Juan María Laboa – “Don Bosco’s experience and sense of the Church” in “Don Bosco’s place in history”

Juan M. Laboa in his paper focuses mainly on Don Bosco’s image of the Church, the only place where the teachings of Jesus are preserved in their entirety. Don Bosco believed that this Church (and not the Protestant one) is the only one that can bring people closer to God and that instilling love and devotion to the Pope helps to counter religious sects and dissidents. In the end, in chapter 5 the author reserves a reflection on the relationship between Pope Pius I and Don Bosco.                SUMMERY 

• 1. Don Bosco in the context of the Catholic Restoration 
• 2. Images of the Church 
• 3. A pyramidal and authoritarian society
• 4. A practical and utilitarian mentality
• 5. Don Bosco and Pius IX
• 6. A church that is holy and makes others holy
• 7. Don Bosco’s experience of the Church 

Reference time period: 1850 – 1870

Reference institution:
Centro Studi Don Bosco