Fr. Paolo Albera concluded his extraordinary visitation of the Americas (September 1900 to March 1903) by spending ten days with the Salesian community in New York, which had been founded barely four years earlier (November 1898). His visit crowned the difficult beginnings of the Salesian mission among the Italian immigrants of the great city and gave the mission an important impulse for expansion and growth. In fact, it may be said to have altered the course of Salesian development in the United States, marking a shift of emphasis from California to the Northeast. In his article, Fr. Mendl places Fr. Albera’s visit within the civil, ecclesiastical, and Salesian context, emphasizing immigration. He summarizes the visit briefly, then shows some of its effects. The limited archival documentation dealing with the visit is presented with annotations.
