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this land but, had he seen the Secretary of Mines' note that the land was not of 'any
special auriferous value',^" he might not have been so hopeful. In July 1871, just at St
Joseph's Church was nearing completion, he became the new owner of this block.
Although the ItaUan speakers had made a significant contribution to the
bmlding of St Joseph's and made up a large proportion of the community's Roman
CathoUc population, they were stUl without an ItaUan-speaking parish priest by the
beginning of the 1870s. Served only by the Irish clergy, they were unable to speak
with someone who fiiUy understood their spiritual needs. This situation was partly
rectified in 1871 when Fr Barry, who had replaced Fr Slattery as parish priest, was
assisted for one year by Fr Ottavio Barsanti, a Franciscan Missionary from Pietrasanta
in Tuscany.^^ The foUowing year Fr Barsanti was replaced by Father Nicholas
Bassetto, a monk of the order of St Augustine (who celebrated the marriage between
Maddalena Quanchi and Giacomo Sartori). Fr Bassetto also taught Catechism to the
local children in the chapel at Deep Creek every Saturday, providing a religious
education which reflected a more ItaUan approach to Catholicism (see Home and
Family). The differences between the Irish and Italian approaches to Catholicism
eventually resulted m conflict between the parish priests.
Fr Barry was unable to accept, along with other practices, Fr Bassetto's
Augustinian beUef in mild mortifications such as approaching the altar in bare feet.
Tensions increased over the following two years finally reaching a climax in 1874 when
the Vicar General wrote to Fr Bassetto describing him as a 'fish out of water' and
informing him that the Archbishop wished him to retum to his own country. In June
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