Bonding and bridging among first generation Asian migrants in Catholic Churches in Australia

Developing social capital is thought to be important for enabling the successful settling of migrants into their new homeland. Churches are places that have been shown to foster bonding and bridging ties, and can also be important places for migrants to meet other migrants and non-migrants. We examine bonding and bridging among 30,048 churchgoers from 1439 congregations in 388 Catholic parishes who completed the Australian National Church Life Survey in 2011. Levels of bridging were generally lower than levels of bonding, but the two were positively correlated, though bridging declined among those with the highest bonding scores. First generation Asian Catholic migrants (FGACM) had lower levels of bonding and bridging than did Australian Catholics born of Australian parents (ACBAP). More frequent attendance and longer duration were associated with higher bonding, and the effects were mostly similar for migrants and non-migrants. Being in a congregation with a high proportion of people from the same region tended to increase bonding for migrants from the Philippines and Korea/Vietnam, but not for those from India/Sri Lanka. Being in a congregation with a high proportion of people from the same region tended to decrease bridging for migrants from India/Sri Lanka and Korea/Vietnam, but not for those from the Philippines. Findings are discussed in the light of a similar study of Protestant churchgoers from the same survey.