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54-482: The figure at the center of a Salesian school is Saint John Bosco or Don Bosco , who is also known as "Father, teacher, and friend of the youth." Don Bosco was a 19th-century visionary from Italy who created a system of education for boys and girls from marginalized areas of society. For Don Bosco, "Prevention" meant helping a youth before he or she gets into trouble. Don Bosco's system has three aspects: loving kindness; reason, and religion. These three aspects have been

108-442: A farm servant. At 12, he found life at home unbearable because of the continuous quarrels with Antonio. Having to face life by himself at such a young age may have developed his later sympathies to help abandoned boys. After begging unsuccessfully for work, he ended up at the wine farm of Louis Moglia. Although he could pursue some studies by himself, he was not able to attend school for two more years. In 1830, he met Joseph Cafasso ,

162-567: A former experience that Don Bosco had in having his own publication. Although the researchers never found a copy, it traced a second issue by August 1875 named Bibliofilo Cattolico ( The Catholic Booklover ) that was printed in the Oratory Press of Don Bosco. The Catholic Booklover was dedicated to late vocations . The first editions were published in Italian , but it will be soon not just translated by edited in several languages between

216-456: A mission. Adopting a way of evangelization that would not expose his missionaries to wild, uncivilized tribes, he proposed setting up bases in safe locations at which missionary efforts were to be launched. Negotiations started after Archbishop Aneiros of Buenos Aires had indicated that he would be glad to receive the Salesians. In a ceremony held on 29 January 1875, Bosco was able to convey

270-814: A missionary if his director, Joseph Cafasso , had not opposed the idea. Bosco nevertheless eagerly read the Italian edition of the Annals of the Propagation of the Faith and used this magazine to illustrate his Cattolico Provveduto (1853) and his Month of May booklets (1858). When Bosco founded the Salesian Society, the thought of the missions still obsessed him but completely lacked the financial means. For three years he collected information about different countries. A request from Argentina turned him towards

324-504: A nearby Church." His childhood experiences are thought to have inspired him to become a priest . Being a priest was then more commonly a profession for the privileged classes than for farmers. Some biographers portray his older brother, Antonio, as the main obstacle for Bosco's ambition to study, as Antonio protested that John was just "a farmer like us!" On a cold morning in February 1827, John left his home and went to look for work as

378-437: A profound impression on him for the rest of his life" according to his memoirs. Bosco apparently saw a multitude of very poor boys playing and blaspheming, and a man, who "appeared, nobly attired, with a manly and imposing bearing", and said to him, "You will have to win these friends of yours not with blows, but with gentleness and kindness. So begin right now to show them that sin is ugly and virtue beautiful." Bosco, when he

432-420: A religious order to keep the oratory going after its founder's death. Bosco had been thinking about that problem too and had been slowly organizing his helpers into a loose Congregation of St. Francis de Sales. He was also training select older boys for the priesthood. Another supporter of the idea of establishing a religious order to carry out Bosco's vision was the reigning pope, Pope Pius IX . Bosco disliked

486-570: A repressive system of education. On 12 March 1877, Bosco gave an opening address on the systems of education during the day for the opening of the St. Peter's Youth Center in the new quarters of the Patronage de Saint Pierre in Nice in which he first mentioned the term "Preventive System". Upon his return to Turin , Bosco wrote down the address as a polished essay under the title The Preventive System in

540-550: A series of dreams about "great funerals at court" that referred to politicians or members of the Savoy court. In November 1854, Bosco sent a letter to King Victor Emmanuel II and admonished him to oppose the confiscation of church property and suppression of the orders; the King failed to respond. His actions, which had been described by the Italian historian Roberto Petoia as having "manifest blackmailing intentions", ended only after

594-610: A young priest who identified some natural talent and supported his first schooling. Bosco's mother, Margherita, managed to earn enough money to finance his education. In 1835, Bosco entered the seminary at Chieri , next to the Church of the Immacolata Concezione . In 1841, after six years of study, he was ordained a priest on the eve of Trinity Sunday by Archbishop Franzoni of Turin. He was twenty-six years old. After ordination, Bosco went to Turin, where Cafasso headed

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648-464: Is located in a region that was called Castelnuovo d'Asti, which was later renamed Castelnuovo Don Bosco in honour of the saint. He was the youngest son of Francesco Bosco (1784–1817) and Margherita Occhiena (1788–1856). He had two older brothers, Antonio and Giuseppe (1813–1862). The Boscos of Becchi were farmhands of the Moglian Family. He was born in a time of great shortage and famine in

702-798: Is named after him. An Italian church, San Giovanni Bosco, is named after him in Montreal , Canada, in the Ville-Émard area. Salesian Bulletin The Salesian Bulletin is an official publication of the Salesians that was founded in August 1877 by Don Bosco . It has been published without interruption since then. The purpose of the Salesian Bulletin is the proliferation of the educational works of Don Bosco all over

756-473: The Association of Salesian Cooperators , with the same educational mission to the poor. Bosco established a network of organizations and centres to carry on his work. Bosco's sainthood cause was opened after his death, and following his beatification in 1929, he was canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1934. John Bosco was born on the evening of 16 August 1815 in the hillside hamlet of Becchi, Italy. Becchi

810-741: The Salesian Preventive System . A follower of the spirituality and philosophy of Francis de Sales , Bosco was an ardent devotee of the Virgin Mary under the title Mary Help of Christians . He later dedicated his works to de Sales when he founded the Salesians of Don Bosco , based in Turin. Together with Maria Domenica Mazzarello , he founded the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians , now commonly known as

864-588: The 19th and 20th century. In August 1877, Don Bosco did a transformation of the Bibliofilo Cattolico to Monthly Salesian Bulletin ( Bollettino Salesiano Mensile ). The fact that Don Bosco numbered it as 5 and volume 3, proved the continuity with the Bibliofilo . The first language was French , followed by Spanish in 1886. Don Bosco died early 1888 and the continuity of the publication passed to his successors. Year country and language of

918-625: The British Salesian Province. In Latin America , the Salesians have been a key factor in the formation of national curricula, while helping provide street children with an education. The Salesian school system involves the family, as the system holds that family and background are as important as a student's performance in school. Salesian schools give a lot of importance to Parents Associations and other groups where parents are invited to participate. Operating in 124 countries,

972-624: The Education of the Youth , which was published in 1877 and in which he included in the initial draft of the Rule for the Salesian Order. It espoused the values of reason, religion, and loving kindness with a goal of producing "good Christians and honest citizens". That was one type of Bosco's systematic exposition of his educational system. His preferred way to explain his educational approach

1026-749: The Everlasting Memory of the Great Pius IX (the Pope who died in February 1878), appealing to the charity of the Salesian cooperators to support the project. In a letter signed by Cardinal Alexander Franchi, the Archbishop communicated to Don Bosco that he was going to build a church in honor of the deceased Pope and, therefore, " a dual appeal to Christian charity for one and the same purpose seems inadvisable ". Don Bosco answered to

1080-650: The Fall of the Roman Empire , which was translated and continued to the present by John Daniel Morell and was noted by scholars for its cultural importance on the knowledge base of ancient to modern civilization. He was also a skilled biographer. His two most well-known biographies were on his mentor, Joseph Cafasso , and one of his students, Dominic Savio , which would later be instrumental in his canonization . Following are Bosco's works in roughly chronological order. Saint Bosco died on 31 January 1888. His funeral

1134-577: The Indians of Patagonia , and a study of its people convinced him that the country and its inhabitants were the ones that he had seen in his dream. In late 1874, Bosco received letters from the Argentine consul at Savona requesting that he accept an Italian parish in Buenos Aires and a school for boys at San Nicolas de Los Arroyos. Bosco regarded it as a sign of Providence and started to prepare

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1188-495: The Institute of Saint Francis of Assisi, which provided higher education for the diocesan priests. Turin then had a population of 117,000 inhabitants. The city reflected the effects of industrialization and urbanization. Numerous poor families lived in the slums of the city and had come from the countryside in search of a better life. During his studies, Bosco accompanied Cafasso in visiting the prisons and became concerned regarding

1242-763: The Philippines, Pakistan, Lebanon and the United States. Several institutions in Engadine, New South Wales , were also named for Bosco, including St John Bosco Parish, St John Bosco Primary School, and St John Bosco College . Bosco was the subject of the 1935 biopic Don Bosco , directed by Goffredo Alessandrini , and was played by the actor Gian Paolo Rosmino . Bosco was also the subject of two Italian movies: Don Bosco (1988) and Saint John Bosco: Mission to Love (2004). A borough in Quilmes , Argentina,

1296-670: The Piedmontese countryside, following the devastation wrought by the Napoleonic Wars and drought in 1817. When Bosco was little more than two years old, his father died, which left the support of three boys to his mother. She played a strong role in Bosco's formation and personality, and was an early supporter of her son's ideals. In 1825, when he was nine, Bosco had the first of a series of dreams that would play an influential role in his outlook and work. This first dream "left

1350-569: The Salesian Congregation. Among the first members were Michael Rua, John Cagliero (who later became a Cardinal), and John Baptist Francesca. In 1857 Bosco drew up a set of rules for his helpers. This rule was approved definitively in 1873 by Pope Pius IX as the Rule of the Society of Saint Francis de Sales. In 1859, Bosco selected the experienced priest Vittorio Alasonatti, 15 seminarians, and one high school boy and formed them into

1404-538: The Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco, a religious congregation of nuns dedicated to the care and education of poor girls. He taught Dominic Savio , of whom he wrote a biography that helped the young boy be canonized . He is one of the pioneers of mutual aid societies that were initiated as collaborative financial support to young migrant Catholic workers in the city of Turin. In 1850, he drew up regulations to assist apprentices and their companions when any of them

1458-717: The Salesian system could be viewed as a kind of "globalized" education, imposing the same concepts. Although culture was very important to Don Bosco, he respected local and national identities. What can be considered global is the system itself with Don Bosco at its center, however, every Salesian school keeps its own cultural identity. For these reasons, Salesian schools have been welcomed in 124 countries, even in non- Christian nations. Saint John Bosco John Melchior Bosco , SDB ( Italian : Giovanni Melchiorre Bosco ; Piedmontese : Gioann Melchior Bòsch ; 16 August 1815  – 31 January 1888), popularly known as Don Bosco ( IPA : [ˈdɔm ˈbɔsko, bo-] ),

1512-416: The Society of St. Francis de Sales. That was the nucleus of the Salesians, the religious order that would carry on his work. When the group had its next meeting, it voted on the admission of Joseph Rossi as a lay member, the first Salesian brother. The Salesian Congregation was divided into priests, seminarians, and coadjutors (the lay brothers). Bosco then worked with Mary Mazzarello and a group of girls in

1566-424: The art of printing and publishing in view of future employment. Bosco had been popularly known as the patron saint of illusionists. On 30 January 2002, Silvio Mantelli petitioned Pope John Paul II to declare Bosco formally to the patron of stage magicians . Catholic stage magicians who practice gospel magic venerate Bosco by offering free magic shows to underprivileged children on his feast day. Bosco's work

1620-540: The city, Bosco found the traditional methods of parish ministry to be inefficient. He decided that it was necessary to try another form of apostolate, and he began to meet the boys where they worked and gathered in shops and marketplaces. They were pavers, stonecutters, masons, and plasterers who had come from far away, as he recalled in his brief Memoires . The Oratorio was not simply a charitable institution, and its activities were not limited to Sundays. For Don Bosco, it became his permanent occupation. He looked for jobs for

1674-462: The efforts and contracts, the situation of the apprentices of the time remained difficult. One influential friend was the Piedmontese justice minister Urbano Rattazzi . He was anticlerical in his politics but saw some value in Bosco's work. While Rattazzi was pushing a bill through the Sardinian legislature to suppress religious orders, he advised Bosco on how to get around the law. He found

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1728-742: The expansion of the Salesian Bulletin : In May 1878, a controversy began between Don Bosco and the Archbishop of Turin , Lawrence Gastaldi, when Gastaldi prohibited a campaign to gather funds for the construction of Saint John the Evangelist church that was made by the Salesian Bulletin in May 1878. Gastaldi saw the project of Don Bosco as opposed to the construction of other church dedicated to late Pope Pius IX. The Salesian Bulletin published an article on April, The Salesian Cooperators to

1782-580: The first contracts of apprenticeship to be found in Turin. All of them are signed by the employer, the apprentice, and Don Bosco. In those contracts, Don Bosco touched on many sensitive issues. Some employers customarily made servants and scullery boys of the apprentices. Don Bosco obliged them to agree to employ the boys only in their acknowledged trade. Employers used to beat the boys, and Don Bosco required them to agree that corrections be made only verbally. He cared for their health and demanded that they be given rest on feast days and an annual holiday. Despite all

1836-623: The great news to the oratory. On 5 February, he announced the fact in a circular letter to all Salesians asking volunteers to apply in writing. He proposed for the first missionary departure to start in October. There were many volunteers. In the years that Bosco had spent running his oratory and giving spiritual and practical instruction to the boys he had housed there, he relied on a different approach to education and general instruction, which he believed to be superior to traditional educational methods, such as school discipline , which he labelled as

1890-631: The hill town of Mornese . In 1871, he founded a group of religious sisters to do for girls what the Salesians were doing for boys. They were called the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians . In 1874, he founded yet another group, the Salesian Cooperators , who were mostly lay people who would work for young people like the Daughters and the Salesians but would not join a religious order. The first Salesians departed for Argentina in 1875. After his ordination, Bosco himself would have become

1944-605: The ideals that had been exported by Revolutionary France, as part of the process of dechristianization of France during the French Revolution , and called Rousseau and Voltaire "two vicious leaders of incredulity". He favoured an ultramontane view of politics that acknowledged the supreme authority of the pope. In 1854, when the Sardinia-Piedmont was about to pass a law suppressing monastic orders and confiscating ecclesiastical properties, Bosco reported

1998-530: The intervention of the then prime minister, Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour . The king's family suffered several deaths in a short period. From January to May 1855, the king's mother Maria Theresa of Austria (aged 54), his wife Adelaide of Austria (aged 32), their newborn son Vittorio Emanuele, Count of Genoa (nearly four months old), and his only brother, Prince Ferdinando, Duke of Genoa (aged 32), all died. Opposition to Bosco and his work came from various quarters. Traditionalist clergy accused him of stealing

2052-459: The king that Bosco was not to be disturbed. Several attempts were also made on Bosco's life, including a near-stabbing, bludgeoning, and a shooting. Early biographers put that down to the growing influence of the Waldensians in opposition to Catholic clergy. Some of the boys helped by Don Bosco decided to do what he was doing: working in the service of abandoned boys. That was the origin of

2106-515: The noise coming from the boys at play. A formal complaint was lodged against them with the municipality. Rumours also circulated that the meetings conducted by the priest with his boys were dangerous; their recreation could be turned into a revolution against the government. The group was evicted. In the archives of the Salesian Congregation is a contract of apprenticeship, dated November 1851; another one on stamped paper costing 40 cents, dated 8 February 1852; and others have later dates. They are among

2160-419: The object of studies by scholars throughout the 20th century. Salesian schools strive for strict discipline and order, while avoiding any kind of physical punishment, however, in his book The Devil's Advocate - Child abuse and the men in black , author and former Salesian pupil Graham Wilmer MBE, describes the levels of violence he and other pupils suffered at the hands of Salesian priests in Salesian schools in

2214-403: The performance. The money that he needed to prepare the shows was taken from selling the birds that he hunted and given to him by his mother. Poverty prevented any serious attempt at schooling. His early years were spent as a shepherd, and he received his first instruction from Don Calosso who "was impressed by John’s memory and understanding of the sermons he had heard at a parish mission in

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2268-701: The recidivism of young offenders. He began to work with orphaned and abandoned boys, teaching them catechism and helping them find work. Upon completion of his studies, Cafasso secured for Bosco an appointment as almoner of the Rifugio (Refuge), a girls' boarding school founded in Turin by the Marchioness Giulia di Barolo, so that he could remain in Turin. His other ministries included visiting prisoners, teaching catechism , and helping out at many country parishes. Because of population growth and migration to

2322-434: The subscribers of his Salesian Bulletin , which he founded in August 1877, he wrote frequently and voluminously. Though Don Bosco was described as more of a man of action than a scholar, he wrote, adapted and published many works on religion, history, catechesis and Catholic church. The full list of his publications is available in a dedicated website salesian.online . He penned the 1881 A Compendium of Italian History from

2376-412: The unemployed. Some of the boys did not have sleeping quarters and slept under bridges or in bleak public dormitories. Twice, he tried to provide lodgings in his house. The first time, they stole the blankets; the second, time, they emptied the hayloft. He did not give up, and in May 1847, he gave shelter to a young boy from Valencia in one of the three rooms he was renting in the slums of Valdocco, where he

2430-598: The veneration of the Most Holy Sacrament and Mary Help of Christians (Don Bosco, Association of the Devotees of Mary Help of Christians, San Benigno Canavese, 1890, page 33). In 1875, Bosco began to publish the Salesian Bulletin . The Bulletin has remained in continuous publication, and is currently published in 50 different editions and 30 languages. In 1876, he founded a movement of laity,

2484-596: The world. As for 2010, the Bulletin was published in 56 different editions and 29 languages for 135 countries. The Salesian Bulletin was established by Don Bosco. It was linked initially with the foundation of the Association of Salesian Cooperators and the first Salesian missionaries in the Americas . Don Bosco intended that the Bulletin, as the official publication of the Salesian Congregation, "will link Salesians and cooperators." The Salesian Bulletin comes from

2538-497: The young and old people away from their own parishes. Nationalist politicians, including some clergy, saw his several hundred young men as a recruiting ground for revolution. The Marquis de Cavour, the chief of police in Turin, regarded the open-air catechisms as overtly political and a threat to the state and was highly suspicious of Bosco's support for the powers of the papacy. Bosco was interrogated on several occasions; no charges were made. Closure may have been prevented by orders from

2592-426: Was an Italian Catholic priest, educator and writer of the 19th century. While working in Turin , where the population suffered many of the ill effects of industrialization and urbanization , he dedicated his life to the betterment and education of street children , juvenile delinquents , and other disadvantaged youth. He developed teaching methods based on love rather than punishment, a method that became known as

2646-692: Was attended by thousands. The Archdiocese of Turin investigated, and witnesses were called to determine if Bosco was worthy to be declared a saint. The Salesians, Daughters, and Cooperators gave supportive testimonies. Pope Pius XI had known Bosco and pushed the cause forward. Pius XI beatified Bosco on 2 June 1929 and canonised him on Easter Sunday (1 April) 1934, when he was given the title of "Father and Teacher of Youth". Pope Pius XII proclaimed him patron saint of Catholic publishers in 1949. His repertoire of writings and publications consists of over 220 titles collected in 38 volumes. They were printed at his own peerless paper-to-print workshop, where boys learned

2700-509: Was carried on by an early pupil, collaborator, and companion, Michael Rua , who was appointed rector major of the Salesian Society by Pope Leo XIII in 1888. He is remembered in the Church of England with a commemoration on 31 January. Bosco is the patron saint of Brasília , which he supposedly foresaw in a dream concerning an extraordinary new civilization that would flourish in central Brazil. Many educational institutions are named after him, in countries as diverse as Australia, India,

2754-529: Was involuntarily without work or fell ill. On 18 April 1869, one year after the construction of the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Turin , Bosco established the Association of Mary Help of Christians (ADMA) connecting it with commitments easily fulfilled by most common people, to the spirituality and the mission of the Salesian Congregation (CG 24 SDB, 1996, NR. 80). The ADMA was founded to promote

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2808-432: Was living with his mother. He and his mother began taking in orphans. The boys sheltered by Don Bosco numbered 36 in 1852, 115 in 1854, 470 in 1860, and 600 in 1861, reaching a maximum of 800 sometime later. Bosco and his oratory moved around town for several years; he was turned out of several places in succession. After only two months based in the church of St. Martin, the entire neighbourhood expressed its annoyance with

2862-443: Was ten years old started watching his classmates' attitudes, and in every fight was the referee. The older boys were scared of him because he knew their strengths and their weaknesses. When travelling entertainers performed at a local feast in the nearby hills, he watched and studied the jugglers' tricks and the acrobats' secrets. He would then put on shows of his skills as a juggler, magician, and acrobat, with prayers before and after

2916-487: Was through educational novels and narrative pedagogy. Though some of the ideas were not innovative, Bosco having drawn the inspiration for his system through the contemporary criticisms of the punitive and outdated educational systems prevalent in Europe during his time, and he was one of the first to combat it and to put his criticisms into practice. Though Bosco's written works were little known outside of his own order and

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