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Many immigrants would also have been simply too weak and exhausted from working
in the mines to be concemed about their faith: 'Si pud quasi dire che I 'Australia e per
il corpo non per I'anima', wrote Pozzi, summing up the thoughts of his compatriots.*^
When significant numbers of priests did eventually reach the goldfields, the fact
that they were predominantly Irish fiirther alienated some Italian speakers. Rather than
draw comfort from Church rituals and teachings, they feared the strict Irish clergy who
dwelt on spiritual rather than human concems ~ perhaps confirming the immigrants'
traditional scepticism of and hostUity towards the Church's earthly ministers, (cf above
comment p. 148). Important too were the political views which the Italian speakers
had brought wdth them from Europe and which had influenced their religious
affiliations. Among the immigrants from Lombardy (and their Ticinese sympathisers)
were those who had been involved in Italy's stmggle for unification and who had
jouied Freemason societies as a cover for nationalist, revolutionary activity.*^ Though
Giuseppe Garibaldi would at one time declare that it was only the peasants of Sicily
and Calabria who had backed Italian patriotism,*' the number of Italian speakers who
became members of Freemason Lodges in Australia, suggests that among the
immigrants were those whose beliefs remained those of the revolutionary leaders,
Mazzini, Garibaldi and the poUtican Cavour, all of whom were Freemasons.*"* Despite
this, many Italian speakers continued to place their faith in God, asking their families
back home to pray for them. 'fPJregate Dio per me', wrote Antonio Bronz to Ticino
in I860.** Some immigrants neglected their religious duties but still considered
themselves practising CathoUcs, Giacomo Ceresa from Ticino writing: 'Non possiamo
sentire laMessa alia festa perche non ce ne sono. Bisogna raccomandarci a Dio e
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