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Description from source |
Giuseppe La Rosa (1915-1990) was born in Terranova Sappo Minulio in the province of Reggio Calabria, Calabria, Italy. He was ordained priest in 1938. His family had emigrated to Australia between the wars. He arrived in Sydney in 1939 and initially worked on the staff of the Apostolic Delegate, the Vatican's representative in Australia. In 1942 Archbishop Norman Thomas Gilroy appointed him Chaplain of the Italian community. La Rosa compiled a prayer book, L'amico del prigioniero [The Prisoner's Friend] (1943), under the auspices of the Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop Giovanni Panico, for distribution among Italian internees and prisoners of war. In 1945 he formed the Catholic sponsored aid committee, Relief to Italy from Australia, which assisted the war victims of his homeland. In the same year he established the San Francesco Catholic Italian Association to promote a richer Christian lifestyle among the laity. He proposed the idea for an Italian Catholic newspaper to counter the influence of Il Risveglio [The Awakening], organ of the secular Italia Libera Movement. Originally to be titled L'Apostolo [The Apostle], the newspaper began publication as La Fiamma in 1947. He edited early issues of the paper before editorial reponsibilities were assumed by the Capuchin Franciscan Friars at Leichhardt. He returned to Italy in 1949 and undertook postgraduate study. His doctoral thesis, Le organizzazioni professionali in Australia, being a history of the Australian trade union and labour movement, awarded in 1954, was published the following year. From 1954 until his retirement in 1986 he held a number of appointments in the Secretariat of State of the Holy See. He visited Australia in 1988 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his ordination. Monsignor La Rosa died in Rome on 6 February 1990. In 1995 Domenico La Rosa published L'apostolato di P. Giuseppe La Rosa in Australia, a documentary source book on his brother's life. MLMSS 7124 https://collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/1xqbzAGY
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