The safeguarding of Italian popular and religious traditions among our compatriots who emigrated to Australia

by Marco Mancini

The number of Italians forced to emigrate to other continents in the second half of the nineteenth century was quite high. Precisely in that temporal context, Saint Pius On a Sunday in August 1887, during a pastoral visit to Castelbelforte, he was informed that within a few days around 300 parishioners would be moving overseas. He was so disturbed by this news that he immediately wanted to make his support felt by those who, due to the poor living conditions, especially in the countryside, were forced to leave their land.

He therefore wrote a pastoral letter, in which he invited the parish priests to help the migrants, making them informed about the geography and customs of their lands; warning them about false promises and illusions with which emigration agents deceived those who were departing; finally, inviting them to bring their catechism with them and to preserve their religious practices. When he ascended the chair of Peter, Pope Sarto continued to give his support to the Italian emigrants, so much so that he collaborated with the bishop of Piacenza, Msgr. Scalabrini in order to create an office that would deal with this issue. At the end of 1912, accompanied by the superior general of the Scalabrinians, Father Gregori, with an autograph letter of introduction from Pius X, Don Guanella went to the United States. Upon his return he conferred several times with the Pope who, within a few months, established an office within the Consistorial Congregation which was to deal with the spiritual assistance of emigrant Catholics. And the following year, 1914, Pius Currently, some citizens of Adelaide, in South Australia, originally from Riese, birthplace of Saint Pius origin.

Australia was not initially a land much sought after by Italians. Between the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries it was considered an extension of the British Empire and Australians had always considered London their center of the world. Although Italians in Australia were not subjected to regulatory restrictions by the Australian government, they were regarded as "undesirable" and labeled the "Chinese of Europe", because they were accused of increasing an influx of cheap labour. Even in other lands, Italians were discriminated against, indeed considered dirty, ignorant and criminal by nature. Much of the research carried out on the history of Italian emigration to Australia has always given greater emphasis to the settlements in the states of Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales. Little space, however, has been reserved for South Australia, even though today the third highest percentage of immigrants from our country resides in this state. The first Italian community began to take shape in South Australia around 1890. It was made up in large numbers of fishermen from Molfetta who settled in Port Adelaide and Port Pirie because they had become aware of the very fishy seabed of these locations. Their presence was immediately frowned upon by the Anglo-Australians, who, envious of their fishing skills, asked the government to issue a license upon payment of a fairly high tax in order to make them desist from moving to those territories. Relations with the Anglo-Australians became more harmonious when Italy entered the war alongside England in the First World War, so much so that many people from Molfetta paraded through the streets of the cities waving the English and Italian flags. At the end of the war, Italian emigration greatly increased: not only did many people from Molfetta join their relatives in the territories where the latter had already settled, but a very high number of Italians reached South Australia from Calabria, from Veneto and Campania.

Most of the new arrivals found work in foundries in Port Pirie, while others were employed as dockworkers in Port Adelaide. Unfortunately, the conditions to which they were subjected were so hostile that many began to fall ill. Those who were not members of trade unions were discriminated against and in some cases even beaten and insulted. With the advent of fascism in Italy, Italian emigrants began to have greater consideration because Anglo-Australians did not mind the fascist political system, based on order and above all on anti-Bolshevism. Things got worse when Italy signed the “Pact of Steel” with Germany in 1939. The Australian security services began to monitor the lives of Italians by preparing a special file in which all “illegal” activities were reported.

In truth, many people were arrested, accused of being fascists simply because they were Italian. In November 2011, the South Australian Parliament passed a motion recognizing this injustice towards Italians in Australia during the Second World War. Furthermore, after the war, it was the Australian government, in need of manpower, that turned to Italy to encourage the emigration of our compatriots to this land. From 1930 to 1970, in fact, the number of Italians in Australia went from 29 to 756. In South Australia the Italian community was increased by the presence of Friulians and Sicilians who thus joined the Venetians, Calabrians, Puglians and to the Campanians who had already preceded them. Catholicism in these territories was spread by some Italian Passionist priests who moved to Adelaide: Maurizio Lancioni from Lucca and Luigi Pesciaroli from Viterbo. Thanks to the Passionist community, over time, in fact, the cult of Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows has spread, to whom many young people ask to intercede. The Benedictine monks were and still are very active today, who in 289 founded the monastic community of New Norcia, located 476 km north of Perth, thanks to the desire of Fathers Rosendo Salvado and Josè Serra to evangelize the Aboriginal people of Western Australia .

Later, Abbot Fulgentius Torres had very elegant buildings built in European style. For the occasion, artisans and artists from our continent were called. These buildings were not only intended for worship but also for the primary education of the Aboriginal people and the secondary education of the settlers. Even today the monks are engaged in the study and preservation of the Nyoongar language, now spoken by very few people. Among the religious traditions, one cannot fail to mention the one relating to the Camino di Salvado, in honor of the Spanish monk. This pilgrimage consists of a route that starts from the church of St. Joseph, in the Subiaco district, up to Perth. The return to New Norcia is expected a week later. Several churches have been dedicated to Saint Joseph, given the devotion to the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary that many Italians who arrived in Australia have imported into the new country.

Currently, the Holy Crusade in Honor of St. Joseph, a means of information of the Pious Union of the Transit of St. Joseph, founded by St. Luigi Guanella with the approval of St. Pius X, also reaches over 300 registered families. According to recent demographic projections, in the coming decades the Australian population will undergo a notable change as a result of the aging of its inhabitants. This also began to give rise to an involution of the popular traditions imported by older emigrants. The use of Italian in Italian-Australian families is, in fact, decreasing. The hope is to always keep alive in the memory of the youngest Australians, who have Italian origins, the typical customs and traditions of our country, but above all not to forget the contribution that the Italian community has had in the development of Australia, even suffering harassment and sacrifices.

This could also be a warning for those in our country who still use highly discriminatory behavior towards migrants who arrive in Italy due to unlivable social conditions. The Holy Father Francis has also been fighting for this for some time, always reminding those who define themselves as Christian that Jesus and his family can also be included in the category of migrants, because to protect themselves from a serious danger they had to emigrate to Egypt. It was Joseph himself, in fact, who, like those fathers who today, to safeguard the safety of their families from inhuman living conditions or the violence of others, "got up in the night, took the child and his mother and took refuge in Egypt , where he remained until the death of Herod" (Mt 2,14-15).