Tag Archives: Comboni Mission Center

The Comboni Missionaries commemorated the second anniversary of the death of the Rev. Angelo Biancalana with a 6 p.m. Mass on June 11 in the chapel of the Comboni Mission Center in LaGrange Park. (708-354-1999) Rev. Angelo was born in Italy, moved to the Chicago area in 1951, and was ordained on May 25, 1958. Following that, he did missionary work among Native Americans in California, ran the Comboni’s vocation program in Cincinnati and crisscrossed the country in search of future missionaries. Fulfilling his dream of going to Africa, he spent more than 15 years there as a pastor, teacher …

The Rev. John Paul Pezzi, MCCJ, celebrated the 50th anniversary of his ordination at the Comboni Mission Center in LaGrange Park. Pezzi has been a missionary in Burundi, a journalist and editor in Italy and South America, the pro-rector of a Catholic University in Ecuador, and a parish priest among the pygmies in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In Rome, he managed the Comboni Missionaries’ website while working on behalf of the society’s Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission. He is currently in the United States working for JPIC with VIVAT International, a NGO with special consultative status at the …

The Comboni Mission Center honored Jo Ann Serpico on Nov. 26 at Porretta’s Banquets in Chicago. (708-354-1999) Jo Ann’s prominence in the Chicago-area Italian-American community is a testament to her late father, Joseph R. Salerno. One of the founders of the Rosario D. Salerno Sons Funeral Homes, he was an early organizer of the Chicago-area Italian American community, a member of the Selective Service Board, the founder of the Roosevelt Loan Company and candidate for the Illinois Senate. Jo Ann’s father was one of the founders of the Italian Welfare Council, the precursor of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian …

On Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014, The Comboni Missionaries will honor Dominic DiFrisco at their 48th annual dinner dance. The event will take place on Nov. 22 at Via Bella in Countryside. For details, call 708-354-1999. Dominic DiFrisco has emerged over the decades as the voice of the Chicago-area Italian-American community, lending his considerable oratorical talents to major events throughout the year while sounding the alarm whenever our good name has been besmirched. Born to Leoluca and Antonina, immigrants from Corleone, Sicily, Dominic began his career in public relations with Alitalia, eventually transferring to the city of Chicago as a public …