Subject: St. Agnes Church recent Fund-Raiser "Tony Soprano's Retirement Party."
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It is startling to me, that a Church, as an advocate of high moral standards, would use as a "theme" for a Fund Raiser, a TV show that glorifies criminality, violence, misogyny, children's disrespect for their parents, etc,etc...

What, was "Touched by an Angel"....(A spiritual uplifting 8 year Top 10 show)... an "inappropriate" theme?

What other HBO show "themes" would the Church consider next, "Sex in the City", "OZ", or "Real Sex"????

At least, those shows don't denigrate an ethnicity/ancestry.

To me, St. Agnes' transgression is as revolting as an I-A group, holding a Fund Raiser "spoof", with a "Pietistic Pedophlia" theme.

Yes, St. Agnes, Ouch!!!! Now, do you feel our pain??

To the credit of The Sons of Italy Commission for Social Justice (CSJ/OSIA), they not only made contact, and are sending a letter, but WISELY, they are sending it NOT to merely the pastor of the Church, but to the Archbishop of Newark, the Most Rev. John K. Meyers !!!
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April 30, 2003

The Most Reverend John K. Meyers
Archbishop of Newark
Archdiocesan Center
PO BOX 9500
Newark, NJ 07104-0500

Most Reverend Meyers:

The Commission for Social Justice is the anti-defamation arm of the Order
Sons of Italy in America (OSIA), the oldest and largest national
organization for people of Italian heritage in the United States.  We have
745 chapters across the United States, with a particularly strong
representation in New Jersey.

We are greatly distressed to learn about the interactive dinner theater,
"The Sopranos: Tony Soprano's Retirement Party," chosen by Father James
Choma and the St. Agnes Rosary Society as a church fund-raiser for the
society.

It promises the audience the chance "…to party with the Sopranos, get
inducted into the Mob, join the Mob training class and finally choose the
next boss."  While we realize it purports to be a "a spoof" of the HBO
series, I can assure you that many Italian Americans find "The Sopranos" and
all allusions to it no laughing matter.

This is a program that perpetuates the stereotype of Italian Americans as
violent, uneducated people, living outside the law and bereft of any moral
compass.  It has spawned similar stereotypes found in other television
programs, a number of recent movies as well as ads and commercials, cook
books and even college courses in addition to questionable "spoofs" such as
the one St. Agnes is offering.

I realize that Father Choma received approval for such entertainment from
some Italian American members of St. Agnes, who are not as concerned as
perhaps they should be about the issue of stereotyping and its negative
impact especially on young Italian Americans.

We would like your assurances that St. Agnes will no longer use any form of
stereotyping of Italian Americans or any other group in order to raise
funding or to promote its activities to the public in any way.

You should know that the Sons of Italy has a strong track record of
charitable giving: $83 million to date.  I am sure our hundreds of thousands
of members and supporters would not want to support the St. Agnes Rosary
Society fund-raiser.  Our national magazine, Italian America, is the most
widely read cultural magazine for Italian Americans in the country.  It will
be reporting on this fundraiser in the summer issue.  I hope the article
will also include a firm commitment from the St. Agnes Rosary Society, that
no future fund-raisers will include stereotypical cultural bashing of
Italian Americans.

If Father Choma can give us such assurances, please have him contact our
editor, Dona De Sanctis in Washington D.C. in writing and she will be sure
to include it in her article.  She can be reached at the address on this
letterhead or at ddesanctis@osia.org.

Your kind attention to this extremely unpleasant issue is appreciated.
 

Yours truly,
Michael Paolucci
CSJ National President

cc:    Msgr. James S. Choma, pastor, St. Agnes
Robert A. Messa, OSIA National President
Anna Maria Rotonda, CSJ President, N.J.
Lou Cappelli, President, OSIA Grand Lodge, N.J.
Jay Gerace, executive director, OSIA Grand Lodge, N.J.
Dona De Sanctis, editor, Italian America Magazine