Contextualizing the secular public sphere : religious ritual, festa and migrant identity in Malta and Australia

Abstract

This article analyses the Catholic religious ritual of the festa among the Maltese community in Melbourne and compares it with the scope and function of the ritual in Malta. The author argues that such a comparative analysis can serve as a useful lens through which to analyse some of the challenges posed by the secularist public sphere envisioned in the liberal multicultural state in Australia.