In our essay we shall examine the meaning and application of “punishment” and “discipline” as found in Don Bosco’s educational writings. It was a subject to which he returned time and time again-and for good reason.
Continue reading “Michael Ribotta – Tough love is not the answer- Don Bosco’s views on punishment”
In retrospect, one can appreciate why Don Bosco had become so distraught by the message that was played out in his dream (reverie?) during his Roman sojourn of 1884. His old friends, Joseph Buzzelli and Ferdinando Valfre, had demonstrated all too realistically what he could expect when the educational principles of his Sistema Preventivo and the “love environment” he strove so hard to cultivate for 40 years at the Oratory had been allowed to dissipate.
Continue reading “Michael Ribotta – The Roman Letter of 1884 and its aftermath”
The present essay has a rather modest aim. Steering clear of the complexities of a biographical reconstruction, it will simply describe Don Rosco’s last years, including his last illness and death, with focus on the person, and with emphasis on words and attitudes.
But if Marseilles was so close, why did “Paolino” Albera not come to Turin during those final days of January 1888? Why was he not at Don Bosco’s bedside? How did the death of his spiritual father and mentor impact on him?
Continue reading “Joseph Boenzi – Paolo Albera’s visits during Don Bosco’s last illness”
In the first part of his study on the “Bosco-Gastaldi conflict”, Arthur Lenti drew attention to another figure similarly involved in a painful controversy with the Archbishop of Turin, namely Sr. Marie-Louise-Angelique Clarac, foundress of the Sisters of Charity of St. Mary, also known as the Sisters of Charity of Good Counsel.
A young Italian immigrant, Angelo Petazzi, watched anxiously as the English steamship, the Werra, approached New York harbor. Clutched in his hand was a letter from the then Salesian superior general, Father Michael Rua, which informed him of the impending arrival of a group of four Salesians in New York. At their head was Father Raphael Piperni.
Thus the approval of the Salesian Constitutions in April 1874 was followed by a second and more bitterly fought phase of the conflict.
Continue reading “Arthur Lenti – The Bosco-Gastaldi conflict (1872-82), Part II”
Peter Ricaldone was a major superior of the Salesian Society for forty years, half of them as rector major.
“If Don Bosco during his student years had one special preference, it was for reading history,” noted Father Alberto Caviglia in his exhaustive study of Don Bosco’s Storia d’ Italia. “In fact, one can say he had a predilection for historical studies”.
Mossi dallo Spirito di Dio, i Fondatori di famiglie religiose nella Chiesa si trovano a far fronte a situazioni storiche le più diverse e a volte le più imprevedibili. «Dal punto di vista storico-teologico sono estremamente varie le modalità con cui un Fondatore (o Fondatrice) ha dato origine a un Ordine o a una Congregazione religiosa. Sono pure assai diversi i gradi di coinvolgimento nella vita dell’Istituto da lui fondato».
Turin’s EXPO ’84 was to become the bittersweet culmination of Don Bosco’s remarkable and varied career as publisher, author, and printer.
For almost 40 years he had been active in the cause of the Catholic press and as editor of educational publications.
The conflict between Archbishop Lawrence Gastaldi and Don Bosco may at first sight appear to have been, to put a facile contemporary label on it, a typical confrontation between institution and charism.
Continue reading “Arthur Lenti – The Bosco-Gastaldi Conflict (1872-82), Part I”
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