Mary Star of the Sea: The interplay of immigration and religion in Italian Catholic devotional practices in the Port of Los Angeles (California)

This dissertation explores the function and meaning of Catholic devotional practices for Italian immigrants, their children, and grandchildren in San Pedro, California. Grounded in pastoral theology, this interdisciplinary study follows Elaine Graham's call to engage in the "critical phenomenology of pastoral practice." The devotions function as a form of pastoral care for immigrants, helping them address experiences of economic crisis, hunger, survival, loss of loved ones, or fear of loss associated with the fishing industry in San Pedro as well as with experiences of displacement from natal lands. Bringing together psychological, historical, social, and pastoral analyses, the author demonstrates how the devotional practices have spiritually validated and memorialized these experiences.; The three main topics described are the visual aspects of the devotions, the impact of the fishing industry on devotional practices, and the religious meaning of food in this setting. Issues of class, gender, and the construction of ethnic identity are also addressed. Ethnographic interviews conducted with members of three Italian immigrant generations provide the primary data, supplemented by participant observation and the examination of available historical documents. Theoretical tools include Pierre Bourdieu's concept of "habitus ," employed to identify the shared meanings, habits and images that characterize the devotional practices and function, in turn, to preserve religious structures. D. W. Winnicott's notion of "transitional space" is used to interpret psychological and spiritual dimensions of the devotions. Values arising out of the devotional practices are identified and interpreted as examples of the embodied "practical wisdom" of the local faith community. Implications for the wider field of pastoral theology and care are identified.