Pietro Bandini | |
|---|---|
 Bandini in 1898 | |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | September 30, 1877 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 31, 1852 |
| Died | January 2, 1917 (aged 64) Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Buried | Tontitown, Arkansas |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
Pietro Bandini (March 31, 1852 – January 2, 1917) was an Italian Catholic priest and missionary to the United States who was prominent in the Italian American community. He began his career as a Jesuit missionary in the Western United States, where he worked with Native American tribes, and went on to establish the Saint Raphael Society for the Protection of Italian Immigrants and Our Lady of Pompeii Church in New York City. He led a group of Italians to Sunnyside Plantation in Arkansas in the hopes of establishing an immigrant colony and later founded the city of Tontitown with them. For his work on immigration, he was lauded by Pope Pius X and the Queen Mother Margherita.