In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Monsignor Geno Baroni and the Politics of Ethnicity, 1960–1984 Gene Halus I n 1984 Geno Baroni died of mesothelioma, a form of cancer likely caused by the ingestion of asbestos. The cause of Baroni’s death, while tragic, was less important than the reality that his funeral symbolized that day. Baroni’s funeral took place in his old parish of Saint Augustine’s, the traditionally African American parish, in Washington, D.C., and the pews that day were filled with many of his old parishioners. Those same pews, however, were also filled with friends and allies from the Civil Rights Movement, Capitol Hill, the War on Poverty, the urban ministry and neighborhood organizing and revitalization movements as well as persons he had engaged while drawing attention to the problems of Euro-American ethnics and recast their role in American society and politics. Baroni, along with others in what then was called the urban ethnic movement and neighborhood movement claimed long before most of the leadership of the Democratic Party that first through third generation American ethnics of European descent, who made up Middle America, were the linchpins to any new coalition capable of replacing the fracturing New Deal coalition. Even his last bout with mesothelioma pointed to the political disease, which infected the ignored and neglected neighborhoods and people beginning in 1981. Even death—which he calmly counseled his visitors at Providence Hospital in Washington (just east of The Catholic University of America) and other patients—is the final healing. All of these events are suggestive of his ongoing meaning to both Church and polity as an American who advocated for Catholic principles of justice, charity and subsidiarity in spite of the harsh political realities such a pursuit would compel him to face. In examining the substance of his remarkable presence and the significance of his pioneering voice, one finds that Baroni symbolically and intentionally engaged the challenges of science and modernity, democracy and pluralism as both a faithful 133 *The author wishes to thank Dr. John Kromkowski, Department of Politics, The Catholic University of America and Monsignor Geno Baroni’s successor at the National Center for Urban Ethnic Affairs for his comments and insights regarding Baroni’s life and thought.* Roman Catholic and prophetic participant in public affairs. Baroni’s assertions would be ignored by the Democratic Party, while the frustration of these Euro-American ethnics would be exacerbated by the Republican Party in order to garner electoral votes, first in presidential elections but over time even in local elections. Baroni has largely been a forgotten figure in the history of the Catholic Church in America. He was extremely influential in defining the politics and public policy of the nation from the 1960s until his death in 1984.1 Baroni was the son of Italian immigrants in Mecosta, Pennsylvania, and grew into the life-experience of being an ethnic American. He was ordained to the priesthood for the diocese of Altoona-Johnstown only to experience anxiety and frustration about being an Italian American priest in a Church dominated by the Irish. On the brink of a psychological breakdown, for which he would pursue counseling for much of his adult life, Baroni came to Washington, D.C., with a letter of introduction from labor priest Msgr. George Higgins in hopes of convincing Cardinal O’Boyle to let him transfer to the Archdiocese of Washington and pursue graduate studies at The Catholic University of America. While Baroni would never attend The Catholic University of America, O’Boyle would accept him as one of his priests and he would become deeply involved in politics both locally and nationally. O’Boyle would assign Baroni to Saint Augustine’s and with the help of a tolerant and encouraging pastor Baroni would emerge as O’Boyle’s point man on urban and racial issues. During this time he would begin to reflect upon his own experiences as an ethnic American, and came to understand the complex reality of race and ethnicity in America. Baroni would wrestle with these issues as he continued to serve O’Boyle and the Archdiocese of Washington. He marched with Dr. Martin Luther King in Selma, Alabama. Baroni worked to...

pdf

Share