On Aug. 7, I was a guest at American International College in Springfield, Mass., and had an opportunity to a give talk about my book. The people I’m pictured here with are the reason we made the trip: it’s a group from Reggio Calabria, Italy, led by Germaine (top, far left) and including my Italian cousins Daniela and Alyssia (left, in front of Germaine). Germaine was my interpreter during my research in Calabria two years ago, and most of those pictured here were making their first visit to the United States for English training and Amercian sightseeing. The college made a gift of my book to the Italian visitors — a generous gesture.

In the back row, next to Germaine, is Giuseppe Polimeni, a native of the Reggio, an international consultant to the school and my host. He and his colleagues at AIC did a wonderful job setting up the event, which was attended by people from the school and the community. They have promised to invite me back and I promised to return. Lots of proud Italians and Italian-Americans in Springfield.

Here is what AIC had to say about the visit.

Last Saturday, the op-ed page of The Los Angeles Times carried an column I wrote regarding the old pope, the new pope, my favorite saint and the saint-making process. This weekend, that same column was picked up by the Miami Herald, the Houston Chronicle and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Post-Gazette went the extra step of publishing a photo of Saint Gaetano Catanoso with the piece (thanks to op-ed page editor John Allison).

An excerpt: “A Catanoso saint? What kind of joke was this? Intrigued, I decided to look into this strange family phenomenon. I met with Vatican priests and interviewed relatives in the South of Italy for whom this distant cousin remains a powerful spiritual touchstone. In the process of learning about my relative, I learned plenty about why John Paul was so intent on making saints.”

A Houston reader wrote: “Pope John Paul II might have been a bit profligate in overseeing the canonization of so many saints, but I agree with Catanoso that his heart was in the right place. We Catholics here in America appreciate the Church elevating a few of our own, like the inspiring philanthropist Mother Katherine Drexel, to sainthood.”

This is truly something you do not see every day, or hardly at all — a glowing story about travel in Italy not focused on Rome or Tuscany or Venice, but CALABRIA. Amazing. But that’s what today’s story in The Independent of London offers, without any equivocations or apologies. An excerpt:

“While Tuscany can point to its Renaissance treasures, the Calabrians patiently explain the widespread evidence in their province of great and ancient civilisation. The Bronzi di Riace – full-size bronzes of Greek warriors found in the sea and on display in Reggio di Calabria, the regional capital – and the archaeological jewels of Locri Epizefiri, a walled Greco-Roman town – are held up as proof of Calabria’s status as the cradle of Italian civilisation. It is no coincidence that Calabria’s first indigenous tribe was called the Itali.

“Above all, Calabria, with its turquoise waters, hidden coves and ancient villages, is a place that rewards curiosity. Although their compatriots have long since discovered the region’s charms, it remains largely undiscovered by foreigners. The region, one of Italy’s poorest, is taking a new-found pride in the myriad treasures that have survived down the ages, cut off from the coach-party hordes by miles of twisting country roads.”

Read the whole story. The inset photo shows the coastline of Reggio along the Strait of Messina with Mount Etna looming beyond on the east coast of Sicily. Bella vista.

Relics are an important part of the Catholic faith, and an important part of the prayer life of true believers. In this video, shot in Calabria and North Carolina by my friend and filmmaker Michael Frierson, I talk about the relics relating to Padre Gaetano Catanoso. Several sacred relics from the saint were given to me as gifts from my Italian relatives — including one believed to have been involved in a healing miracle in Reggio Calabria

Clothing designer Gianni Versace, one of the most famous natives of Reggio Calabria, was killed 11 years ago yesterday. Details.

This tiny village, tucked into a bend of the river Tuccio in the lower Aspromonte of Calabria, is called Chorio. It is the birthplace of Padre Gaetano Catanoso (1879) and my grandfather, Carmelo Catanoso (1887). Its history dates back to the fifth century. But the history that captivated me the most was the last few hundred years, when the Catanoso family settled in this place (which I write about in Chapter 1) While it was a poor, isolated and difficult place a century ago, it is alive and lovely today. Whenever I visit, most recently in March, I am welcomed like a native.

On June 30, 2006, a cousin, Barbara Catanoso, took me to visit the historic fishing village of Scilla, located about 30 minutes up the coast from Reggio Calabria. Padre Gaetano sent his nuns to Scilla a half century ago to open a home for the elderly, which they still operate. Today, the village is among the top tourist destinations south of the Amalfi Coast.

With the possible exception of St. Francis of Assisi, Padre Pio likely ranks as Italy’s most popular saint. He’s surely popular in America, too, as this blog post details. He’s even popular in Reggio Calabria, home of my cousin the saint, Padre Gaetano Catanoso.

There is a lot of lure and legend and mysticism connected with this southern Italian priest (1887-1968), who famously bore the stigmata much of his adult life. Some of his powers, quite frankly, are beyond belief. The Vatican was highly skeptical of him in the 1920s, when his fame first rose (as I discuss in my book). But Pope John Paul II believed in Pio intrinsically, and revered him in life and death.

According to a web site about him: “As Padre Pio’s fame grew, his ministry began to take the center-stage at the friary. Many pilgrims flocked to see him [including Padre Gaetano in 1922, as I write in my book] and he spent around nineteen hours each day saying Mass, hearing confessions and corresponding, often sleeping not even two hours per day. His fame had the negative side effect that accusations against him made their way to the Holy Office in Rome (since 1983, known as the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, causing many restrictions to be placed on him. His accusers included high-ranking archbishops, bishops, theologians and physicians.”

A few weeks ago, I had the great privilege of speaking with Frank Morock, the host of Catholic Bookmarks, a program broadcast on satellite radio and Relevant radio stations in the Midwest. Our 15-minute conversation about my book was just archived at the web site of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Frank, whose grandparents are also from Calabria, had wonderful questions for me. It’s program No. 826 and you can easily listen to an MP3 recording. The link is here. I hope you enjoy it.

On this day two summers ago, I met my great Aunt Maria Portzia Catanoso, in a manner of speaking. She was my grandfather’s sister, the only member of his family to not emigrate to the United States in the early 1900s. She stayed behind in the village where she and her two brothers were born, Chorio. That remote mountain village is also the birthplace of their cousin, Gaetano Catanoso, who became a saint.

On June 18, 2006, I traveled up to the cemetery on a hot day with my cousin Daniela and my friend and translator Germaine. Daniela was leaving flowers on the above-ground grave of her mother, Pina, who had died the previous fall. I was stunned by what I saw. Catanosos on nearly every row of place, dating back years and years. Presumably all relatives in some form or fashion, but lives lost to me forever because of immigration divide. So much unknown history. My heart ached for this knowledge.

This cemetery, high on a hill in the Aspromonte, surrounded by fig trees and olive groves, is a fascinating and peaceful place. Land is too scarce and the soil too rocky to bury anyone. Instead, the departed are stacked in these vaults. I knew my great Aunt Maria was there somewhere, and I wandered the rows until at last I found her. I was years late, of course. She’s been gone for 50 years. But my Uncle Tony, in one of my favorite stories in my book, found his Aunt Maria in Chorio during World War II. It took remarkable luck to find her and meet her. But he doesn’t look at it that way. He calls it a miracle. The first miracle of a future saint.