The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1920-12-16
PARISH
FACES DIVISION
Reports That Serious Divi-
sion has Come to Parish
are Minimized.
POLICE ARE AT SERVICE
Priest Asserts They Were
There as Worshippers and
Not as Officials.

Reports of serious division among
the parishioners of the Holy Rosary
parish, the large Italian Catholic con-
gregation of the city, and the report
that the services at the church Sunday
morning had been held under police
guard were minimized by the Rev.
T. Perardi, rector of the parish, who
while admitting that there had been
some division of the parish, declared
that he did not regard the matter as
of serious nature He declared that
1t was true that police officers, some
In uniform, had attended the service
at the church on Sunday morning, but
he asserted that they had not come
to the service in their official capacity
as police officers but as members of
the Catholic church who sought to
worship.
Claim Petition Is Circulated.
1t was declared that a petition had
been circulated and signed by many of
the Italians, demanding change in
the management of the parish and
that some of these people had sought
the ear of the archbishop of the do
cese and had asked that he entertain
committee to present grievance.
The archbishop was in Kenosha on
Sunday but it was said that the facts
in the case were not submitted to
him at that time. 1t was said that
there had been heard threats to in
terfere with the morning services at
the church and that this was the rea-
son that the police officers had been
in attendance. No mention of the
matter was made at the church serv-
ice. The police. department made no
report that it had been called upon to
guard the church during the service
Father Perardi is Frank.
While declaring that he would much
prefer that no publication be given to
the division in the congregation,
Father Perardi was frank in his dis
cussion of the trouble. "It is just
another showing of nationwide
feeling against constituted authority"
declared the parish priest. "The arch
bishop is fully advised of the condi-
ton and has been for some time. l
know about the petition which has
been circulated and the statements
which have been made. / do not know
how many people have signed any pc
tition, but do know that for the most
part the people back of it have not
been active in the church. They OBJ
ject to the rule of the church by the
archbishop and the priest and they
seek to rule it themselves by COM
mittee." Father Perardi said that for
the most part the people who appeared
to be dissatisfied with the church
management were from South Italy.
Petition Not Made Public.
The petition, which it was claimed
had been signed by hundreds of peo-
pie, was not given out, but it was said
that it would be presented to the arch
bishop. One of the leaders in the
movement declared that there was
resentment of the fact that police Off
GERS had been in the church at the
time of the morning service. They
made other statements in regard to
the present management of the church
but there appeared to be little merit
to these complaints. Father Perardi
admitted that he had heard of threats
to interfere with the morning service
at the church.
Many of the leaders of the church
appear to be strongly in favor of the
position of their pastor. Father Per-
ardi returned from Italy two weeks
ago and it is said that the movement
for new regime was largely worked
up during his absence. He declared
that he had gone to Italy with the
full consent Of the archbishop. The
church is in splendid financial condi-
ton and under the leadership of
Father Perardi the Indebtedness Of
the parish has been largely reduced,
regardless of the fact that many i'm
provements have been made to the
church property. It is expected that
something definite in regard to the
settlement of the trouble will be an
nounced in the near future.
Angelo Cerminara, Italian consul
for this section of Wisconsin, has
offered his good offices in an effort to
settle any differences which may arise
among the members of the congrega-
ton. 1t was admitted that police Off
GERS had searched some of the people
who had gone to the church on Sun
day and who were suspected az
"trouble makers"