americans’ economic and social status in the late 1800s in New York as well as women’s empowerment worldwide.
St. Cabrini fought for what was right despite being rejected countless times by society. Even those in the Church who were supposed to support her did not do so. In Rome, some in the Church hierarchy looked down on her because she was a woman. In the United States, St. Cabrini faced discrimination not only because she was a woman but also because she was an Italian immigrant. Many New Yorkers disliked Italian immigrants not only because they believed the Italians were taking so-called American jobs but also because they believed Italians were inferior to people of Northern European descent. During her career, St. Cabrini had many situations where people poured their hearts into having her fail rather than using that effort to help her in her mission.
In the first scene, a little boy was shown running around Manhattan streets with a cart that carried his sick mother. The boy cried out for help in Italian, but no one helped him, even in a hospital, and the boy’s mother died as a result. Paolo, the little boy, depicted what life was like for Italians during at the end of the 19th century.
Most things in the movie really happened. A newspaper article shown in the movie, “Even Rats Have It Better,” is based on an article called “Missionaries to Our Italians – Nuns Sent From Rome to New York at Archbishop Corrigan’s Request,” published in 1889 by The Sun, a former New York newspaper.
An article published by History vs. Hollywood noted that three little boys pictured in the movie living in slums were historically accurate as the director purposely depicted them in a recreation of a photo taken in 1889 in the Five Points slum in New York City.
Senior Jocelyn Welsh mentioned how the movie made her feel.
“I just really think that movie put things into perspective for me,” said Welsh. “It was such a good movie that it almost hurt in a way.”
Senior Anthony Auteri remarked on how St. Cabrini’s work left a mark on the world for the better.
“She left a big impact on the world while she was literally dying,” said Auteri. “Is that not dedication?”
