Cabrini

Oh dear,

Off the sidewalk.

I beg your pardon?

Can you see that I’m speaking with someone?

I don’t understand you.

Go to a hospital that takes Italians!

Come on,

Filthy little Dago, let’s go! Out!

Policeman1: Where’s your father? Do you have any other family?

Policeman2: Johnny, don’t waste your time--

those monkeys don’t understand a thing.

Two days and she’s in the Potter’s Field.

New York.

And from now on, my sisters, we speak English.

We will be greeted at the port by a priest named Morelli.

He can no longer manage his orphanage in Five Points,

so we will gain possession of it,

and give the abandoned children the love they so badly need.

If we are to build an empire of hope,

my sisters,

it seems we must first conquer New York.

And so we begin.

We’ve waited long enough.

Excuse me, how much to Five Points?

Don’t go to Five Points at this hour.

Please, sir. We don’t know--

I’m sorry.

Open your eyes.

See everything.

This is who we’ve come to serve.

Hey!

Francesca Cabrini.

Welcome to America.

Man 1: Filthy dagos,

they just keep coming.

We ought’a ship ’em all back.

Who are you looking at, Guinea Pig?

Man 2: Come on. Let’s go.

If you’re saying that there is an Italian problem,

then yes, there is.

Quite a large one!

Now, I... It’s not safe--

not for you, not for your wards.

Now, I’m terribly sorry

that you sailed the Atlantic to hear it,

but that is my letter in brief.

Then I take it as a great sign,

I did not receive it.

Because I’m staying.

Ah.

Well, uh...

I made my decision,

so I’m afraid there’s no choice

but for you to get on a boat and go back home.

Now, my office

would be pleased to assist you

in arranging a steamer, if that might-

I was sent here by the Pope.

I would not want to disappoint him.

Hmm.

Of course, I am delighted that the Pope wishes you well.

But please know that I am empowered by Him

to make decisions for the Archdiocese

entirely as I see fit.

So if you are to remain in New York

it is only because I allow it.

Is this clear?

Well...

This should be just fine.

Look, Mother.

This one.

But this is nice too and it does cost less.

We’ll save on other things.

Our children deserve the best.

They will notice.

My lungs are very compromised.

I know.

How do you say it?

Post-tubercular symptoms...

We can speak English, Dr. Murphy.

I need the practice.

You’re fortunate I was here tonight.

I only volunteer on occasion.

Dr. Murphy: I take it you know your prognosis.

I’m afraid it’s not a cheerful one.

The doctors tell me five years.

In my experience... two,

perhaps three.

Five would be a miracle.

In that case,

I should get to work.

That’s if you rest, Mother.

If you have another episode like this...

it could very well spell the end.

She’s here.

Don’t worry about me.

There will be a time...

There will be a time when I am away.

That’s why you have to learn

to face your fears,

to not just carry on

but to lead.

And to demonstrate

you can do all things,

all things in Him who strengthens us.

Whether I am here or not.

This is a beautiful place to live in.

Now we need to fill it with children.

Enzo, Paolo...

Be careful, Mother, or this place will eat you alive.

And you’ve been in America for how long?

A few weeks.

Then, I suppose you can be excused

for not knowing that the City of New York

is not in the business of giving assistance

to people of...

...the Latin persuasion.

Of course, I wish you the best in all your-

Is this

the Mayor’s decision

or is it yours?

Pardon me?

I’d prefer to discuss this with the Mayor,

if you don’t mind.

The Archdiocese simply cannot allow you

to solicit funds from City Hall.

Because I’m Italian?

The Archdiocese has worked many years indeed,

to earn the support of the highest echelons of this City.

I will not put that at risk.

I need your help.

I need an orphanage with more room,

where my children can be children,

and I don’t have to worry

that a pimp will smack them in the face.

All right.

This is all I can do.

Once-a-year contribution.

That should help a little.

But allow me to make myself clear,

You

are not to solicit money from any American institution--

or any American individual for that matter.

I will not have you begging your way

through the Upper West Side.

You are to solicit from Italians only.

You ask me to

fund the needs of impoverished Italians...

entirely from impoverished Italians.

I am giving you an order, Mother.

The problem is, I have to write articles that people read.

Do people know

that in America, the greatest nation on earth,

rats have it better than the children of Five Points?

I sincerely doubt that.

Then you clearly...

haven’t been to Five Points.

Vittoria, if you would be so kind

as to get Mr. Calloway’s hat.

“Even Rats Have It Better.” By Theodore Calloway.

Over the last several months,

a group of dark-eyed nuns,

led by a frail woman named Cabrini,

have been taking the risk of entering

certain forbidding places

where not even police dare to enter.

To each child,

Cabrini makes a promise,

“Soon we shall have a bed for you.”

These kids are coming home with us tonight.

They learn in English,

so they can be American citizens,

great ones,

proud of the land where they now live.

...will always be protected by the government.

And they sing in Italian,

so they can be proud of the land they came from.

She imbues these castaways

with a dignity their parents never knew.

For she believes the wounds these children bear

can only be healed through love,

and through an education of the heart.

Take the case

of the little waif

whose body was found upon the street

by one of Cabrini’s orphans.

No one stepped forward as the girl’s family,

so Cabrini and her children claimed her as their own.

Dear Reader,

New York is built upon the dead.

Her mighty rails,

her tunnels...

her shining streets,

all are set upon a bedrock of immigrant bone.

Is this bone not ours as well?

Did we not all arrive as immigrants?

Do we not owe these children-- our children

a life better than a rat’s?

Dear Reader,

what kind of New York do we want?