Last Updated on August 7, 2025 by Editor
Father Geno is celebrated at a reception in his honor.
By FRAN PERRITANO
On Sunday, Dec. 20, 1896, parishioners of St. Mary of Mount Carmel Church — Santa Maria di Monte Carmela — celebrated Mass for the first time in a church building they could call their own.
That Mass was offered by the Rev. Antonio Castelli in the new church that, in reality, was the basement of the building. He was the first of the Scalabrini priests who served our parish for more than 90 years.
Mount Carmel’s second pastor, the Rev. Joseph Formia, started Mount Carmel School. Early in September 1904, the unfinished school building was surrounded with eagerly waiting children. The doors still unhung, windows gaping with empty frames, daunted neither children nor teachers. Three Sisters of St. Francis organized and conducted classes alongside the resounding blows of the workmen’s hammers.
The Sisters of St. Francis continued to teach the parish’s children for more than 80 years.
Our parish is blessed with a sacred history of dedicated priests and nuns who served generations of families. And memories of those years still are vivid decades later.
“I have only good things to say about the Scalabrini priests,” said Mary Teti. “They were so humble, prayerful, friendly, caring and so involved with parishioners and especially with the youth.”
Terry Reale remembers her formative years well.
“The Scalabrini priests were the heartbeat of our parish,” she said. “They were well-respected pastoral leaders, but sometimes they were also a little scary. Very authoritative in how they handled our spiritual leadership, they made it intimidating at times. It wasn’t easy to interact with them, especially for girls, who weren’t allowed to be altar servers back in the day.”
Scalabrini and Franciscans
Our parish is steeped in history involving the Scalabrini priests and Franciscan nuns.
The Congregation of the Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo, commonly called the Scalabrinian Missionaries, was founded by St. Giovanni Battista Scalabrini in Italy in 1887. Scalabrini laid the cornerstone of Mount Carmel Church and priests from the congregation served here for nine decades.
The Rev. John Marchegiani came to Mount Carmel as Father Formia’s successor. On June 21, 1921, Father Marchegiani was appointed pastor.
In June 1934, the Rev. William Pizzoglio, arrived at Mount Carmel to assume his pastorate. Under his guidance, the good works initiated by Father Marchegiani continued to flourish.
The Rev. Joseph Berton, an experienced assistant who had served under Father Pizzoglio for 10 years, pastored Mount Carmel from December 1950 to October 1964. Father Berton spent 26 years of his priesthood at Mount Carmel.
On Oct. 10, 1964, Father Berton was succeeded by another former assistant, the Rev. Peter Bortolazzo. Father Peter arrived at Mount Carmel during its transitional period. Within a few months, many of the homes that surrounded the church were razed by the City of Utica Urban Renewal Program. Many parishioners moved away from the area but remained faithful to their beloved parish.
The year 1973 found Mount Carmel under the pastorate of the Rev. John Corraro. Father John emphasized the development of the area surrounding the church. Before leaving Mount Carmel, Father Corraro recommended to the provincial as his successor a soft-spoken caring priest, the Rev. Carmelo Negro.
Father Negro assumed pastorship in May of 1979. On May 3, 1980, Father Negro presided at the first Mass celebrated by Mount Carmel’s native son, the Rev. Joseph Salerno.
Father Henry Benin succeeded Father Negro in the fall of 1983. Having previously served as assistant to Father Bartolozzo from 1967 to 1974, he was well remembered and loved for work with the youth of the parish.
The parish was again in a period of transition. Father Henry was faced with two major problems. First, the Sisters of St. Francis, who served Mount Carmel for 80 years, were withdrawing due to a lack of vocation and, secondly, the school was closing because of declining enrollment.
Father Henry was the last Scalabrini priest to serve Mount Carmel.
After Father Henry left, priests from the Syracuse diocese pastored Mount Carmel, first by Father Salerno, followed by the Rev. John Rose and now the Rev. Jim Cesta, who succeeded Father Rose in July 2009 and celebrated his 50th anniversary as a priest in 2024.
For more than 80 years, the Third Order of St. Francis sisters taught generations of children. They lived in the convent next to the church and even ran a nursery school in what now is a parking lot next to the gymnasium.
Many have fond memories of these women in black and white. Sometimes they were tough and oftentimes gentle, dedicated to the craft, Christ and instilled moral values in the lives of little girls and boys.
The memories
“More Good News” reached out to parishioners via email and Facebook. Here are excerpts from those who responded.
Mary Teti
Mary will be 88 in September and has been a parishioner for almost 55 years. She has fond memories of the priests who served the parish.
We came to Mount Carmel and quickly became a part of the Mount Carmel family thanks to the priests asking us to be involved in many ways. My husband and children were asked to join the newly formed Mount Carmel Folk Group, each playing musical instruments, guitars, flute and saxophone.
My husband and I were asked to chaperone a number of youth activities and then to become CYO advisers. The youth were very involved and active at that time with many activities. Father Gino Marzola was a spiritual adviser. The youths were his main focus. He loved working with them, and they loved him.
The Scalabrini were all special and influential in so many of our lives. They were part of our families. Our homes were always open to them. I cherish the many times we had the youth, choir, parents and priests to our home to celebrate Mass and friendship and dinners together.
Because of the inviting and welcoming atmosphere, the Scalabrini made all of us feel a sense of wanting to help.
It’s difficult to have a special priest because all were so special and caring. We spent so much time with Father Gino, so he is the one most special to my family. Of course, Father John, Father Francis and Father Henry are all at the top of the list, too.
Thanks to the Scalabrini fathers for so many wonderful memories. All of the Scalabrini priests helped make Mount Carmel what it is today — a loving, caring community. And I am forever thankful to be a part of it.
Annette Guido
Annette is a lifelong parishioner who graduated from Mount Carmel School in 1966.
Father Berton was scary, Father Moffo was friendly and jolly. Father Peter was also scary and very strict, Father Guido did not interact with us much. Father DiOrio was a painter. We as students did not know him. Father Mario was a joy. He used to come into our classroom to learn English in eighth grade.
Father Henry was a good priest. He interacted well with children and adults. Father Luddy (Ludwig) was close to our class through CYO and basketball. Those of us who went to Italy in the UCA class our junior year got to spend some time there with him. He was a favorite of many of our class members and continued to be in touch with some of us even after he left the priesthood.
CYO was a team-building environment and fostered much camaraderie as did our baseball team. Our class was close. We enjoyed parties, the basketball team, the school spirit, the novenas, even the many processions and May crownings.
Sister Canisha was so good with the nursery. I used to drop off my sister before I went to school. She was so kind, calm, always happy.
Sister Prisca was tough. She was invited to be part of staff when Father Joe was pastor. I served as Human Development chair as well. We went on an afternoon retreat day at the Franciscan Center in the Syracuse area one day and she was so proud to introduce some of us who had been her students to the sisters who were that day. Working alongside her was nice — much different from being in her classroom. That experience was very nice. I also remember her calling our house to ask my dad to drive her places.
My memories of Mount Carmel were pretty positive for the most part. I loved that we had a library, a successful basketball team, good school spirit, so many religious events, but we did need a more solid foundation for math and science.
Camille M. Morgan
Camille is 68 years old and said her great grandfather (Saverio “Sam” Grandinetta) help build the church. Her family were long-time parishioners.
When Father Peter was a newly ordained priest, he would visit my grandmother (Elizabeth Battista) daily, as she was sick with bone cancer. He was a great comfort to her. She passed away in 1944 and Father Peter said her funeral Mass. Father Peter also married my parents in 1949. I believe he may have been stationed at a parish in Buffalo at the time, and they spent part of their honeymoon in his rectory there. I know he went to Niagara Falls with them. He performed the funeral Mass of my sister in February1953 and my father in May 1971.
My sister Elizabeth Morgan and John LaBella had their First Communion picture taken with Father Berton and it was published in the O-D at that time.
My sister Elizabeth attended and graduated from Mount Carmel in 1964. My brother and I attended from kindergarten to fourth grade and second grade, respectively. I remember the navy-blue jumpers with the gold Mount Carmel patch. Then we moved to Whitesboro but kept attending Mass at Mount Carmel and received our sacraments there. I still have my Our Lady of Mount Carmel statue I received for First Communion.
Sister Mary Bede was a very good friend of my family and spent many Sunday dinners with us. She had a nun doll that had the exact same habit as her made for my sister Elizabeth (complete with the black stockings and the white robe around the waist) because my sister was considering a vocation.
Unfortunately, my brother (William Morgan III) had a bad experience with Sister Joachim — she picked him up by his earlobes!
Terry (Grassi) Reale
Terry is 76 and has been a parishioner all those years. She graduated from Mount Carmel School in 1962.
My favorite Scalabrini priest would have to be Father Peter Paul Polo. He was the first one I could actually feel like I could interact with. Of course, I was a young adult by then. Also, he married John and I, so he was really special to us.
The nuns were wonderful! They all had their special ways and all left special memories in my heart. By the time I was in sixth grade, I wanted to spend as much time around them as I could. Since we lived on Catherine Street, I was not far from the convent. We had established that I would love to spend time there helping out wherever I could, and they’d have me do little things like dust and “do the Hoovering” for them. It also helped that my teacher, Sister Barbara, resembled Ingrid Bergman in “The Bells of St. Mary’s,” at least in my eyes anyway, so at that point I was seriously considering being a nun.
Sister Florentine, my eighth-grade teacher, was also very memorable. She took a keen interest in me and really motivated me to get good grades. Sister Augustine, my seventh-grade teacher, on the other hand, was memorable because of her short fuse with the wise-guy boys in my class. She ended up cracking her pointer over one of their heads at one point and the poor thing felt awful about it.
Angela Barresi Ferdula
Angela is 76 and has been a parishioner all her life. She graduated from Mount Carmel School in 1963.
I remember Father Berton’s gruffly voice but sweet demeanor. I remember Father Guido and his reddish hair and bouncing a little on the pulpit when he spoke. Interesting how one of our parish priests ended up in the “The Godfather” movie. (That was Father Joseph Moffo).
I enjoyed Mount Carmel School for the most part Sister Barbara and Sister Florentine were both down to Earth and genuine. Sister Florentine was easy to talk to.