History
(Photos of Brooklyn Statue being created and shipped)
On March 16, 2011 a small group of parishioners from Sacred Hearts – St. Stephen Parish who were also members of the Society of the Citizens of Pozzallo met at Scotto Funeral Home by invitation of John Heyer II to discuss the possibility of celebrating the feast of St. John the Baptist, Co-Patron of Pozzallo, at Sacred Hearts – St. Stephen Church in Carroll Gardens. In attendance at the meeting were: Michael & Vinny DeMartino, Maria DiRosa, John and Colleen Guntia, John & Maria Heyer, Erminia & Corrado Infanttino, Anthony LaMattina and Francesca & Josephine Reca.
Those at the meeting discussed the possibilities of reviving a Pozzallo tradition in Brooklyn - the Mass and Procession in honor of St. John the Baptist. They discussed the current status of the first group that brought a statue of St. John to Brooklyn. This group was made of families from Pozzallo a generation before, many of whom lived in Gravesend, Brooklyn. They had collected money from all those from Pozzallo in Brooklyn, including the members of the Society to commission a replica statue of St. John the Baptist in the likeness of that which is found in Pozzallo and each year they would hold a Mass and Procession in June at Our Lady of Grace, Brooklyn, where the statue permanently remained. In recent years that celebration become only a Mass followed by a reception and finally just a Mass.
The assembled group which meet on march 16, 2011, was interest in helping continue the devotion of St. John in Brooklyn. Upon consultation with the officers of the Society of the Citizens of Pozzallo it was decided that the Society was interested in pursuing the effort as long as the celebration would be centered around the Society as a committee of the society and not a separate organization. This would also mean hosting the celebration of St. John in Carroll Gardens. As parishioners of Sacred Hearts and Members of Pozzallo the 5 families of the Recas, Innfantinos, Giuntas, Di Rosas and Di Martinos agreed that they would lead the efforts to host a Mass and Procession in Carroll Gardens from Sacred Hearts Church in honor of St. John with the cooperation and resources of the Pozzallo club in agreement with the St. John group that exists at Our Lady of Grace.
The template that was laid out was to borrow the statue of St. John from Our Lady of Grace in order to celebrate a Mass and Procession in Carroll Gardens which would end at the Pozzallo Club for a Block Party style Feast/BBQ. The committee would raise the necessary money and advertise the event by using the mailing list of the Pozzallo club and accepting donations and sponsorships. Expenses would include cost of Band, donation to the Church, sound permit fees, flowers and advertising posters.
After agreement was reached with the initiating group and the Society, thanks in large part to efforts of Corrado Infantio, a meeting was set with the pastor of Sacred Hearts – St. Stephen, Rev. Anthony J. Sansone, on March 21, 2011 to discuss the proposal and the willingness of the parish to participate. Fr. Sansone welcomed the idea and even offered to coordinate with the pastor of Our Lady of Grace for use of the statue. Following unsuccessful negotiations with the St. John the Baptist group at Our Lady of Grace and their pastor, it was clear that the plan to use the statue from Our Lady of Grace would not be possible.
In the Summer of 2011 John L. Heyer II traveled to Pozzallo with his wife and daughter to visit relatives. While in Pozzallo he visited the church of St. John the Baptist and took photos carefully documenting the statue of St. John the Baptist in Pozzallo which could be used to commission a new replica statue for Brooklyn. However, unrelated events at both the Society of the Citizens of Pozzallo and Sacred Hearts – St. Stephen Parish forced plans to establish a celebration of St. John the Baptist to be placed on hold. While Sacred Hearts – St. Stephen welcomed a new pastor the Society of the Citizens of Pozzallo also changed leadership and dealt with challenges to the governance of the Society.
On October 21, 2014 the new pastor of Sacred Hearts – St. Stephen Parish, Rev. Msgr. Guy Massie, along with 21 parishioners from the parish in Brooklyn, arrived in Pozzallo, Sicily, during a trip to Italy. Upon returning to Brooklyn Msgr. Massie was remised that the while the people from Pozzallo numbered so many in the parish they did not have a statue depicting their home-town patron in the church as many other groups had. Being made aware of previous efforts to celebrate the feast of St. John the Baptist by the people of Pozzallo at Sacred Hearts – St. Stephen, Msgr. Massie asked John Heyer II, Parish Pastoral Associate to once again revive efforts.
The idea of celebrating a Mass at Sacred Hearts-St. Stephen Church, a procession through the streets to Carroll Gardens and a block celebration on Henry Street at the Society of the Citizens of Pozzallo was once again presented to the Society. John Heyer spoke on behalf of the parish to the Society council requesting that the Society advance efforts to establish the celebration. The administration, led by Society President, Giovanni Barone, agreed to present the plan to the general members to vote on in the fall of 2015 as follows: The Society would establish a Mass and procession followed by block party in Carroll Gardens. Efforts would first be made to borrow the statue of St. John currently at Our Lady of Grace, for the days celebration, however, if that was not possible a statue would be purchased by the Society and placed permanently in Sacred Hearts – St. Stephen Church.
The Society agreed to support the project and after attempts to use the Our Lady of Grace Statue were unsuccessful a new statue of St. John the Baptist was commissioned. On January 19, 2016 Frank Chiarelli of Chiarelli’s religious goods was contacted and requested to commission a replica statue of St. John the Baptist in Pozzallo using the photos taken by John Heyer II in 2011. Upon Mr. Chiarelli’s recommendation it was decided by the Society to commission a 5 foot tall replica statue which would be made out of fiberglass making it more durable, lighter to carry in processions and economically feasible. Chiarelli’s commissioned the statue to be made by Fiat Art Studio in Colombia, South America because of their artists are all professionally trained in Italy and their expertise in casting custom fiberglass statues.
For the next 5 months the artists sent photos of their progress allowing the Society councilmembers the opportunity to give their criticism in order to ensure the best possible outcome.
On June 2, 2016 the statue arrived at JFK airport from Colombia and was taken to Chiarelli’s Religious Goods to be unpacked. On June 9, 2016 the new statue of St. John was delivered to Sacred Hearts – St. Stephen Church from Chiarelli’s Religious Goods using a hearse provided by Scotto and Heyer Funeral Directors. The statue was placed on a side altar at the entrance of the church previously un-used and kept in the basement of the church. The Base was elevated with a step built by Mr. Christian Kauffman and painted through the donation of Giancarlo Scala to match the marble altars which already lined the church. The carrier which allows the statue to be carried in procession is made out of the former base of the baptismal font from Sacred Hearts – St. Stephen Church.
(Photos of Statue and Churhc in Pozzallo, Italy )