Alfredo Paoletti was born in the United States of America of Italian parents. He lived in Italy during World War II. After ordination as a Capuchin Franciscan friar, with the name 'Father Anastasio', he was involved in Italian parishes in New York. In 1945 he and three other Italian Capuchin friars from New Jersey arrived in Brisbane, responding to a request from Archbishop Duhig for Italian chaplains to care for the increasing Italian migrant population. They were the first Capuchins in Australia. The parish of Wynnum in Brisbane was entrusted to them, and it served as a base for their missionary work in the surrounding area.
In 1946 Father Anastasio moved to Sydney, where he became parish priest of St. Fiacre's in Leichhardt(later in 1948 becoming Superior of the Australian Province of Capuchins). He was responsible for Sydney's Italian immigrants, a duty he performed so well that it was said 'Fr. Anastasio's role on behalf of Italian immigrants in its breadth, depth and diversity must be described as legendary' ('St. Fiacres, the San Francesco Italian Association and the Capuchins in Leichhardt', Melocco Bros. website http://www.virtualtour.com.au/melocco/leichhardt%20-%201.5.htm sighted 26.4.07). He and his fellow Capuchins supported the Italian community by assisting with welfare needs such as housing and employment. The Capuchins also established La Fiamma (q.v.) newspaper in 1947, and Fr. Anastasio became its director. From 1946 to 1951 Fr. Anastasio was the first director of the San Francesco Catholic Italian Assocation, and between 1953 and 1954 he conducted broadcasts in 'The Italian Hour' on Radio 2SM. He also had founding roles in the A.P.I.A. (Italian Australian Sports Association) and I.A.W. (Italo-Australian Welfare association).
Fr. Anastasio returned to the United States at some time after 1965, where he lived in a Capuchin community at Wilmington, Delaware. He died there in about 1976.
