• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Bishop Robert Barron
          • George Weigel
          • Question Corner
          • Effie Caldarola
          • John Garvey
          • Father Ed Dougherty, M.M.
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Suzanna Molino Singleton
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Paul McMullen
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Father T. Austin Murphy Jr.
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
  • Advertising
  • CR Radio
  • Printing
  • Subscribe
Santa Lucia was among the images Giueseppe Bongiorno made as a World War II POW. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

Poignant artwork on display at Faith Fest

Paul McMullen August 29, 2018
By Paul McMullen
Filed Under: Feature, Local News, Missionary Disciples, News

Musical acts, a zipline, a dunk-a-seminarian booth and fireworks are among the attractions at the first Faith Fest, a Sept. 16 festival sponsored by the parishes of Harford County.

Its offerings also include a museum-worthy exhibit that displays a patriarch’s talent and faith during World War II, the bulk of which he spent as a prisoner of war.

Giuseppe Bongiorno was a sheepherder in his native Sicily and baked bread when he first came to America, where he eventually settled in as a laborer at a rubber products plant in Kingsville and parishioner of old St. Bernard in Baltimore.

He was also an artist.

In World War II, Bongiorno fought for Italy, part of the Axis that included Germany and Japan. Just before Christmas in 1940, he was captured by British forces in Egypt, and spent the next four-plus years at a POW camp in Bhopal, India, which would become infamous for a 1984 chemical disaster.

 


 

LONG ROAD

Giuseppe Bongiorno had plenty of war stories to share when he brought his family from Sicily to Baltimore in 1958.

  1. Feb. 26, 1912 – Born in Calascibetta, Sicily, Italy
  2. June 10-Nov. 21, 1940 – Fought in Buch Buch during battle of El Alamein, Egypt
  3. December 10, 1940 – Captured by British forces in Marsa Matruh, Egypt
  4. June 7, 1941-April 28, 1945 – Prisoner of war in Bhopal, India

Source: Family of Giuseppe Bongiorno

 


 

Over the course of his travail, Bongiorno gathered the socks of deceased prisoners and painstakingly fashioned the yarn into three religious renderings and a letter home, which at several junctures, according to his family, he assumed he would never see again.

Lena Sapienza, from left, Frances Sutherland and Joseph Bongiorno have a keen appreciation for the artwork their father crafted as a POW. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

Bongiorno survived the ordeal and came to Baltimore in 1958, along with his wife, Pietra, and their four children, following his brother, Vincenzo, who ran a market near the intersection of Greenmount Avenue and 33rd Street, a Waverly crossroads.

Bongiorno died in 1997, at age 85. The heirlooms have since been preserved behind glass, in 2-foot-by-3-foot frames. When his descendants gather on special occasions, such as Christmas Eve, they are on display, along with cod specialties and Italian sweets.

“Dad didn’t talk about the war,” said Lena Sapienza, one of his daughters, whose family worships at St. Mark in Fallston. “We didn’t appreciate all this until after he was gone. There is a lot of work there.”

Bongiorno wrote of the mother and wife he thought he would never see again. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

The letter was translated by her husband, Sal, who recalls being held back when he entered St. Michael the Archangel School in Overlea, as Italian was the language of choice in his home and his English was “subpar.”

The letter mentions Mediterranean locales linked to famous World War II battles, such as Messina in Italy, El Alamein in Egypt and Tobruk in Libya.

After Faith Fest, the items will return to the homes of Bongiorno’s children: the stitching of Jesus to Frances Sutherland, of St. Ursula in Parkville; Santa Lucia to Joseph Bongiorno, of St. Margaret in Bel Air; the Blessed Virgin Mary to the Sapienza household; and the letter to John Bongiorno, also a parishioner of St. Mark in Fallston.

Print Print

Primary Sidebar

Paul McMullen

Paul McMullen

Paul McMullen has served as the managing editor of the Catholic Review since 2008.

The author of two books, Paul has been involved in local media since age 12, when he began delivering The News American to 80 homes in his neighborhood. He began his journalism career with the Capital-Gazette Newspapers in Anne Arundel County, and spent more than 25 years as a sports writer for The Sun in Baltimore. His favorite writing assignments have included the Summer Olympics in Australia and Greece, the Archdiocese of Baltimore's response to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, and “Feet for Francis,” a 2015 walking pilgrimage from the Baltimore Basilica to Philadelphia to see Pope Francis.

View all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

Latest Local News

Spirit moving: A dozen St. Augustine School students prepare to enter faith

Maryland Knights of Columbus, Cross Catholic Outreach team up to pack 40,000 meals

Maryland legislators increase BOOST funding, pass bills expanding prenatal care grants and giving pandemic relief

Girls develop skills and strength in NDP’s tech program

RADIO INTERVIEW: Spending less and living more

Latest World News

Bill introduced to expand Supreme Court to 13 justices

Sponsor a gargoyle: New fundraiser launched for Notre Dame in Paris

PBS documentary explores creator of ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’

Movie Review: ‘Roe v. Wade’

Federal appeals court says Ohio can enforce Down syndrome abortion law

Catholic Review Radio

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Bill introduced to expand Supreme Court to 13 justices
  • Sponsor a gargoyle: New fundraiser launched for Notre Dame in Paris
  • PBS documentary explores creator of ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’
  • Spirit moving: A dozen St. Augustine School students prepare to enter faith
  • Up with the birds
  • Movie Review: ‘Roe v. Wade’
  • Federal appeals court says Ohio can enforce Down syndrome abortion law
  • Maryland Knights of Columbus, Cross Catholic Outreach team up to pack 40,000 meals
  • German legislators consider ending state payments to churches
  • Maryland legislators increase BOOST funding, pass bills expanding prenatal care grants and giving pandemic relief

Search

Membership

Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2021 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED