As we have just said, for the financial resources needed to supply the everincreasing costs of his work, Don Bosco appealed to institutions: the Royal family, Government authorities, public officials (local council, provincial, state …), existing charitable organisations locally, the National Bank, parishes, dioceses, the Holy See itself through his best supporters, including the Pope.
What were Don Bosco’s missionary plans for Argentina once he had set foot in that land? With the information in his possession thanks to research by Fr Giulio Barberis, and to correspondence with local authorities and Salesian missionaries, six months after the first expedition Don Bosco was able to send the Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide, Cardinal Alessandro Franchi, a first report on the immediate results of the work of Salesian missionaries in Argentina.
Relationships between Don Bosco and Archbishop Gastaldi went through two different stages, one of great understanding and cooperation, and another of notable difficulties and conflicts. The watershed could be considered to be Gastaldi’s transferral from the Episcopal See of Saluzzo to being Archbishop of Turin in 1871.
The Law of Guarantees on 13 May 1871 and decrees applying to this required that for newly appointed bishops to enter into possession – the so-called temporalities – they had to present the Minister with the original decree of appointment and formally ask for the exequatur to be granted. This act, in the Holy See’s judgement, implied recognising the Kingdom of Italy which came into being in 1861, and included part of the Papal States ‘illegally’ taken from the Pontiff.
One of the most difficult conflicts to resolve in relationships between the Holy
See and the new Kingdom of Italy was that of the dozens of Episcopal sees left vacant
for political reasons. Both parties were aware of the seriousness of the situation, but
attempts to exit from the situation were shipwrecked by the persistent serious friction
brought about by proclaiming a Kingdom which comprised territories taken from
the Papal States (1861). Only in 1865-1867 did a process of détente coming
into place, where, having overcome mutual resistance, the Holy See succeeded in
appointing many bishops with the agreement of authorities of the Kingdom.
In the years from 1853 to 1862, Valdocco was transformed from a festive Oratory—an open institution—into a complex work: hospice and boarding, college with boarding section, trade workshops, internal classes and publishing centre, amongst the most important sections.
Amongst the more original practices put in place as part of the educational praxis at Valdocco, and maintained in the Salesian tradition that then followed from it, we would have to highlight the “Goodnights”: brief “talks” or “short speeches” after night prayers. Don Bosco addressed the pupils in the presence of their educators (superiors of the house, teachers assistants), in a familiar way using simple and attractive language.
In the late 19th century, Saint John Bosco, or Don Bosco, expressed deep concern over the detrimental impact of bad literature on young students. In response, he initiated the establishment of the “Library for Italian Youth” or “Library of Italian Classics” in 1868, a tangible effort to provide a positive alternative. Continue reading “Giovanni Bosco – “Educational reading and spreading good books (1860-1885)” in “Salesian Sources 1. Don Bosco and his work. Collected Works””
The ten brief documents that follow—some perhaps less known than the previous ones in Salesian history—are also interesting from the point of view of the maturing and practice of Don Bosco’s educational system. We have a necessarily limited selection here of personal letters to people responsible for public education, or to young people and teachers, and circulars on pedagogical and didactic issues.
In the years immediately preceding and following Italian Unity (1858-1866), Don Bosco kept constantly in touch with Pius IX by letter. He did this not only for interests directly relating to his work, but also in reference to the worrying situation the Church was going through in Piedmont, to encourage him in his defence of the faith against the enemies of religion, and to pass on to him any likely reserved information in his possession. Continue reading “Giovanni Bosco – “Confidential letters to the Pope concerning the political situation (1858-1867, 1873)” in “Salesian Sources 1. Don Bosco and his work. Collected work””
The Salesian Cooperators association, which came into being in 1876, just two years after the approval of the Constitutions of the Salesian Society, is the last group that Don Bosco founded. As with ADMA he did not ask the Holy See for formal, canonical approval of the association; he considered it sufficient for the aims of the Salesian Cooperators Association to gain moral recognition through the granting of indulgences by the Pope and favourable recommendation by some bishops.
“The Preventive System in the Education of the Young” (1877) is a foundational work by Don Bosco, emerging from a speech at the opening of the Patronage de Saint-Pierre in Nice. Continue reading “Giovanni Bosco – “Prevention and education (1877-1878): The Preventive System in the Education of the Young” in “Salesian Sources 1. Don Bosco and his work. Collected Works””
This passage delves into the historical and biographical narrative titled “The Sway of a Good Upbringing,” a pivotal document commencing the representation of Don Bosco’s genuine experiences as an educator. Continue reading “Giovanni Bosco – “Educational experiences in the school and family setting (1855)” in “Salesian Sources 1. Don Bosco and his work. Collected works””
This passage delves into two authentic presentations of Don Bosco’s educational system, documented in conversations with Urban Rattazzi in 1854 and Francis Bodrato in 1864. Despite being recorded later in 1881-1882, these discussions consistently portray the core tenets of Don Bosco’s educational philosophy. Continue reading “Giovanni Bosco – “Don Bosco’s educational method in confidential discussions with a politician (1854) and an elementary school teacher (1864)” in “Salesian Sources 1. Don Bosco and his work. Collected Works””
In the early 1870s, when the Salesian Society was going through a happy time of expansion beyond the borders of Piedmont, thanks also to the many vocations flowing in, Don Bosco, with a group of Daughters of Mary Immaculate at Mornese who were gathered around Mary Domenica Mazzarello (1837-1881), gave life to the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. In a very short time it was approved by the Diocesan Ordinary and aggregated to the Salesian society, then spread throughout Italy and overseas. We publish here five documents on this women’s foundation.
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