New Directions: Investing in Southern Italy in New York

On June 10, members of the Comitati Due Sicilie attended the inaugural Investing in Southern Italy: Tourism, Special Economic Zone and Investments for Promoting the Economy of Southern Italy, presented by Fondazione Magna Grecia, ENIT SpA, and the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura on Park Avenue.

Following opening remarks by Consul General Giuseppe Pastorelli, Director Claudio Pagliara, Federico Tozzi of the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce, and Nino Foti of Fondazione Magna Grecia, attendees were treated to a series of presentations and panel discussions aimed at a diverse audience of investors, bankers, attorneys, academics, hospitality professionals, entrepreneurs, and technology innovators from both Italy and the United States.

Massimo Dell’Utri, Undersecretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, spoke proudly of his native Sicily and highlighted the establishment of more than 1,000 new businesses and approximately 20,000 new jobs across Southern Italy. He outlined a vision of the Mezzogiorno not merely as a destination for tourism or a market for outside investment, but as a dynamic economic center driven by local entrepreneurs competing successfully at both the national and international levels.

Luigi Sbarra, Undersecretary at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers with responsibility for Southern Italy, discussed increased coordination between the Italian government and the European Union, including more than €40 billion in funding initiatives directed toward the South. He also emphasized efforts to encourage domestic and foreign investment through favorable financing programs and coordinated lending initiatives.

Antonio Nicaso, a native of Calabria and professor at Queen’s University in Canada, reflected on Southern Italy’s historical legacy, from Magna Graecia through the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, while addressing contemporary issues of legality, governance, and risk management. Nicaso noted that multinational corporations have increasingly chosen regions such as Calabria and Campania for investment and expansion over the past two decades.

Alessandro Scortecci, Chief Investment Officer for Direct Investments at CDP Venture Capital Group, highlighted the rapid growth of technology and artificial intelligence sectors in Southern Italy, as well as the increasing international reach of Southern Italian firms, many of which have successfully expanded into the American market.

During the luncheon that followed, participants exchanged ideas, renewed professional relationships, and toured the institute’s exhibition dedicated to the great Neapolitan tenor Enrico Caruso under the guidance of Director Pagliara.

The conference presented a vision of a South that is increasingly retaining its talent, attracting investment, and generating new opportunities. Across the Mezzogiorno, exports continue to grow, while a new generation of entrepreneurs is choosing to establish and expand businesses in their native regions rather than seeking opportunities elsewhere. One technology entrepreneur cited during the discussions has even succeeded in attracting workers from Northern Italy by offering competitive wages and a higher quality of life in his hometown.

As many of the speakers observed, the strongest evidence of Southern Italy’s transformation lies in the growing number of international investors, business partners, and innovators who now view the region not as a peripheral economy, but as a place of opportunity and long-term growth.

~ Cav. Charles Sant’Elia

New Book — Greek-Romance Language Contact in Southern Italy: Documentation and Theory

A forthcoming title that may be of interest to our readers. Available at Amazon.com

• Greek-Romance Language Contact in Southern Italy: Documentation and Theory by Adam Noel Ledgeway, Norma Schifano, and Giuseppina Silvestri

Publisher: Oxford University Press
Pub. Date: December 15, 2026
Hardback: $195.00
Language: English
Pages: 560

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Photo of the Week: Triton Carrying off a Nereid, Vatican Museums

Photo by New York Scugnizzo

Novena to Sant’Agrippina di Mineo

Sant'Agrippina, ora pro nobis

Pray the Novena to Sant’Agrippina di Mineo for nine consecutive days, from June 14th to June 22nd, in preparation for the Feast Day on June 23rd. Evviva Sant’Agrippina di Mineo!

Novena Prayer

Glorious Sant’Agrippina di Mineo, beloved Patroness, you served God in humility and confidence on earth. Now you enjoy His Beatific Vision in heaven. You persevered unto death and gained the crown of eternal life. Remember now the dangers, confusion, and anguish that surround me, and intercede for me in my needs and troubles, especially...

[Mention your intention(s) here...]

Amen.

Sant’Agrippina di Mineo, pray for us.

Say 1 Our Father...
Say 1 Hail Mary...
Say 1 Glory Be...

Sant’Agrippina, pray for us. (3x)

The Question of Hispanidad: History, Culture, and Politics, by Miguel Ayuso

www.aroucapress.com

Novena to San Paolino di Nola

San Paolino di Nola, ora pro nobis

Pray the Novena to San Paolino di Nola for nine consecutive days, from June 13th to June 21st, in preparation for the Feast Day on June 22nd. Evviva San Paolino di Nola!

Novena Prayer

O God, who made the Bishop Saint Paulinus of Nola outstanding in love of poverty and pastoral care, graciously grant that, as we celebrate his merits, we may imitate the example of his charity. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen.

Almighty ever-living God, who chose blessed Paulinus to preside as Bishop over your holy people, we pray that, through his merits, you may bestow upon us the grace of your loving kindness. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen.

[Mention your intention(s) here...]

Say 1 Our Father...
Say 1 Hail Mary...
Say 1 Glory Be...

Saint Paulinus of Nola, pray for us. (3x)

Fourth Sunday After Pentecost at St. Michael's Church in Staten Island, New York

The Sculpture I Cannot Forget: Amleto Cataldi’s Galatea Fontana

Galatea Fontana, ca. 1925
 Galleria d'Arte Moderna, Rome

Ever since my high school art teacher introduced me to the work of Otto Dix (1891-1969), I have been fascinated by the German artist’s unflinching depictions of war and modernity. So when the Guggenheim Museum mounted Chaos and Classicism: Art in France, Italy, and Germany, 1918–1936 in 2010, I made it a point to visit, eager to see selections from his haunting portfolio Der Krieg (The War) in person.

Yet the work that has stayed with me was not one of Dix’s prints, but rather a serene bronze figure by the Neapolitan sculptor Amleto Cataldi (1882-1930).

Galatea Fontana depicts the sea nymph Galatea standing quietly with a fish in her hand. There is no drama, no grand gesture, no obvious narrative. Instead, the figure radiates a sense of calm. The gentle turn of the head, the balanced pose, and the smooth bronze surface create an impression of harmony and repose.

Displayed in proximity to Dix’s brutal images of war, the sculpture seemed to embody an entirely different vision of humanity. Where Der Krieg confronted destruction, Galatea Fontana suggested beauty, order, and permanence.

Photography was prohibited, and to my disappointment, the statue was omitted from the exhibition catalogue I purchased after the show. For years, my memory of the sculpture was all I had—a fact that perhaps explains why it left such a lasting impression.

I have seen countless works of art since that visit, but few remain as vivid in my memory. I can still picture the sculpture clearly. I cannot fully explain why. Perhaps some works simply do.

Galatea Fontana remains one of them.

~ By Giovanni di Napoli, June 11th, Feast of San Barnaba

Premio Terra Labors 2026 11^ Edizione

www.altaterradilavoro.com

The Ghost in the Song

La Diabolique, pen and ink on paper

This is why events unnerve me / They find it all, a different story.
~ New Order, Ceremony

The other night, a song came on and caught me completely off guard. Almost immediately, it brought back memories of my ex—someone I hadn’t thought about in years. The memory wasn’t of a particularly special night; it wasn’t an anniversary or anything. We were just slow dancing in a dark, smoky dive bar, locked in each other’s arms and staring into each other’s eyes while the rest of the room disappeared around us.

I remember how intensely attracted I was to her in that moment—the heat, the passion, the feeling of being completely consumed by someone. Hearing the song again brought all of it rushing back with startling clarity.

Despite actively trying to live more stoically and remain detached, I find myself becoming more sentimental against my own will.

Lately, even while trying to focus on my soul and my salvation, these deeply personal memories still find their way back to the surface.

Maybe becoming older doesn’t harden you. Maybe it just leaves you with more ghosts.

~ By Giovanni di Napoli, June 10th, Feast of Santa Margherita di Scozia

Feast of Our Lady of Montagnaga at the Shrine Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament in Raritan, New Jersey

Polyphemus and Galatea at Boscotrecase

Polyphemus and Galatea in a Landscape,
Roman wall painting from the villa at
Boscotrecase, late 1st century B.C.

Among the most haunting survivals of Roman painting is Polyphemus and Galatea in a Landscape, discovered in the Imperial Villa at Boscotrecase near the Bay of Naples. Painted in the final years of the 1st century B.C. for the villa of Agrippa Postumus, grandson of Emperor Augustus, the fresco belongs to the celebrated Mythological Room and now resides in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The fresco depicts the myth of Polyphemus and Galatea. In later Greek and Roman tradition, the Cyclops Polyphemus—best known from Homer’s Odyssey and the volcanic landscape of Sicily—falls in love with the sea-nymph Galatea. She, however, loves the shepherd Acis instead. Consumed by jealousy, Polyphemus kills Acis by crushing him beneath a great stone. Rather than dying, Galatea transforms Acis into a river deity. Yet Roman artists often softened the brutality of the tale, presenting Polyphemus less as a man-eating monster than as a lonely and melancholy figure.

Polyphemus and Galatea
in quiet contemplation

Here, the painter favors atmosphere over violence. Polyphemus sits upon the rocks in quiet contemplation while Galatea appears upon the nearby water, evoking the later Sicilian legend of the Fiume di Aci, the River of Acis. Around them rise delicate columns, statues, trees, and fragments of architecture suspended within an almost dreamlike landscape.

The painting reflects the refined illusionism of Roman wall decoration during the Augustan age. Nature, mythology, and architecture merge into a vision less concerned with dramatic action than with mood and poetic stillness. The watery silence of the composition, softened by distance and faded color, gives the scene the quality of a distant memory.

~ By Giovanni di Napoli, June 9th, Feast of Saints Primus and Felician

Feast of St. Dymphna at St. John Vianney Church in Colonia, New Jersey

Why Italians Pin Money to the Statues of Saints

Large crowds gather around San Gerardo Maiella
at St. Lucy's Church in Newark, New Jersey

During many traditional Italian feast days, especially in Southern Italy and old Italian-American neighborhoods, it is common to see dollar bills pinned to ribbons, garments, or platforms surrounding the statue of a saint carried in procession through the streets.

To outsiders, the custom may appear unusual, but its meaning is deeply devotional and communal.

The practice is rooted in the old Catholic tradition of the ex voto—an offering made in gratitude for prayers believed to have been answered. A family might pin money or jewelry to the statue after recovering from illness, surviving hardship, returning safely from war, finding work, or receiving another blessing through the intercession of a patron saint.

Examples can still be seen at the Feasts of San Rocco di Potenza in
Little Italy, New York, San Gerardo Maiella in Newark, New
Jersey, and Santa Agrippina in Boston's North End

The offering is also an act of love and respect. In many Italian communities, the patron saint is regarded not as a distant symbol, but as a heavenly protector bound to the life and memory of the people themselves. During the feast, the saint is welcomed almost like a returning sovereign or beloved member of the community.

These gifts help support the church, the procession, musicians, fireworks, charitable works, and the continuation of the feast for future generations. In older villages and immigrant neighborhoods alike, these celebrations were often sustained almost entirely through such offerings.

The custom also echoes older Mediterranean traditions in which worshippers expressed gratitude through visible votive offerings left at shrines and sacred sites. Far from superstition or spectacle, the practice reflects memory, continuity, devotion, and the enduring bond between faith and community.

~ By Giovanni di Napoli, June 8th, Feast of Our Lady of Sunday (Notre-Dame du Dimanche)

Photo of the Week: Statue of Pomona in the Cortile della Pigna, Vatican Museums

Photo by New York Scugnizzo

Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

This Friday, June 12th, is the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The following churches will offer the Traditional Mass.

Solemn Corpus Christi Procession Following the Traditional Latin Mass in Brooklyn

Venite, adoremus Dominum.

Following Sunday’s Traditional Latin Mass on the External Solemnity of Corpus Christi at Our Lady of Peace Church in Gowanus, Brooklyn, nearly fifty faithful took part in the annual Corpus Christi procession. Making its way around the church and pausing at the station altars, the faithful knelt in adoration as the priest, bearing the Eucharist in the monstrance, imparted Benediction.

Flower girls scattered rose petals along the route, preparing the way for the Blessed Sacrament. Acolytes carried the Crucifix and candles while swinging censers of incense, and the traditional ombrellino shaded the Sacred Host. Throughout, the choir chanted hymns, lifting hearts and minds to Heaven during this beautiful and enduring Catholic tradition.

Simple Pleasures: Napoleon and Memory

Mille-feuille—French for “a thousand leaves”—is the classic
layered pastry more commonly known as a Napoleon

Growing up, my maternal grandparents always served a Napoleon (mille-feuille) for dessert. In recent years, the pastry seems to have fallen out of favor, which made it all the more surprising to see one served after dinner the other night. I loved it as a child, so the sight of it felt like a welcome return from another era.

The dessert also brought back a childhood memory. When I was very young, the neighborhood kids and I used to tease each other constantly, and because of the similarity to my last name, they would jokingly call me “Napoleon.” Looking back, I doubt it had anything to do with the “Little Corporal.” Still, perhaps the association helped shape my later dislike for the Corsican upstart and his imperial ambitions—well before my traditionalist and legitimist inclinations had fully taken form.

~ By Giovanni Di Napoli, June 7th, Feast of Sant'Antonio Maria Gianelli

Remembering Louis-Charles, Dauphin of France, Titular King Louis XVII of France

Domine salvum fac Regem et exaudi nos in die qua invocaverimus te.1

In memory of Louis-Charles (27 March 1785 – 8 June 1795), Dauphin of France, Titular King Louis XVII of France, we pray for the happy repose of his soul. Vive le roi!

Eternal rest grant unto His Majesty, O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen

Note:

(1) Lord, save the King, and hear us when we call upon thee.

Le origini del Cristianesimo a Pozzuoli

The Feast of St. Peter of Córdoba and Companions

Silver ark housing the relics of the Holy Martyrs of Córdoba in the Church of San Pedro de Córdoba. Photo by Lancastermerrin88 via Wikimedia Commons

June 7th is the Feast of St. Peter of Córdoba (San Pedro de Écija) and Companions (Valabonso, Sabiniano, Vistremondo, Abenzio, and Jeremiah), a group of Christian martyrs who died under Muslim rule in Al-Andalus during the ninth century. St. Peter, a priest known for his steadfast faith and learning, was arrested during the persecutions of Emir Abderrahman II that afflicted the Mozarabic Christians of Islamic Spain. Refusing to renounce Christ or remain silent in the face of persecution, he was condemned to death alongside several companions, including monks, priests, and laymen who likewise chose fidelity over safety.

Their martyrdom formed part of the broader persecution remembered as the Martyrs of Córdoba, whose sacrifices revealed the endurance of Christianity in a land undergoing profound religious and civilizational transformation. Remembered for their courage, constancy, and refusal to abandon the Faith of their fathers, St. Peter of Córdoba and his companions remain enduring symbols of perseverance amid persecution and cultural upheaval.

Evviva Santi Pietro, Valabonso, Sabiniano, Vistremondo, Abenzio e Geremia, Martiri di Córdoba.

In celebration of the feast, we offer this prayer:

Prayer to St. Peter of Córdoba and Companions

Lord, hear the prayers of the martyrs Pietro, Valabonso, Sabiniano, Vistremondo, Abenzio, and Geremia, and grant us the courage to bear witness to the Faith.

Grant this through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen.

Simple Pleasures: Pulcinella Before Vesuvius

It was a pleasure to see my friend’s latest acquisition: a charming painting of Pulcinella before the Bay of Naples, dating to approximately 1930–1940.

A potbellied Pulcinella stands before the Bay of Naples, with smoking Vesuvius in the distance and the waters of the gulf stretching behind him. Dressed in his traditional white costume and black mask, he raises a finger as though about to deliver one of the paradoxical truths for which the character is famous. Framed by theatrical curtains, the scene presents Naples itself as a stage upon which Pulcinella—the enduring spirit of the city—plays his eternal role.

Candlelight Holy Hour at St. John Vianney Church in Colonia, New Jersey

Salvator Rosa and the Fall of the Giants

“He is raised aloft that he may be hurled down in more headlong ruin.” ~ Claudian, In Rufinum*

Some works of art seem less like images than warnings. Salvator Rosa’s The Fall of the Giants (1663) belongs to that category. The great Southern Italian painter, poet, satirist, and engraver—born beneath the shadow of Vesuvius—was drawn throughout his life to scenes of upheaval, wilderness, violence, and metaphysical ruin. Few artists captured the sensation of a civilization descending into chaos so powerfully.

Here, Rosa turns to the ancient theme of the Gigantomachy: the war between the Giants and the gods of Olympus. The scene is not orderly combat, but catastrophe itself. Bodies tumble down mountainsides. Stone, flesh, cloud, and smoke collapse into one another. The heavens appear torn open as divine punishment descends from above.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art connects the work to the ancient understanding of cyclical decline found in Greco-Roman tradition:

“According to classical mythology, after the Golden Age came the Silver Age and then declined through the Bronze Age to the wicked Age of Iron. At the end of the Iron Age, brother fought against brother… Giants attacked the very throne of Heaven, piled Pelion on Ossa, mountain on mountain, up to the very stars. Jove struck them down with thunderbolts.”

That passage from Ovid’s Metamorphoses feels strangely contemporary. The Giants are not merely monsters of pagan legend. They represent revolt against order itself: the attempt to storm Heaven, overturn hierarchy, and dissolve the boundary between the human and the divine. Their punishment is not arbitrary cruelty but the inevitable consequence of unleashed disorder.

Rosa understood this deeply. His own life unfolded amid rebellion, satire, and civil unrest, lending his visions of collapse an unmistakably lived intensity. Unlike the polished court painters of his age, he cultivated something harsher and more untamed. Formed amid the dramatic landscapes, popular traditions, and political turbulence of seventeenth-century Naples, his work possesses an intensity that feels almost prophetic. Even his landscapes seem filled with foreboding, as though nature itself remembers fallen civilizations.

What makes The Fall of the Giants so compelling is that Rosa does not present rebellion as triumphant or heroic in the modern sense. The Giants possess immense force, yet that very force becomes self-destruction. The more violently they ascend, the more violently they are cast down.

In this sense, the etching stands as more than a mythological scene. It is a meditation on the end of ages: on hubris, revolt, fratricide, and the collapse that follows when men attempt to place themselves above the order that gave them life.

And perhaps that is why the image still speaks so forcefully today.

~ By Giovanni di Napoli, June 5th, Feast of St. Boniface

* The Metropolitan Museum of Art notes that Rosa appended to the print an inscription from Claudian’s In Rufinum. Claudian—often called the last poet of classical Rome—used the downfall of the giants to condemn the corrupt imperial minister Flavius Rufinus, whose tyranny came to symbolize the exhaustion and decay of the Roman world itself.

The External Feast of Corpus Christi at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Jersey City, New Jersey