As in the earlier article, so also in the present one, besides transcribing and translating pertinent archival documents (chiefly letters), I will try to provide an essential historical framework designed to make the sequence intelligible.
Michael Ribotta – “Discovering America: Father Raphael Pipemi and the first salesian missionaries in North America” in “Journal of Salesian Studies”
A young Italian immigrant, Angelo Petazzi, watched anxiously as the English steamship, the Werra, approached New York harbor. Clutched in his hand was a letter from the then Salesian superior general, Father Michael Rua, which informed him of the impending arrival of a group of four Salesians in New York. At their head was Father Raphael Piperni.