All language subtitles for full English

Between 1889 and 1910, over two million Italians
immigrated to the United States.

They were desperately poor, often illiterate,
and almost never spoke English.

Many Americans considered these Italians to be
of inferior intelligence, only fit for menial labor,
and a threat to the very fabric of America.

Based on a true story.

Oh dear,

Walk the sidewalk!

NEW YORK CITY, 1889

Please help me!
My mother is dying!

I beg your pardon?

Can you see that I'm
speaking with someone?

My mother, she's dying!

I don't understand you.

She's outside.

My mother is dying, please help!

Go to a hospital
that takes Italians!

Come on,

She's dying! Help her!
She's my mother, help her!

Filthy little Dago,
let's go! Out!

Where's your father?
Do you have any other family?

Johnny,
don't waste your time

those monkeys don't
understand a thing.

Two days and she's in
the Potter's Field.

Where are you taking her?

I'm fine.

It was just one of those nights..

Mother Cabrini, are you sure?

I'm fine, Concetta.

Thank you.

Mother!

A telegram! From the Vatican!

I should leave for Rome at once.

It is an invitation

not an approval.

Mother Cabrini.

Your Eminence, thank you for
this chance to state my case...

In fact, you've already stated
your case eleven times.

Your Eminence, an explosion of
poverty is ripping through Asia.

Hitting children
hardest, in China...

Mother, this office
has responded

to your proposal
many times, to no avail.

So we felt it
necessary to deliver,

that same response in person.

Your Eminence, if I could...

You're building an orphanage
in Lombardy, are you not?

Good.

Then continue your
good work there.

Stay where you belong, Mother.

Signora...

Your daughter is very weak

and will be so as long as she lives.

She almost drowned in that river.

Now her bed will be her life.

That is where she belongs.

Your Eminence.

Mother Cabrini.

This decision..

Is it yours or
the Holy Father's?

Assure you there
is no difference.

If there is no difference..

I'd like to hear it from His Holiness Himself.

Or I'll be forced to keep writing letters.

Your Holiness.

For one little woman,
you make a lot of noise.

Your Holiness,

I want to found a network of orphanages,
first, throughout China...

You have stated your
case exhaustively.

But I'm told you want to hear
the final verdict directly from me.

Lombardy is the
scope of your work.

Now, His Eminence

tells me that this is
your first trip to Rome

your first trip out of
Lombardy for that matter.

Charming.

I do encourage you
to take a few days,

visit the museum,
see the sights...

Is it because. I am a woman?

Is that why I must
limit my scope?

There has never been an independent
order of missionary women..

Wasn't it Mary Magdalene who brought
news of the Resurrection to the Apostles?

If God confided such
a mission to a woman.

Why should He not confide in us?

May I remind you that His
Holiness has the power

to censure or even disband...

Just a moment, Silvio.

Why China, Cabrini?

Because we've
forgotten the East.

I shall start in
Peking and move west..

And create a body of charities that will
reach into Afghanistan, then into Persia...

So.

You intend to build

a worldwide order!

Your Holiness

the world is too small
for what I intend to do.

See what I mean?

And you have sufficient funds to

conquer the world?

Had I waited for
sufficient funds.

I would have built nothing.

Not my schools,
nor my orphanage in Codogno.

Begin the mission.
And the means will come.

Your Holiness,

may I remind you of
your next appointment?

Rearrange.

I'm having tea with Cabrini.

This morning, in an alley,
I found the frozen body of a boy

with newspapers as
his only blanket.

We came to America believing the
streets were paved with gold...

only to find they're paved
with abandoned children.

This box...

is a tomb of dreams.

It's filled with
letters from immigrants

Italians from New York.

Forgive me, Your Holiness.

Why are you telling me this?

They tell me that..

You were rejected by
three different orders.

Each time for
"weakness of constitution."

We can serve our weakness,

or we can serve our purpose.

Not both.

If I made you the first woman

ever to lead an overseas mission

the whole church would
look to you as proof

of what women can,

or can not accomplish.

You understand this?

I will approve your mission

on one condition:

Begin in the West.

Not the East.

If the world is too small
for what you intend to do

why does it matter
where you begin?

As women

without men, we will
be expected to fail.

More than ever, we must
trust in ourselves,

and in the purpose
of our mission.

As we set sail

for America.

New York.

And from now on, my
sisters, we speak English.

We will be greeted at the port
by a priest named Morelli.

He can no longer manage his
orphanage in Five Points,

so we will gain
possession of it,

and give the abandoned children
the love they so badly need.

If we are to build
an empire of hope,

my sisters,

it seems we must first
conquer New York.

And so we begin.

We've waited long enough.

Excuse me, how much
to Five Points?

Don't go to Five
Points at this hour.

Please, sir. We don't know...

I'm sorry.

Open your eyes.

See everything.

This is who we've come to serve.

Get out of there!

Hey!

This is not a place for you.

Did you see three little girls?
They came right past here.

Look in the daylight,
you get killed at this hour.

We should listen to her, Mother.

Do you know where we
can find a room nearby?

For you? In Five Points?

We need a place to sleep

just for tonight.

I can't help.

I beg you, we don't
know where to go.

Barricade the door.

And unless you want to get
beaten don't let Geno see you.

Open the door!

Nobody stays here for free!

Open up!

You think I care
that you're nuns?

If I catch you here again...

I'll make you regret it.

Oh my...

Father Morelli?

Francesca Cabrini.

You're here.

I knew this would
come back to bite me.

So, you did not receive the
letter from the Archbishop?

The one I sent to you?

No we didn't.

Well

your mission was denied.
By the Archdiocese.

Denied?

What do you mean, denied?

You really should
see the Archbishop.

Would you be kind enough to take
us to our orphanage first?

We couldn't raise
enough to keep it open.

Not with the cost
of the hospital.

Enzo, Paolo! You again?!

Get the hell out!! Go!

No, don't go...

As the twig is bent,
so grows the tree.

Even the older ones
are still children.

The Archbishop's
Office is on 53rd.

It will be a long walk
before you find a streetcar.

Welcome to America.

Filthy dagos,

they just keep coming.

We ought'a ship 'em all back.

Who are you looking
at, Guinea Pig?

Come on. Let's go.

Bishop: If you're saying that
there is an Italian problem,

then yes, there is.

Quite a large one!

Now, I...

It's not safe

not for you, not for your wards.

Now, I'm terribly sorry

that you sailed the Atlantic
to hear it,

but that is my letter in brief.

Then I take
it as a great sign,

I did not receive it.

Because I'm staying.

Ah.

Well, uh...

I made my decision,
so I'm afraid there's no choice

but for you to get on a
boat and go back home.

Now, my office

would be pleased to assist you

in arranging a
steamer, if that might.

I was sent
here by the Pope.

I would not want
to disappoint him.

Hmm.

Of course, I am delighted
that the Pope wishes you well.

But please know that
I am empowered by Him

to make decisions
for the Archdiocese

entirely as I see fit.

So if you are to
remain in New York

it is only because I allow it.

Is this clear?

Oh well...

This should be just fine.

Look, Mother.

This one.

But this is nice too
and it does cost less.

We'll save on other things.
Our children deserve the best.

They will notice.

Stay where you belong, Mother.

Mother...

My name is Doctor Murphy.

A couple good samaritans
brought you here.

Stay where you belong.

Mother,

your

lungs,

they are...

My lungs are very compromised.

I know.

How do you say it?

Post-tubercular symptoms...

We can speak
English, Dr. Murphy.

I need the practice.

You're fortunate
I was here tonight.

I only volunteer on occasion.

I take it
you know your prognosis.

I'm afraid it's
not a cheerful one.

The doctors tell me five years.

In my experience... two,

perhaps three.

Five would be a miracle.

In that case,

I should get to work.

That's if you rest, Mother.

If you have another
episode like this

it could very well
spell the end.

She's here.

Where were you, Mother?

Are you okay, Mother?

Don't worry about me.

There will be a time...

There will be a
time when I am away.

That's why you have to learn

to face your fears,

to not just carry on

but to lead.

And to demonstrate

you can do all things,

all things in Him
who strengthens us.

Whether I am here or not.

This is a beautiful
place to live in.

Now we need to fill
it with children.

You have a lot of
nerve coming back here.

I'd like to speak to Vittoria.

She's busy.

Now leave.

Get the hell out!

Go! Go!

Don't come back.

Your pretty little habits
won't protect you from him.

Did he do this?

I need your help to find
those girls, Vittoria.

Get your lamps.

This was the door to my home.

Put that away!

Mafia boy.

They're just nuns.

We'll take the bread.

Enzo, Paolo...

There you are!

I've been worried about you.

Just give us the bread.

Take the bread, what
do you eat tonight?

Come as our guests
and you'll have...

What is Sister Serafina making?

Rigatoni and peach crostata.

Plus the bread.

Or...

We'll take the bread.

But it's crostata..

The choice is yours.

I've never had a
crostata before.

Sorry, but I'm going.

This crostata is great!

We'll stay for a little while,

and what about your
parents, Paolo?

Papa killed himself.

Mama died of typhus

in a wheelbarrow.

Go take a look.

Look how handsome you are.

Your mother would be so proud.

You lying whore!

You're gonna work a double
shift to make it up!

Let her go!

Coward! He's just a kid.

Let her go!

Move!

If you harm her, Mr. Geno...

God's wrath shall
descend upon you,

and it shall be better for
you had you never been.

Mother,

I'm going to repeat it
to you one last time.

Move to the side.

I said let her go!

Paolo...

Give me the gun.

Paolo, this is not
the way we do things!

Put it down!

Geno is leaving.

Yeah.

Listen to her, boy..

Lower the gun.

Please.

The pimp will be fine.

So an orphan..

Shot a pimp,

while you blocked the door

to keep a prostitute inside.

Be careful, Mother, or this
place will eat you alive.

Sit down, Paolo.

That was the gun my
papa used on himself.

I removed the bullets
but the gun is yours...

The children and I
would like to know.

The choice is yours.

And you've been in
America for how long?

A few weeks.

Then, I suppose
you can be excused

for not knowing that
the City of New York

is not in the business
of giving assistance

to people of

the Latin persuasion.

Of course, I wish you
the best in all ...

Is this ...

the Mayor's decision,

or is it yours?

Pardon me?

I'd prefer to discuss
this with the Mayor,

if you don't mind.

The Archdiocese
simply cannot allow you

to solicit funds from City Hall.

Because I'm Italian?

The Archdiocese has
worked many years indeed,

to earn the support of the
highest echelons of this City.

I will not put that at risk.

I need your help.

I need an orphanage
with more room,

where my children
can be children,

and I don't have to worry

that a pimp will smack
them in the face.

All right.

This is all I can do.

Once-a-year contribution.

That should help a little.

But allow me to
make myself clear,

You

are not to solicit money from
any American institution,

or any American individual
for that matter.

I will not have you
begging your way

through the Upper West Side.

You are to solicit
from Italians only.

You ask me to

fund the needs of
impoverished Italians

entirely from
impoverished Italians.

I am giving you
an order, Mother.

Ah, Vittoria!

Where have you been?

You'll pay for
what you did to me!

Enough! Geno!

I'm a prostitute.

Been one since was a girl.

And now I have
blood on my hands.

There's not enough water in
the world to make me clean.

When I look at you, do
you know what I see?

I see a strong woman.

I see courage.

I see it glowing
all around you.

It takes a lot of courage

to become who
we're meant to be.

We have something in common.

What?

We are both survivors.

We don't get to choose how
we come into this world.

But God gave us the
freedom to choose

how we live in it.

There's a dead girl!

Rats have it better than
the children of Five Points.

Rats.

And no one cares.

But do people know

that rats have it better than
the children of Five Points?

Those people would
never visit a sewer.

Then we should bring.
the sewer to them.

The problem is, I have to write
articles that people read.

Do people know

that in America, the
greatest nation on earth,

rats have it better than
the children of Five Points?

I sincerely doubt that.

Then you clearly

haven't been to Five Points.

Vittoria, if you
would be so kind

as to get Mr. Calloway's hat.

“Even Rats Have It Better.”
By Theodore Calloway.

Over the last several months,

a group of dark-eyed nuns,

led by a frail
woman named Cabrini,

have been taking
the risk of entering

certain forbidding places

where not even
police dare to enter.

To each child,

Cabrini makes a promise,

“Soon we shall have
a bed for you.”

These kids are coming
home with us tonight.

They learn in English,

so they can be
American citizens,

great ones,

proud of the land
where they now live.

"Will always be protected
by the government."

And they sing in Italian,

so they can be proud of
the land they came from.

She imbues these castaways

with a dignity their
parents never knew.

For she believes the
wounds these children bear

can only be healed through love,

and through an
education of the heart.

Take the case
of the little waif

whose body was found
upon the street

by one of Cabrini's orphans.

No one stepped forward
as the girl's family,

so Cabrini and her children
claimed her as their own.

Dear Reader,

New York is built upon the dead.

Her mighty rails,

her tunnels

her shining streets,

all are set upon a
bedrock of immigrant bone.

Is this bone not ours as well?

Did we not all
arrive as immigrants?

Do we not owe these
children... our children

a life better than a rat's?

Dear Reader,

what kind of New
York do we want?

The one imagined by City Hall,

where the Italian is voiceless,

quarantined in slums?

Or do we want the New
York that Cabrini imagines

where the Italian is
our equal in dignity,

and their children
have a chance to live?

Here.

Oh, but didn't
the Archbishop say...

The Archbishop ordered
us not to beg here.

So we won't.

We will live here instead.

Give this to Dr. Murphy.

He comes in Thursday
and Saturday..

Thank you, Mother, thank you!

Send Giacomo my blessing.

Mother, it's my nephew..

The cops put him in jail
but he did nothing. Wrong.

So she didn't need
your permission.

That's not exactly
how she operates.

So you let a woman
push you around,

an Italian woman.

Is that how you run your Church?

I've got the whole
Upper West Side

climbing down my throat.

They look out their window,

and what do they see?

A wave of brown-skinned filth

parading up their street,

with a nun

as their pied-piper.

But don't be mistaken,

this is not about
a neighborhood.

This is about New York.

This is about the kind
of New York we want.

About our New York.

A beacon of prosperity.

Somewhere, somehow,

a line must be drawn.

Well I am a shepherd, Mr. Mayor.

And, perhaps inconveniently,

the Italians are among my flock.

And the people of Crown Heights

and Corcoran's Roost,

are they not among your flock?

Wouldn't it be a shame

if a few permits got between
all those good people

and the new churches
they deserve?

And all those Irish kids

on their city grants,

my grants

are we going to let some

puffed-up 'dago' nun

get in the way of all that?

A shepherd like you,

a good shepherd

he knows where his sheep belong.

Bottoms-up, Your Grace.

Oh come now

you're a good Irish
man, bottoms-up.

Inspector Hennessy,
Housing Department.

Maybe I can show you
the classrooms, Inspector...

Okay...

Congratulations,

you've broken 14 city codes

and stuffed 71 children

into a space appropriate for 20.

Italians like to stay close.

It's unsanitary.

Then surely you'd
like to inspect

the cellars where
they used to live.

What I'd like you to do
is to keep your crime

and your filth out
of this neighborhood.

What crime?

You have seven days to
make all modifications

and pay all fines or you
will be evicted at once.

At which time,

you can move back
to Five Points,

pack'em in there like
herrings in a barrel.

You've acted in direct
disobedience, Mother.

I was ordered not to
solicit Americans,

and I did not.

America came to me.

Oh, that's clever.

But you've strayed into waters

that are far too deep for you.

Maybe you could run
to the papers again,

maybe you could raise
enough to pay the fines,

but the Mayor will find
a way to get you out

if he has to have
his rowdies plant

a dead body in your
yard, he will get you out

and your children will be
right back in the rubbish dump.

Now, I don't want to see
that any more than you do.

So, I have a proposition.

The Jesuits own a property
just north of here,

one they'd be willing to
part with at a discount,

but only for the right cause.

There's fifteen acres,

views of the Hudson,
and room to play.

You know I couldn't
possibly afford this.

How much can you afford?

Have you come to
make fun of me...?

Let me ask this way

how much do you have right
now in your bank account?

Nine hundred sixteen
dollars and twelve cents.

Mostly pennies.

Let's call it a thousand,

I'll chip in the difference.

And the Jesuits,
they will accept, but

the property does
have a certain...

Well, it's a challenge.

So how about we just discuss

that while we're
there, shall we?

Hmm?

Well...?

I shall be buried here.

May I meet you at the carriage?

Yes, those
are the wells.

As I said, there is a challenge.

There's no water?
None at all?

The Jesuits spent a
lot of money looking.

But they had 300 men.

Far too many to
support without a well.

If you keep your numbers low,

maybe you can find a way.

The Jesuits failed.

That does not mean we will.

The Jesuits dug here,

and on the south side.

So we will start from the north.

They dug every fifteen meters,

we will have to dig
every ten meters.

Umilia, establish two shifts,

and work your way south.

The older children can also help

when they're free from class.

In the meantime, we will
make the river work for us.

It's two in the morning.

Want to join me?

You should rest more.

You're dying.
Why aren't you a afraid?

Of course I'm afraid.

That's why I'm out here digging.

When I work it seems like...

I'm stealing one
more day of life.

If I rest

that's when dying becomes

very, very real.

We just moved in

to this huge, huge place..

And we already barely fit.

She just keeps
bringing in more kids.

She's crazy.

We should help her somehow.

Can you find us some work?

Bro!

They'll take us both.

Twenty cents for
the night shift!

Perfect! What are we doing?

Faster, boys! Faster!

Keep that boiler hot!

Or I toss you out!

Go! Go!

Now!

Have you seen Enzo?

Keep that tight.

Mother!

I need someone to
go to Mt. Carmel.

Now! Tell them I need
morphine and chloroform!

And doctors!

Concetta.

I can pay, please.

We are not
a supply store.

But we need help!

I'm sorry, we can't help.

We need doctors! Please!

People are dying!

I found Enzo!

♪ You wrote to me

that my girl is calling for me

the one who left her behind

is still far away.

No, I won't be
coming back to her.

I'll stay gone

and keep on working for us all..

I have lost my home, my
homeland and my honor...

I'm butchers meat.

I am an immigrant.

The explosion pushed
Morelli over the edge.

As far as I can tell,
the hospital's bankrupt.

He plans to shut it
down, go back to Italy.

But they need that hospital.

Even if it's just
a place to die.

That's more or
less why I've come.

I know it's mad to
even think about it,

but if anyone could
make a go of it

it'd be you.

We live bucket-by-bucket,
Dr. Murphy.

I couldn't possibly
take on a hospital.

Here's the cold hard truth.

If that had been
Mt. Carmel Hospital,

Enzo would be alive.

As would a good
many of those men.

My lunch begins in an hour
and fifty-three minutes,

not nearly enough time for
me to list all the reasons

this bank will never make
a loan to anyone who looks,

smells, walks, or
talks like you.

If you're asking my permission,

I won't stop you.

If you're asking my advice,

I think that you
are barking mad.

Why even consider it?

Because people died
that should not have.

How can we sleep knowing that?

I need funding.

From Americans!

No.

We don't make loans.

Then what about
the Italian Senate?

I can go to Rome.
I can sail tomorrow.

I wouldn't sail to
Rome to hear it.

May I help you?

I am here to see
signore DiSalvo.

I'm sorry but Mr. DiSalvo

does not accept any
uninvited guests.

I'm sure he won't mind!

To Americans, the
great Verdi, Puccini,

Michelangelo, DaVinci,

they are one thing.

The men digging tunnels,

dying without a doctor,

these men are quite another.

Poor men,

from Sicily,

like you were.

We have to show America that
we are all people of dignity.

As indeed we are.

But I'm afraid

I will not participate
in your adventure.

Now, if you'll excuse me

it's time for me
to go to the Opera.

This is about helping
your people...

I have never been
late to the theater

and today is not
going to be the first.

But you must understand, this
is not an issue you can just.

No, no, no.

You must understand.

I will never participate
in any scheme

that involves... the church.

Show her out.

Evening George.

Dr. Murphy.
- Yeah.

May I have a moment?

No one is going to invest
in a failed hospital,

in a rat-infested building
that was once a brothel.

But we could found a hospital
like this one, a great one.

How would we begin?

We would need a real building

with a board of directors
comprised of men of influence,

who are also sons of immigrants.

Irish, Polish, Jewish.

Can you introduce
me to such men?

My father came here from
Ireland to work the rails.

Cheap labor,

disposable

just like the Italians
in that pump station.

I figure anyone who came here
on a boat, anyone at all,

I owe them a hand.

As does Mother Cabrini.

When I stepped off the boat,

gentlemen, not so long ago,

I had to learn words that
were not in my dictionary.

Dago, Guinea pig.

Words said with such
disdain, such hate,

that they cut just like a knife.

When your fathers
first came here

did they not also
have to learn words

such as...

Kike,

Mick,

Polack?

And even now,

in this fine neighborhood

don't you still hear

those names whispered
behind your back?

I ask you to take those names,
and turn them into a hospital.

I propose purchasing
this property

and renovating it for 400 beds,

with services fine enough
to attract the wealthy.

The fees we earn here,

we use to fund the needs

of the immigrant with nothing.

Who will also be treated
by the finest doctors,

so that America will learn

we are more than Kike and
Polack and butcher's meat.

But you don't even
have the funds

to sustain the hospital
in Five Points.

Begin the mission and
the means will come.

This mission begins tonight,

in this room,

with you, gentlemen,

or it does not begin at all.

Gentlemen, have you all met?

Thank you for being here.

As you can see...

pediatrics.

And if Abrams makes a pledge

I see no reason
why his colleagues

wouldn't follow suit.

It won't put a dent
in the grand total but

it's a start.

Dr. Murphy

see if you can add another
zero to his pledge.

There are 200 here.

And with the pledges
that came in this week,

it's... 617

Hello friends!

Watch out!

They are Americans!

Oh no!

Please, do not
put me in jail. Please!

No, no jail!

They need you to clean their toilets.

You take
money from a kid?!

You coward!

Time to clear the park!

Get out, Dagos!

Go, go!

You're under arrest.

Well,

on behalf of the Mayor,

I promise you that this is the
last time New York will ever

see an Italian Festival.

The fines, including those
attended upon your arrest,

amount to 3,111 dollars,

which happens to be exactly
the amount we collected.

It's your lucky day.

I need to speak to the Mayor.

Oh do you?

This money
belongs to the poor!

I will speak to
the Mayor, signore!

Who the hell do
you think you are?

I am a woman!

And I am Italian!

And I am done with
little men like you!

With hearts the
size of a peanut!

Officer Rentschler!

Too blind to
understand the truth!

To know that we are
all human beings!

We are all the same!

Children of God!

And you dismiss us
at your own peril!

Officer,

please escort this guinea

back to Five Points
where she belongs.

I can walk myself!

I warned you!

But you were
blinded by ambition!

Naked ambition!

You chose to disobey me

and now your actions

have become the problem
of the Archdiocese,

and the souls under my care!

You have left me no choice

but to inform you
that your institutions

are to be disbanded,

and you and your sisters
are to return to Italy.

I assure you

that the Archdiocese

will handle your
wards appropriately.

You mean my children.

Your mission is over, Mother.

My mission has barely begun.

Mother Cabrini.

You ask me to destroy my houses

and run back to Italy
like a criminal.

You were arrested, were you not?

This problem will be with
us in a hundred years.

There's no point
working yourself

to death trying to change it.

Some things never change.

Forgive me if I don't have the
strength to think like you.

Well, despite that,

the Italians

have survived without you,

and somehow they will
continue to do so.

You are to leave New
York and never return.

This is an order of obedience.

It is an order of obedience,
and must be obeyed.

Corrigan gave us 30 days,

I intend to use them.

In my absence, Concetta will
manage all New York operations.

Until we hear otherwise,

we will continue the
work we've begun.

As Mother says, we have plenty
of time to rest in Heaven.

So, let's get back to work.

Do you think the Archbishop
will let me stay here without you?

A hooker from Five Points?

I'm going to Rome to fight...

with every last
ounce of my strength.

We are survivors

are we not?

We are.

Would you take me with you?

You fascinate me, Cabrini.

I can't tell where
your faith ends...

and your ambition begins.

I must agree with
the Archbishop.

This project is
overly ambitious,

perhaps unrealistic.

Only after little David
killed giant Goliath,

did he become king.

You intend to be a king?

I intend to build an
empire, Your Holiness.

An empire of hope.

If you can prove that
your plan has any real chance ...

any at all.

I could consider your request.

In the meantime,
I can not and will not

override the Archbishop.

Senator...

Sorry for the wait, Mother...

We are late for a dinner.

If you don't mind
walking with us..

The committee has
reviewed your application,

but has regretfully
declined your loan..

Senator, the project works
perfectly, we can host...

Good evening!

So many children...

Mother Cabrini

the Senate does not even
make loans of that size.

We do however wish you the best.

The Senate has made
its decision, my dear.

There's nothing else you can do.

But please, just take a look...

Mother Cabrini!

Enough!

You've wandered into rooms..

Where you simply don't belong.

Mother!

Are you well?

We're making dinner,
come and eat something.

I need to rest.

The first time I saw you

you were marching through

the most dangerous
alley in New York

in your long black cape.

You wore it like
a suit of armor.

Like nothing on
Earth could stop you.

I don't know what you're
supposed to do next.

I don't know anything about
the Pope or the Senate..

But I know you're
not supposed to stop.

You said you'd fight with every
last ounce of your strength.

You must put your armor on.

Gentlemen!

Open your-hearts

to the refugee

to the Italian immigrant who
traveled across the ocean!

In America,

in the great city of New York,

the life of an
Italian immigrant...

Officer! Escort her out now.

Stop, my dear!

Not one step further!

Officer, you are to
remove this woman.

You did not permit
me to speak earlier,

Senator Bodio.

So I shall speak here,

now!

Throw her out!

Because I speak for
the immigrant...

Only men are allowed
to speak here!

I speak for your countrymen..

Who wager everything on America.

To discover what?

'Even rats have it better!

This is an outrage!

I speak for those little girls

abandoned to the streets.

Who somehow survive...
only to become prostitutes.

I speak for families,

stacked in tenements.

For fathers,

who die alone in gutters..

like dogs.

In one voice they tell you..

they don't want your pity.

For they are Italian.

They are proud.

But they also tell you...

Enough! This is no
place for a woman!

one small gesture of love..

can change everything.

A word of hope.

A touch.

The medicine of a loving hand.

These are the things
that change the world.

And in one voice they ask
the great Senator Bodio,

to hear their case.

For at the hour of our death

we will all be
asked one question.

What did we do for the poor?

The sick?

The homeless?

For those stripped of dignity?

What did we do?

Such a loan would be risky
enough if made to a man.

Isn't a building worth the
same no matter who owns it?

If I fail,

I offer as collateral a prime
piece of Manhattan real estate,

all my holdings in Lombardy,

and my property on the Hudson.

In other words, gentlemen.

If I fail, everything
I have is yours.

I am overriding his order but..

It may cost you everything.

We are bold,

or we die.

That is how I learned
to live in America..

Thank you, Your Holiness.

Mother Cabrini!

Your Grace.

What an honor that
you came to greet us.

May I?

Oh no, thank you.
I can manage.

Sister.

When I was a boy,

I would sit in a parlor

with my father and his cronies.

All of them fresh from Ireland,
all of them illiterate.

And

when the whiskey hit my father,

he would pin me

with his blue eyes and say,

“Listen to me, Mikey boy,

our generation

is digging the whole bloody
tunnel from old Croton Dam.

So you lads can drink
cool water from a tap.

And don't you forget it.”

Well, I never did forget.

Please don't think
I don't understand.

Or that I don't on some level

admire what you're doing.

But please know, Mother,

that you have swatted
the hornet's nest.

And neither I nor the Pope

can protect you
from what may come.

Good morning, Mr. Merton.

Francesca Cabrini.

Shall we begin?

Of course half of the
workers must be Italian.

Italian? No, no,
no. Sorry, sister.

We built Rome, I am sure
we can build a hospital.

I'm afraid.

It is not negotiable.

And all workers...
including Italians

must get the same pay.

We'll see what Dr. Murphy
has to say about that.

You'll have to do as
I say, Mr. Merton.

And from now on, the
sisters and I sleep here.

No, no Salvitore...

I have a favor to
ask, Mr. Calloway.

I will see the Mayor.

Now, Mr. Jenkins.

You will never see the Mayor.

Mr. Calloway wants
a front page story.

And Mother is the only
one holding it back.

So I'd do as she says.

Mr. Mayor.

Mother Cabrini.

Your Honor.

Where's Calloway?

I'd like to speak to
the Mayor alone, Mr. Jenkins.

Do you know why I
am here, Mr. Mayor?

Not in the least.

Are you aware of the fire
at my construction site?

If I was kept abreast
of every fire in this...

It was arson.

The Detective Unit is
on the third floor.

Is there anything else
I can help you with?

Lives were almost lost...

And I am willing to believe

that whoever did this

thought the place was empty.

Careful, Mother.

I am not here to accuse.

Mr. Calloway, however,
has his own ideas.

I believe I am being
threatened by a nun.

If Mr. Calloway

Mr. Calloway is a
lying son of a bitch!

Mr. Calloway is a friend.

Who would be delighted to hear
that you have put your support

behind my hospital

and the good work of.

Oh, no, no, no!

If you think you're gonna
march in here and tell me

I want the best hospital!

For your people

and for mine!

Oh, what rot!

You may think we
are lazy, dirty animals,

but someday, sooner
than you think,

there will be an
Italian in this office!

And he will not be cleaning it!

He will be running New York.

Because most of these...

'Dagos'

are already Americans!

You have an election
coming up, do you not?

Support my work now,

and you will have their loyalty.

That I promise.

And if I cannot
have your support,

I will settle for
your protection.

Mr. Calloway will be
very happy to hear it,

as will the voters
of Five Points.

And I thought you
were new at this.

Yes, please.

Now, I need to know that this
is the end of all the fires,

of any kind.

And I am willing to
take your word for it,

because you are a good man,

and good men don't lie to nuns.

It's a shame that
you're a woman, Mother.

You would have made
an excellent man.

Oh no, Mr. Mayor.

Men could never do what we do.

“An Empire of Hope,”
by Theodore Calloway.

My dear friend,
Frances Xavier Cabrini,

arrived in New York with
nothing but a small suitcase

and a few sisters,

and went on to become one of the
great entrepreneurs of her time.

Her first hospital

built amid the
smoke of controversy

was soon considered one of
the finest in all New York,

and was a source of
pride and healing

and hope for immigrants
of all nations.

Cabrini and her sisters
went on to found hundreds

of hospitals,
orphanages, schools,

and aid centers all
around the world

on every continent

including institutions
deep in China.

It was the largest
charitable empire

the world had ever known

an accomplishment equal to that

of any Rockefeller
or Vanderbilt.

And all of her institutions
were run by women.

Cabrini continued to defy death

until the age of 67.

She was buried at
her grand orphanage

high above the Hudson,

just as she predicted.

She was canonized

at St. Peter's Basilica
in the Vatican.

The great plaza

across which she
had walked alone

so many years before

was packed to bursting.

Just as Cabrini had
wrapped her arms

around the forgotten immigrant,

America now embraced
her as one of its own.

A celebration was
held in her honor at.

Chicago's Soldier Field,

while hundreds of thousands more

listened on radios all
across the country.

Cabrini was the
first American saint,

and is the patron saint
of all immigrants.

And even now she begs us to ask

what kind of world do we want?

And what will we do
to achieve it?