Protected but Separate: International Immigrants in the Italian Catholic Church

The Catholic Church has a quite long history of supporting transnational migrants’ ventures abroad. For this purpose, dedicated congregations were established in Italy between the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth: bishop Scalabrini and sister Francesca Cabrini were the most famous founders. In USA, the presence of Catholic institutions has been salient for practical assistance, reproduction of cultural identity, connections with the homeland, in favor of Italian and other Catholic immigrants: in Hirschman’s words, the Catholic Church was for many Italian migrants a source of refuge, respect and resources. In recent years, migration flows have gone in the opposite direction. Italy has become an important destination for migrants originating from different countries (about five million in 2013). Many of them are Catholic, coming from Latin America, the Philippines, Poland, Africa and other countries. The Catholic Church has adapted its role to this new migratory landscape. It acts in the political game, demanding regularization measures for irregular immigrants, protesting against anti-immigration policies at national and local level, lobbying for reform of citizenship law. Catholic institutions provide many services to immigrants, and especially to the weakest part of immigrant population: health care and language schools for irregular immigrants, soup kitchens for people in need, teaching support and leisure activities for children. Reviving the tradition of spiritual assistance to Italian migrants, Catholic church in Italy also gives churches or spaces to national groups of Catholic immigrants. Many of them now have their own priests in Italy. These churches are important places of gathering and organization of social activities in Italian towns. On the other hand, these “ethnic churches” inside catholic church are not integrated into the normal life of Catholic parishes. Immigrants are rarely included in local councils, Italian Catholic associations or representative bodies of lay people in the Catholic church. Their religious life is separate from the religious life of the Italian majority. Also the provision of services to immigrants is usually separated from the normal life of parishes and religious communities. I shall develop this issue by drawing materials from studies conducted in Lombardy, the Italian region with the biggest immigrant population (more than one million).