In late October of 1946, a chaplain visited Ignatius DiGiovanni during a
long hospital stay. With books and long discussions this chaplain, with
God's grace, was able to renew the faith of Ignatius DiGiovanni.
As a ministry and a desire for a new career, young Ignatius with his new
bride Antoinette moved from Brooklyn, New York, to Phoenix, Arizona,
and started the Autom brand. Ignatius DiGiovanni, new to town, somehow
convinced the Franciscan Fathers of St. Mary's Church to pay his first six
months' rent at the Phoenix bus terminal if he used, in his words, his "vast
experience" in the religious goods business to open a retail store.
Ignatius noticed that many young priests were stopping by the store in its
first year. It was usually on their day off and the only transportation they
could afford was the city bus. Therefore, as luck would have it, all the
potential pastors of the boomtown of Phoenix would pass by the small
retail store on their way to downtown. Friendships were forged that would
last a lifetime, and Ignatius bonded with the future leaders of the Diocese
of Phoenix and Tucson.
As the original catalog for Christian Brands, Autom has proved itself
throughout the years as the low price leader in the Catholic church supply
industry offering quality religious goods and church supplies at unbeatable pricing. What started as a dream for a young couple from Brooklyn,
NY, has turned into the largest Catholic Church supply firm in the United
States. Autom mails in excess of four million catalogs a year to Catholic
churches, schools, retreats and convents. We carry of variety of books,
religious articles, cards, figurines, textiles, metal ware and candles.
