Serving the Changing Needs of Italian Migrants

Abstract

This article discusses the history of the establishment of the local branches of an Italian lay Catholic association, the Federazione Cattolica Italiana (FCI), in Queensland in the 1980s. This history grew out of the increasing involvement of lay people in the life of the Catholic Church, promoted by Vatican Council II, and the foundation of the FCI in Melbourne in 1960 by the Scalabrinian fathers. A discussion of the reasons why many Italians were interested in participating in the FCI's activities in Queensland shows the need for more involvement in the life of the Church locally, from which Italian migrants often felt alienated. This discussion also locates the social context of Brisbane's Italians of the 1980s as influencing the FCI's outreach towards Italian youth. Finally, this analysis suggests that attitudes towards 'New Australians', which developed in the 1950s, have persisted even well after multiculturalism became a policy officially accepted by both the Catholic Church and the state in Australia.