France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Holland, Portugal and Spain. The Association has held international congresses; the most important were in Budapest (1931), Freiburg (1935) and Rome (1948), where representatives of 23 nations convened. The patroness of the Association throughout the world is the Blessed Virgin of Good Counsel; the young women assisted are placed under the protection of St. Maria Goretti. Associated with the International Union of Catholic Women’s Leagues, its president is an ex-officio member of the World Council; it has consultative status in the “Vatican migration bureau” in Geneva; it takes part in the meetings of UNAC and in the non-governmental organizations at the United Nations (NGO).
The Italian national committee has its headquarters in Rome; it was founded in Italy in 1902 by Prof. Rodolfo Bettazzi and Countess Maria di Groppello Bray, with the first committee established in Turin. Committees were subsequently formed in Milan, Florence, Venice, Genoa and Naples. Once the national committee was constituted in Turin, it took on the task of coordinating and directing the spread and networking of the P. della g. in Italy. In 1930 the national headquarters was transferred to Rome. Today the P. della g. has 51 committees and 29 secretariats; it maintains 3,051 parish correspondents (during the war this capillary organization was completely disrupted), 29 station offices, 3 port offices (Genoa, Naples, Venice), and 6 border offices (Brennero, Chiasso, Domodossola, Modane, Tirano, Ventimiglia) providing round-the-clock day and night assistance. In the main cities and provincial capitals it has hostels for overnight stays for young women in transit and family-style homes for those far from home or without family, who find themselves isolated because of work, employment, study, etc. In 1949 it assisted 81,200 young women, two-thirds of whom were minors and very young.
The Italian national committee publishes a bimonthly bulletin, La P. della g., and the address booklet (F. I. T.), listing the names and addresses of committees, secretariats and correspondents, along with information on hostels and family homes, border posts and station offices, all kept constantly up to date. All committees, secretariats and correspondents provide assistance if notified in advance (airports, intercity services, special schedules). The Association has placement and information offices, supported by an extensive network of correspondents in Italy and abroad (practically worldwide) to ensure the necessary guarantees before the young women depart for their places of work. It has recreational facilities; organizes holiday initiatives; promotes professional qualification and study courses; provides medical-legal, moral and spiritual assistance. Individual committees adapt their services to local needs: assistance to young women traveling and staying in the countryside and at country estates, to families, to emigrants in matters concerning emigration, placement, travel and border crossings; to female emigrants through the national committees of various countries; to day students who come from the outskirts to the provincial capitals, exercising especially delicate and prudent surveillance in the station area to prevent reported inconveniences; they run hot meal services near schools in full collaboration with school authorities; assistance to domestic workers for placement and during their stay, monitoring their conduct, training, health and the morality of the households that host them, reporting back to families and acting in loco parentis.
All services provided by the P. della g. are free of charge. The president of the national committee is elected by the General Assembly. Throughout the world, the ladies who serve at stations, borders, ports and during travel wear a white and yellow armband on their left arm; those serving with the committees wear a badge with the initials A. M. (Ave Maria).