MATTERS OF INTEREST

SAN PELLEGRINO MARTIRE

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO (15:24): As a member of parliament of Italian heritage, it is my privilege to be invited to many religious feasts. The religious festa basically mirrors the tradition of similar feasts in the home towns where different migrants, mostly from Southern Italy, started their journeys many decades ago. The festa of San Pellegrino Martire, which started in 1977 at Saint Ignatius Church, Norwood, and now held every January, is one such celebration which followed its migrants from the town of Altavilla Irpina in the Avellino province of the Campania region of Italy. I know there are a significant number of Altavillesi immigrants in South Australia. In fact, I have heard from several sources that there are more Altavillesi in South Australia than there are in Altavilla itself. The vast majority of them settled in the Norwood/Kensington area, with the first recorded arrival from Altavilla into South Australia in the 1920s.

A lot of people with enormous devotion to their faith and the community they are part of work so hard to see the success of the celebration of religious faith. In the earlier days it enabled those who found themselves in a different land on the other side of the world to stay connected to not just to their faith but also socially to their fellow migrants. I understand the first president of the 'Amministrazione San Pellegrino Martire' was Enrico Grande, followed several years later by Bernadino Tirri, who is still the current president.

In the earlier days the organising committee of many Altavillesi immigrants would start planning in mid-December, preparing lights, staging, the church decorations and collecting donations from fellow Italians in the area to be able to hold the festival. The two-day event was eagerly awaited as it provided a rich program of social, cultural and religious events and well-known singers from interstate and Italy. On many occasions guest priests were brought to Adelaide from Italy to assist in the celebrations. The highlight of the feast was always the high mass celebrated on the Sunday, and the arrival of the 'battenti' into the church.

This tradition goes back to the history of the feast in Altavilla. The 'battenti' are groups of people, mainly men and younger adults, who come in running processions from all the far-reaching towns towards Altavilla, arriving into the town on the day of the feast and processing with great reverence into the church and bowing before the large statute of San Pellegrino, which still contains his bones I am told.

In Adelaide the 'battenti' tradition continues with younger adults and other devotees who leave from the Altavilla Sports and Social Club on The Parade at Beulah Park, go down The Parade and then turn into Queen Street towards St Ignatius Church. Those taking part are dressed in white, with a simple red sash across their chest as a sign of faith to the saint. On arrival the 'battenti' enter the church barefoot, and on hands and knees move in front of the waiting crowd towards a standard of San Pellegrino at the foot of the altar as a sign of respect and reverence to God and the saint. It also reminds many of that first generation of migrants of the traditions and customs from their birth place.

Mr Teo Spiniello is the Secretary of San Pellegrino Martire in South Australia. Mr Spiniello represents the younger generation prepared to step up and take over in assisting the administration to ensure the feast in Adelaide continues to be a very important date on the Italian religious cultural calendar. I understand from Teo that, over the past six years, the feast is now celebrated on a single day due to fewer people being involved, the ageing community and also the difficulty of attracting younger people to the committee. It is of course an issue in many religious and social Italian clubs.

The social aspect of the feast may have diminished over the years, but the religious aspect is still celebrated with enormous pride. The feast now consists of the 'battenti' and other devotees in a grand procession through the streets of Norwood, the mass in St Ignatius Church and then a community lunch at the Altavilla Club. I congratulate all those who work so hard to make the feast of San Pellegrino Martire such a success. The procession on The Parade and side streets of Norwood adds another dimension to the multicultural life of South Australia. I also acknowledge the presence on the day, 16 January this year, of my colleagues: the Premier's parliamentary secretary, Mrs Leesa Vlahos MP, and Mr Steven Marshall MP from the other place.