In a way, no great idea is completely fatherless or motherless.

Looking from afar, it may seem curious that two thoroughly Mediterranean-Australian brothers, Dr Joe and Bob Santamaria, should dedicate their collaborative formational and cultural project – the Thomas More Centre – under the banner of such a quintessentially English statesman, writer and martyr.

A closer study of the historical roots of the TMC reveals two important facts. One is the universal and unifying nature of sanctity and saintly figures within the Catholic tradition. The second is the important synergy that Italians brought to the rise of the Catholic lay social consciousness in Melbourne in the mid-20th century.

Dr Joe Santamaria, the younger brother of National Civic Council founder B.A. (or Bob) Santamaria, was born Guiseppe Natalino in Melbourne in 1923. He was born close to Christmas on December 21, and the 100th anniversary of his birth coincides with the upcoming TMC talk in Brisbane (see below).

His parents demonstrated great resilience and initiative, having journeyed between Salina – one of a cluster of sea-covered volcanic peaks north of Sicily, the Aeolian Islands – to the United States and back and finally settling in the Brunswick area in Melbourne.

Dr Joe’s father Giuseppe left school at the age of 14, but plunged himself and his family into both the local and Italian communities. Joe recalls the way his parents were such an integral part of the practical democracy of those “new” parts of Melbourne – Catholic and Protestant playing Australian rules football together, and agnostic and Jew working with their fellow citizens in education for the law, business and medicine.

The Aeolians became important figures in the Melbourne cultural scene, with families such as Virgona, Bongiorno, Santospirito, Russo, and of course, Santamaria, still notable today. As B.A. Santamaria wrote in 1939, as he was rising to prominence in the Catholic Social Studies movement: “Whether he is a Catholic who practices the faith or a Catholic who does not … the Italian is intensely conscious of religion.”

Guiseppe, the father to both boys and four other siblings, started and grew a licensed grocery business and also became the president of the first Italian cultural club in Melbourne – the Aeolian Society – and was a keen member of the Cavour Club. He had drifted out of regular practice of his faith, but then became intensely involved in it again, and the Depression and the rise of totalitarianism troubled him.

During the Second World War, Giuseppe’s social powers were recognised as he joined Archbishop Daniel Mannix’s Italian Welfare Committee, which was designed to assist Italian families and later to settle Italian prisoners of war.

Historian Dr Ilma Martinuzzi O’Brien writes: “The Aeolians have always been noted for their public spiritedness and in the very early days they formed their own associations to give comfort, aid, and support to their fellow Aeolians.”

That social engagement – along with a rich social culture of family, music, cuisine and entrepreneurialism, knitted together with deep Catholic faith – became the foundations for Bob and Dr Joe’s separate vocations.

In Joe’s case, it led to medical leadership in founding the Department of Community Medicine and his role in forming the first Bioethics Institute, both at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne as well as his work in Drug Rehabilitation and the Australian Family Association. When Joe retired in 1988, he joined forces with his famous brother and drew in his circle of colleagues and friends to form the Thomas More Centre.

To honour that Aeolian-Australian awareness, today we hope for a getting of wisdom, practical insight and character beyond the fads and failures of academe and political conformity.

As Dr Joe said of his parents (neither of whom completed secondary school): “They taught the meaning of friendship, of loyalty and of application to one’s commitments in life. Our parents moved easily in what for them must have been a threatening experience, but they were able to do so because of extended family and cultural links and by an environment which encouraged communal solidarity in a time of great social and economic stress.” (From The Coming of Age of Dr Joe by Dr Joe Santamaria, 2006)


What’s On - Free talk on The Life and Legacy of St Nicholas the Wonderworker

And in Brisbane, we are excited to announce that Dr Amelia Brown will be giving a free talk in the hall at Mary Immaculate Church, Annerley at 5.30pm for a 6pm start on Thursday, December 21.

She will discuss the life of St Nicholas and his legacy in charity, and among monks, young people and especially sailors in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. The talk will be academic in nature but families are welcome to attend.

Dr Brown is senior lecturer in Greek History and Language at the University of Queensland. Together with Dr Julian Barr, she is presently translating the Miracles of St Nicholas of Myra into English.

Drinks and light fare will be provided. Please RSVP here for catering purposes.

Thank you for your support!

Anna Krohn
Executive Director
Thomas More Centre