Religion and Spirituality in Italian American Life

10 am-1 pm

Queens College Campus

Italian Americans have long been defined by their religious beliefs and practices.  During the great wave of immigration, the Irish?dominated Roman Catholic hierarchy identified Italian immigrants as the “Italian problem” and mere “sacramental Catholics” due to the latter’s popular anti?clericalism, the seamless blending of witchcraft and ecclesiastic teachings, their deep devotion to the cult of the saints and the Virgin Mary, and the spectacularly staged feste that mixed the sacred and the profane in streets across America.  During the 20th century, Italian American spirituality and religious practices have undergone significant transformations with shifts in theological tenets, economic status, and the political climate.

The symposium on “Religion and Spirituality in Italian American Life” presents five speakers who will address historic and contemporary religiosity among Italian Americans, from the impact of Italian Fascism in the 1930s to neo?Witchcraft of the 1990s.  The presenters offer both personal views and scholarly interpretations to the role and impact religious faith and expression plays in the lives of Italian Americans.

Program

–    “The Brooklyn Giglio Feast: A View from the Inside”

Dr. Peter D’Agostino, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Stonehill College

• “A Parish Conflict:  Fascism, the Vatican and the Politics of Italian American Ethnicity”

• “Tracing the Ways of the Strega: The Construction of Italian American Witchcraft”

• “Imagined Places, Fragile Landscapes: Italian American Presepi in New York City”

–     “St. Joseph’s Altar Traditions in Texas”