Arthur Lenti – “The Convitto Ecclesiastico – «Where one learnt to be a priest»” in “Journal of Salesian Studies”

Don Bosco then goes on to describe the nature and purpose of the Convitto. It was a kind of ‘ finishing school’ where (he says) “one learnt to be a priest.”

He speaks of the people who were responsible for it and for its program; and he makes specific reference to the ideological context and the matrix of thought which had determined its founding.

INDEX

• Introduction
• Historical Context: Trends in Theology and Ecclesiology
• The Jesuits and Their Activity
• The ‘Amicizie’
• The Congregation of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary
• Projects for the Convitto
• The Convitto Established at St. Francis of Assisi
• Life and Spirit at the Convitto
• Academic Activity at the Convitto
• Practical Pastoral Experiences of the Convitto Students
• The Convitto’s Survival and Growth: The Guala Rectorate (1817-1848)
• The Convitto’s Halcyon Period: The Cafasso Rectorate (1848-1860)
• The Convitto After Fr. Cafasso: Crisis in the Gastaldi Period (1860-1876)
• The Convitto’s Deepening Crisis and Closure
• Fr. Giuseppe Allamano and the New Convitto
• Conclusion

Reference time period: 1814 – 1882

Reference institution:
Institute of Salesian Studies