Philip J. Pascucci – A brief account of the parish salesian ministry in Ybor City and West Tampa (Florida-Usa): 1926-1935

After providing a brief history of the American towns of Ybor and Tampa and of the local church communities at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries, making use of a great deal of documentation, especially letters, the author describes the pastoral experience of the Salesians in the three parishes assigned to them in 1926, in which there was a considerable number of Italian immigrants. Parish schools and Sunday schools, catechism classes and pastoral activities were launched and developed, but soon financial and personnel difficulties and the not-so-easy multi-cultural situation forced the Salesians to leave the parishes to the care of the Redemptorists (1934). The note is intended simply to provide useful material for further studies.

L’autore, dopo aver tracciato una breve storia delle cittadine americane di Ybor e Tampa e delle locali comunità ecclesiali alla fine del secolo XIX e all’inizio del secolo XX, attraverso una notevole documentazione, soprattutto epistolare, presenta rapidamente l’esperienza pastorale dei salesiani nelle tre parrocchie loro affidate dal 1926, in cui la presenza degli immigrati italiani era notevolissima. Scuole parrocchiali e domenicali, attività catechistiche e pastorali vennero avviate e sviluppate ma presto difficoltà economiche, di personale e la non facile situazione pluriculturale costrinsero i salesiani a lasciare (1934) le parrocchie ai Redentoristi. La nota intende unicamente offrire un utile materiale per i studiosi.

Indice:

1. Introduction
2. The situation
3. The Salesians at Tampa
4. The withdrowal
5. Epilogue

Reference time period: 1926 – 1935

Reference institution:
Istituto Storico Salesiano