Cardinal Timothy Dolan greeted 2,000 worshippers and guests at the annual Columbus Day Mass, ahead of the Columbus Day Parade up Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.

Cardinal Dolan welcomed the attendees to the October 14 St. Patrick’s Cathedral Mass in Italian. “In this church, we are all at home. this is the cathedral of the city in which immigrants arrived from Italy, your parents and your grandparents. Why? They knew the church is their home and their mother. Welcome to all.” He then switched to English to welcome the bishops in attendance – Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, permanent representative of the Holy See to the United Nations; Archdiocese of New York Auxiliary Bishops Edmund J. Whalen, vicar for clergy; John S. Bonnici; Gerardo J. Colacicco; and Joseph S. Espaillat; and Diocese of Brooklyn Bishop Emeritus Nicholas DiMarzio.

The cardinal also welcomed Consul General of Italy in New York, Fabrizio Di Michele; a Vice President of the Senate of Italy Licia Ronzulli; and the Vice President of the Camera dei Deputati Giorgio Mulè; and Michael Strianese, grand marshal of the Columbus Day Parade.

Archbishop Caccia offered the homily of the bilingual Mass, in English. He pointed out that Columbus Day is not observed in Italy, despite being a holiday in the United States. “Why is there a feast for Italians in the United States that is not a feast in Italy?” He also mentioned that feasts in Italy usually relate to saints, and that Columbus is not a saint.

It wasn’t until 1892 when the first Columbus Day was declared. “So many Italians and Italian-Americans with an Italian background have contributed to this nation. For sure, America would not be as beautiful as it is if there was not the contribution of the Italian community,” Archbishop Caccia said, noting that discrimination and mistreatment of Italian immigrants was rife in the early decades of Italian immigration to the United States. “This is a story in which we can see that an attitude of distrust, of fear, of rejection, can be transformed, and instead can become a way of embracing, respecting, protecting, and inculcating the richness of another people and another culture. This is a beautiful story,” he said.

The archbishop also pointed to mentions of migrant stories in the Bible that remind us to treat new arrivals with compassion. “Jesus was a refugee. He was threatened during his life, with Joseph and Mary and found refuge in another country. Jesus said, ‘I was hungry, I was thirsty, I was without shelter, and you welcomed me.’ Any time we do something for those who are the weakest, we do it for Jesus Himself. It is beautiful, very beautiful, that we can celebrate the contributions and heritage of Italians here in the States because that makes the United States bigger. E Pluribus Unum is the motto of the United States. ‘Out of many, one,’” he said.

The Mass ended with the singing of, first, the national anthem of Italy, and then the national anthem of the United States.

Concelebrants of the Mass included Monsignor Joseph P. LaMorte, vicar general of the Archdiocese of New York, and Father Enrique Salvo, rector of St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

Following the Mass, Cardinal Dolan, along with Bishops Whalen, Bonnici, Colacicco, Espaillat, and Bishop Emeritus DiMarzio, along with Monsignor LaMorte and Father Salvo, gathered along with invited guests on the steps of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, to review the Columbus Day Parade and greet marchers. Among the many who stopped by were New York State Governor Kathy Hochul; Mayor of New York City Eric Adams; New York Police Department Commissioner Thomas G. Donlon; New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli; and Grand Marshal of the 2024 Columbus Day Parade Michael Strianese.