From 1918 to 1925, two separate congregations existed in the same building. Kane and his two Irish assistants maintained the regular parish upstairs while Gaetano Arcese, assisted by several Italian priests, maintained the Italian one downstairs. The increasing Italian population in East Harlem had made it necessary to provide a priest at Holy Rosary who spoke their language. Arcese was chosen to minister to them in the lower church. Arcese, a native of Alpino, Italy, came to the United States at 17 years of age and studied for the priesthood at St. Joseph's Seminary, Dunwoodie. He was named monsignor in 1937 and as prothonotary apostolic and ecclesiastical superior to the Pallotine nuns in 1943. He arranged for the training of the nuns at Fordham University and for their teaching accreditation. He likewise moved St. John's Settlement, a children's home, to smaller quarters. In 1949, he opened the Holy Rosary School to an initial enrollment of 160 pupils with the help of two Sisters.