As Mother Cabrini movie debuts in theaters, the only university her order founded prepares to close

Cabrini, the story of the persevering nun and champion of underprivileged immigrants who became the first American canonized as a saint, will debut in theaters March 8, undoubtedly lifting the public profile of her extraordinary life.

Francesca Cabrini’s story — how she helped poor Italian immigrants in the United States in the face of discrimination and poverty in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and went on to establish institutions to serve the sick and poor — already has special meaning for Cabrini University, the only institution of higher education founded by her order, the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart.

On the second floor of its library is a room filled with the belongings of the Catholic missionary who came to be known as Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini: a nightgown she wore, a cutlery set she traveled with, a cross she donned, papal coins she received from Pope Leo XIII, and 13 volumes of copies of letters she wrote.

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They are just one group among hundreds of possessions — the order’s and the school’s — that Cabrini must deal with before closing for good in June.

“There’s not a book or manual on Amazon that tells you how to do that,” said Heather Potts, Villanova University’s associate vice president for development.

Villanova, which is buying the campus, has said it will take the next year to decide what it will do with the 112-acre grounds, though it has solicited input from its community. Making it a freshman campus or converting it into graduate student housing are among some suggestions. One building that will likely remain the same is the Mansion, Cabrini’s main administration building, which was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.

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But before Villanova reimagines the space, Cabrini must finish its final semester and figure out what to do with its meaningful collections accumulated over its 67-year history. Opened in 1957 in Radnor as a college, Cabrini started with 43 women, went coed in 1970 and became a university in 2016.

Some items will return to the order. Others will pass to Villanova, and some — such as banners throughout campus — might go as keepsakes to alumni, staff and students. Nearly 200 endowed funds are being reviewed to ensure donors’ original intent is honored. Murals, plaques and portraits donning walls are being eyed for future placement.

About a dozen Cabrini and Villanova administrators touring the campus in January walked from building to building, sorting through the history, with the desire to honor the school’s legacy and agreements it made with donors.

“We’re just trying to do it with as much care and compassion and thoughtfulness as we can,” said Michelle Filling-Brown, Cabrini’s dean of academic affairs.

» READ MORE: As Cabrini begins its final year, remaining students note a smaller campus. Where did the others go?

With an eye toward preserving Cabrini’s legacy, the group stood in the cavernous Grace Hall in front of a multipanel mural depicting more than 60 immigrants standing with Mother Cabrini. It was painted by students and a fine-arts faculty member and displayed in 2004.

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“We really thought this was worth maintaining,” said Kimberly Boyd, Cabrini’s dean for retention and student success.

She also pointed to flags hanging from the ceiling, representing countries where Missionary Sisters had a presence.

In the Iadarola Center, they discussed a portrait of building namesake Antoinette “Toni” Iadarola, Cabrini’s first lay president and longest-serving at 16 years.

» READ MORE: As the Cabrini community reels from its closure announcement, other Catholic colleges woo its students

“I would keep that,” said Kevin W. Noller, Villanova’s vice president of advancement, explaining that Villanova would want portraits of building namesakes.

Also hanging in Iadarola was a framed U.S. flag that was flown over the U.S. Capitol in honor of the late president’s 10th anniversary. “Her family might want that,” Noller said.

Some things may not be in high demand, such as student research posters displayed behind glass.

“We know you can’t steward everything going forward,” Laura Chisholm, Cabrini’s executive director of development and alumni relations, told the Villanova group. She said Cabrini will work to ensure everything has a place.

The group also talked about places bearing names of donors or faculty, such as the David Dunbar Memorial Garden, named after the late biology professor. In some cases, places are named because of a gift.

Villanova, Potts said, is working on transfer agreements for endowed funds so that donors “have a clear understanding [of] how their funds will be used at Villanova,” she said. “Some of those are going pretty positive. Some are a little more challenging but we are working through it.”

» READ MORE: With a mounting deficit, Cabrini University eliminates academic leadership positions, including the provost

Funds sometimes are being designated for a onetime use to benefit students, she explained. Other times they are being transferred as endowments and will live on.

Many items in Cabrini’s chapel, including a statue of Mother Cabrini — one foot forward and on the move — will return to the Missionary Sisters if Villanova doesn’t keep them, said Cabrini president Helen Drinan. The sisters will maintain a residence on campus.

The group stopped by Cabrini’s Wolfington Center — established in 2002 with a gift from J. Eustace Wolfington, the executive producer of the Cabrini movie, and his wife, Marcy. The center is focused on community-based learning and Mother Cabrini’s signature “education of the heart” mission. Cabrini boasts it was the first college in Pennsylvania to require undergraduates to complete community service.

They also toured the iconic mansion, an Elizabethan Tudor-style building designed by architect Horace Trumbauer for the son-in-law of Philadelphia banker Anthony Drexel and later sold to John T. Dorrance, president of the Campbell Soup Co. The Missionary Sisters bought it in 1953.

Library staff has been digitizing the Mother Cabrini collection, said Anne Schwelm, library director and collection curator. Students for years have studied it, writing about the historical significance and practical use of the objects, she said.

“This is our treasure and we’ve made good use of it,” she said. She gets one inquiry a month about the collection from outside Cabrini.

“I expect with the movie coming out, that will increase,” she said.

The movie was spurred by the late Sister Mary Louise Sullivan, Cabrini’s president from 1972 to 1982. She wrote the definitive book in 1992 on Mother Cabrini’s work in the United States and repeatedly approached Wolfington, the producer.

Sullivan was a student of Sister Ursula Infante, Cabrini’s founding president, one of the last sisters welcomed into the order in 1915 by Mother Cabrini, who died in 1917.

She wanted to highlight Cabrini’s inspiring story: How the daughter of an Italian farmer pursued her dream to become a nun. How she and her group of sisters were dispatched to New York City to help poor Italian immigrants flooding into the country. How she battled many, initially even the church, to raise money, turning to a New York reporter who exposed the horrible conditions immigrants were living in, helping to draw donations.

How despite health challenges, she crossed the Atlantic 23 times, hailing calls to establish schools, hospitals and orphanages throughout the United States and Central and South America.

Wolfington said he turned Sullivan down for six years, then accompanied her on a visit to Mother Cabrini’s shrine in New York City: “We have to make a Gandhi movie about this woman,” he said he told her.

Actress Cristiana Dell’Anna plays Mother Cabrini and Philadelphia-based actor David Morse an archbishop. Funds made by the movie will be donated to charity, Wolfington said.

Wolfington a Bryn Mawr resident, spoke at a screening of the movie cohosted by Villanova for its employees.

Drinan, Cabrini’s president, who was in the audience, expressed gratitude to Villanova for wanting to understand the legacy.

“This is a wonderful way to spread that important message,” she said.