Italian American Herald - September 2022

ACHIEVER
Meet the 75-year-old dynamo at Newport Family Restaurant
PAGE 12
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SEPTEMBER 2022
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Parliament hangs in balance in 2022 snap election
By Al Kemp
Voters will cast their ballots for the renewal of the Italian Parliament in a snap election Sept. 25.
The election is the latest step in the 2022 parliamentary crisis that has included the resignation of former prime minister Guiseppe Conti on July 14, followed a week later by the dissolution of the government and the resignation of prime minster Mario Draghi.
Italian president Sergio Mattarella initially rejected Draghi’s resignation, only accepting it after calling for a snap election and asking Draghi to remain in place as caretaker prime minister.
For this year’s snap election, Italians who are living abroad and registered with AIRE will receive their ballots during the first week of September. Ballots must be returned to
See ELECTION - page 5
The unique and distinctive history of the Jewish ‘Ghetto’ of Rome
Interior of the Great Synagogue of Rome.
By Jeanne Outlaw-Cannavo
The Jewish “Ghetto” of Rome is not often on tourists’ list of places to visit in Rome, but it is well worth an exploration for those who have the time.
From Sept. 25-27, Jews around the world – including Jews in Rome and across
Italy – will celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.
While Americans of Jewish faith are most often associated with Eastern Europe, some of our readers might not be aware that Rome's Jewish ghetto is among the world's oldest. The oldest is the Venetian ghetto, ghetto deriving from the Venetian
ADOBESTOCK.COM
word gèto, which means metal castings. The Venetian ghetto, 40 years older than the Roman one, and built near a foundry, resulted in the name.
In 1555, as the Reformation and the ensuing Catholic Counter-Reformation
See JEWISH ‘GHETTO’ - page 8
Vince Papale’s daughter remembers Vermeil’s Hall of Fame moment
By Gabriella Papale
When I was growing up, “Coach” was always a huge part of my life.
“Coach is the one who gave me the shot,” my dad would say, referring to 1976 when Dick Vermeil became the new head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. As a rookie NFL head coach, Vermeil decided to hold an open tryout and signed a 30-year-old
school teacher who didn’t play college foot- ball, Vince Papale. What started out as a publicity stunt ended in a 2006 Walt Disney movie called “Invincible,” starring Mark Wahlberg.
What Dick Vermeil did with the Eagles organization was just the beginning of the impact he would have on the NFL world. During his NFL head coaching career, Vermeil took major risks that set up three losing
teams for greatness. In 1980 he led the Eagles to their first Super Bowl, in 1999 led the St. Louis Rams to their first Super Bowl victory, and he is a two-time winner of NFL’s Coach of the Year Award. Seventeen years later, he can add a new title: Pro Football Hall of Famer.
His accolades as a coach are only part of
See VERMEIL - page 10
Vol. 9 / No. 9