Contents:
- Introduction
- The Feast of the Assumption at Peking
- Don Bosco’s missionary dreams
Egidio Viganò – Vatican II, still a powerful force at the present day
Content:
- Introduction
- Pentecostal atmosphere
- Twenty years of accelerated history
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Egidio Viganò – The Salesian Family
Contents:
- Introduction
- Fidelity to a precious heritage
- Don Bosco belongs to the Church
- Don Bosco father of a spiritual family
Egidio Viganò – The Challenge of Synod 80
Contents:
- 1. The recent Episcopal Synod
- 2. The importance of the family theme
- 3. Inspirational highlights of the Synod
- 4. Two basic principles: love and life
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Egidio Viganò – ln the ever-growing splendour of the gospel
Contents:
- Our over-riding choice for Christ
- Unravelling the coils of ambiguity
- The seventies and the announcing of the Gospel
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Egidio Viganò – The lay element in the Salesian community
Contents:
- 1. The uniqueness of our Society
- 2. The Salesian Brother delineated
- 3. Identity struggle
- 4. In what does this lay aspect consist?
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Arthur Lenti – Don Bosco’s political and religious concerns during the liberal revolution
Fr. Arthur Lenti, in a second article, invites us to enter the political and ecclesiastical world of Don Bosco through his letters never published before in English. The letters add insight to the always intriguing question of Don Bosco’s involvement in the naming of bishops.
Charles N. Bransom – Sons of Don Bosco, successors of the apostles, salesian bishops
Charles N. Bransom, Jr. has graciously offered his study of Salesian Bishops for our publication. This study of 196 Salesian bishops stands as a historical record of Salesian presence in the hierarchical Church.
Mary Greenan – Towards intimacy: beyond power games and control needs
Sr. Mary Greenan, FMA presents the theme of collaboration in a commentary on the recent letter of Fr. Juan Edmundo Vecchi, rector major of the Salesian Society, and Mother Antonia Colombo, superior general of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians.
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Arthur Lenti – Politics of the “Our Father” and the holy father: Don Bosco’s mediation in Church-State affairs
Fr. Arthur J. Lenti tells the story of Don Bosco’ s efforts to mediate between the Holy See and the Italian government during the tense years of Italian unification. Of special importance was the appointment of bishops. After offering background on the historical events leading to the estrangement between the Church and state in Italy, the author goes to the sources in an effort to answer the question why someone so politically unimportant as Don Bosco, should become involved in a capacity of “negotiator.”
Giovanni Bosco – Indicators to the Holy see for the choice of new bishops for vacant sees (1867-1877)
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.
Giovanni Bosco – Interventions to solve the matter of Bishops’ ‘Temporalities’ (1872-1874)
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.