What an Italian Jesuit (and Georgetown's 'second founder') thought about democracy and religious freedom in America
A portrait of Rev. Giovanni Antonio Grassi, president of Georgetown University from 1812-1817. Artist and date unknown (Wikimedia Commons) In 1818, Giovanni Grassi, S.J., published the first of three Italian-language editions of a pamphlet of his observations of the United States. Georgetown’s Second Founder presents the first English translation of his insights based on his seven years of residence in Washington. This college administrator shared with Italian readers his observations and assessments of the young republic to explain various novel concepts, such as democratic self-governmen...