[p. 565] pastor of St. Vitus Catholic Church, at New Castle, was born in Italy, November 29, 1875, and is one of a family of four children born to his parents who were Michael and Philomena De Mita.
Mr. De Mita secured a collegiate education in his native country and was graduated from an Italian college in 1893. For four years he studied for the priesthood and was ordained to the same in 1898 by Bishop Michael Pirone and was first assigned as assistant pastor of St. John the Evangelist's Church, in his native town. He performed the duties of his priestly office in this church for six years and in the meantime, on account of his proficiency in the classics, he was appointed teacher of Greek and Latin in a seminary, located in his native place. Prior to coming to America in May, 1904, he filled other responsible positions connected with the Catholic Church. Father De Mita located at the Mount Washington Apostolate, Pittsburg, and found so many of his countrymen scattered throughout the diocese, and under no particular charge or mission, that he organized the Italian Mission which he conducted for eighteen months, this being the most successful of its kind organized in the Pittsburg Diocese. In conducting this mission, Father De Mita had to contend with a class of people who, at first, were not willing to yield to his authority, and on numerous occasions even his life was threatened when he persisted in his attempts to suppress wrongs of many kinds. He accomplished wonderful results, however, and became a power for good among the Italian colonists. In September, 1905, he was appointed pastor of the St. Vitus Catholic Church at New Castle, a church which he virtually organized and built up. For seven years this congregation had been holding services in a little church which had been purchased from the Methodists. Within little more than a year Father De Mita has accomplished the wonderful work of building a splendid new church, a school and a convent, and purchasing a large and commodious playground for the children. He has 400 families under his spiritual direction.
St. Vitus Catholic Church was dedicated August 15, 1907, by Bishop Reges Canevin. It is a fine brick structure which was erected at a cost of $70,000, for church, grounds and other buildings pertaining. The cornerstone was laid August 15, 1906. School accommodations are provided in the basement for 400 pupils, under Sisters of the third order of St. Francis, and the church has a seating capacity of 700. In architecture and finish this church is an ornament to the city and a credit to the congregation.
Reverend De Mita is the originator of the Catholic Anti-Black Hand Society, which has a membership of 300, with the following leading Italian citizens of the United States as its officers: Nicholas Faella, president; Vito De Simone, vice-president, and Louis Tardelli, secretary. The object of this organization is to suppress the society known as the Black Hand, which has brought terror to many civilized sections of the United States. While the Catholic Anti-Black Hand Society is made up entirely of Catholics, it has the sympathy and moral support of every right-thinking and orderly member of every other religious body.
20th Century History of New Castle and Lawrence County Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens Hon. Aaron L. Hazen Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company, Chicago, Ill., 1908
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