DON BOSCO- HIS SUCCESSORS


DON BOSCO- HIS SUCCESSORS

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Don Bosco & His Successors
____________________________________
Founder
Becchi, Italy.
Don Bosco
(1815-1888)
• 1851 - first 4 received cassock.
• 1854 - his collaborators called Salesians.
• 1855 - Rua proffesed the 3 vows.
• 1857 - received'go ahead' signal from Rattazzi.
• 1858 - a draft of the constitution is presented to Pius IX.
• 1859 – first ‘Act of the society’ was drawn up, 18 members. Salesian society formed.
• 14/5/1862-22 made their profession.
1869
1874
1881
1888
SDB Nv.
62 31
148 103
452 144
773 276
Hse.
4
8
36
58
Year Place No. Days
GC1 1877 Lanzo 23 13
GC2 1880 Lanzo 27 13
GC3 1883 Valsa 35
6
GC4 1886 Valsa 37
6
Valsa = Valsalice

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Blessed Michael Rua
(1837-1910)
Rector Major (1888-1910) 22 yrs
Valdocco, Italy.
• John Baptist Rua was an inspector in an ammunitions factory.
• Last of 9 children. Lost his father at 8.
• 1845 - came to know Don Bosco.
• 1852 - entered the boarding.
• 1853 - began Philosophy in the seminary of Turin.
• 29/7/1860 - Priest at Caselle. Spiritual Director, In-charge of Education, Director of Oratory at Vanchiglia.
• 1863 - Rector at Mirabello.
• 1865 - at Valdocco, economer, discipline (700 boys). He was more father than superior. Fidelity to Don
Bosco and Charism. International development.
SDB Nv. Hse
1889 881 320 64
1898 2322 783 220
1905 3349 630 333
1910 4001 371 387
GC5
GC6
GC7
GC8
GC9
GC10
Year Place
1889 Valsa
1889 Valsa
1889 Valsa
1889 Valsa
1889 Valsa
1889 Valsa
No. Days
42
4
69
8
93
4
146
5
131
4
75 21

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Fr. Paul Alberta
(1844-1921)
Rector Major (1910-1921)11 yrs.
At None, between Turin and Pinerolo.
• Youngest of 7 children.
• First met Don Bosco in Oct. 1858 at the Parish of None Friend of Magone.
• He was called DB's Benjamin.
• Became SDB in 1862, one among the first 22.
• 22/8/1868 ordained at Casale. Then appointed prefect in Turin. .
• 1871 - made rector at Marassi.
• 1881 appointed Provincial of France.
• 1892 - He was chosen as Catechist General.
• 1910 - when he was elected Rector Major he received only a very slight majority of votes over Fr. Rinaldi
who was then prefect of the congregation. Thinking of his poor health he said, ‘I'm afraid that you will
soon have to have another election'.
• His central concern was for the interior life, the spirituality of the Salesians and the consolidation of
formation.
SDB Nv.
1911 4090 310
1915 4257 446
1918 4447 434
1921 4638 437
Hse.
396
354
370
413
Year Place No. Days
GC11 1910 Valsa 73 13

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Bl. Philip Rinaldi
(1856-1931)
Rector Major (1922-1931) 9 yrs
At Lu, in Monferrato, Piedmont. Adult vocation.
• Hesitated a long time before answering God's call and became a priest because of the encouragement of
DB.
• At the age of 5 when meeting DB for the first time he said, "That priest is more important than a
bishop".
• 1866 he entered Mirabello to discern his vocation.
• Could not get along with assistant. Left the school.
• 1876 - Don Bosco visited him and he followed him.
• Later in moments of crisis Fr. Albera helped him.
• 1882. ordained priest in obedience to Don Bosco.
• 1883. in-charge of late vocations.
• 1889 - Rua asked him to go to Spain.
• 1892-1901 - Provincial of Spain.
• 1901 -1922 - Prefect general of the congregation.
• Known for his fatherliness & kindness.
• Founder of Volunteers of Don Bosco (VDB).
SDB Nv. Hse.
1923 4975 523 457
1927 6312 772 596
1929 7170 898 629
1931 8059 895 692
Year
Place No. Days
GC13 1922
Valdo 64 16
GC12 1929 Valsalice 88 12

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Fr. Peter Ricaldone
(1870-1951)
Rector Major (1932-1951) 19 yrs He was one of the last of the first generation who really saw Don Bosco.
Born at Mirabello as son of a well-to-do farmer. He was a lively child.
• It was at Borgo San Martino that Peter managed to speak to DB.
• He first entered the diocesan seminary then in 1889
• He decided to enter the Salesian Novitiate at Valsalice and made the perpetual profession in 1890.
• Ordained on 27/5/1893. In 1901 he was made Provincial of Seville.
• 1898 - Fr. Rua sent him as his personal delegate to visit the houses in South America.
• From 1911-1927 he took charge of the technical schools as a consulter on the superior chapter.
• He made sure that the Coadjutors were well taught.
• Sent by Fr. Albera, he visited N & Central America from 1911-1912.
• 1919 - he went to Egypt and Palestine.
• 1922 - he was elected prefect general.
• 1926-1927 - he visited the sdbs in India, Japan, Thailand, Burma, China.
Consolidating the congregation through reorganization, promoting trade schools, developing catechetics
through publishing houses, -LDC.
1941: 100 yrs of origin. World war II. 1940 Recognition of the faculty of theology at the Crocetta as the
Pontiflcial Salesian Athenaum.
Year
Place No. Days
GC14 1932
Valdocco 87
2
GC15 1938 Rebaudengo 105
13
GC16 1947
Valsalice 111
18
Year
1934 9449
1942 12521
1947 13583
1951 15182
Place
959
795
943
1182
No.
757
1080
1076
Days

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Fr. Renato Ziggiotti
(1892-1983)
Rector Major (1952-1965) 13 yrs. First RM to resign.
Born in Campodoro, Padua on 9/10/1892.
• At 9 came to the Salesian house at Este. His Parish Priest wanted him to enter the diocesan Seminary.
• 1908 - entered the Novitiate
• 1909 - made his profession in the presence of Don Rua.
o World War I, called up in 1915, became lieutenant in the artillery,
o wounded in the arm 1917 in the hospital he studied Theology,
o demobilized only in 1919 with the rank of Captain.
• Ordained on 8/12/1920. Wanted very much to be a missionary.
• He was chosen thrice but each time something prevented him.
• 1931 - He was made Provincial of Central Province. After 4 yrs he was sent as the Provincial of Sicily.
• 1937 - He was called to the superior chapter to become the prefect general of education.
o Under Fr. Ricaldone's direction he organized the philosophical and theological studies and the
development of the schools of the congregation.
• As RM in 1954 he criss-crossed Europe, at the end of the year he started a tour of the world (Asia,
Australia, USA and Canada)
• 1956 to Central America, then to Latin America & South America.
Re-launched the Congregation after the War. Strengthened the world wide character of the
Congregation through his long journeys.
A man of God, he endeavoured to promote through his work and through his writings the spiritual life
of the Salesians. He was an Optimist. He revived the sodalities.
He witnessed the canonization of Dominic Savio in 1954. He transferred PS A to Rome.
Participated in 1st session of Vatican II in 1962.
1955
1960
1963
1965
SDB
17161
19295
20562
21185
Nv.
1079
1250
1285
1198
Hse.
1198
1343
1327
1371
Year Place
GC17 1952 Valdoco
GC18 1958 Valdoco
No. Days
102 14
119 13

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Rector Major (1965-1977) 12 yrs.
Born in Mineo, near Catania, in Sicily.
Fr. Luigi Ricceri
(1901-1989)
• Ordained at 24 in 1925.
• In 1942 he was appointed Provincial of the sub-alpine province.
• In 1953 while he was the provincial of Milan Fr. Ziggioti made him a member of the superior chapter.
• He was in charge of the Co-operators and the press.
• He improved the quality of the Co-operators by concentrating on their training and selection.
• He had the Italian Salesian Bulletin printed in offset with abundant illustrations.
• During the GC 19th which started on 8/4/1965 (between 3rd &4th session of Vat. II) Fr. Ziggiotti insisted
on not standing for re-election which came as a surprise for the electors and Ricceri was chosen to be the
6th successor of DB.
• A challenge was to confront the living tradition of DB with the needs of the time.
• Following topics were discussed in the GC:
o Structure of the Congregation,
o Formation and life of Salesians
o Work of the Salesian apostolate,
o Education of boys ,
o Constitutions & regulations.
o Number of counsellors was raised to 9.
o Post-Conciliar period (of crisis).
o Stressed the importance of Brother
Vocation & communications.
Year Place No. Days
GC19 1965
PAS 151 53
SDB Nv. Hse.
SGC2 1971-2 Pisana 202 206
1968 21492 972 1427
1971 19737 686 1454
1973 18386 536 1500
1977 16599 420 1584

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Fr. Egidio Vigano
(1920-1995)
Rector Major (1977-1995) 18 yrs
Egidio Vigano, the seventh successor of Don Bosco was born in Lombardia, Italy, on 26/6/1920.
• He became a Salesian in 1936.
• From 1939 to 1971 he spent his Life as a missionary in Chile.
• He participated in Vatican II as an expert Theologian.
• From 1977 to 1995 he guided the Salesian congregation to greater stability and expansion as the Rector
Major of the congregation.
• For two years he also served the church as the President of the Union of Superior Generals (USG).
• As a member nominated by the Pope, he participated in six synods of bishops from 1980 to 1994 and the
major Latin American Bishop's Conferences.
• He will be remembered for his number of theological and spiritual publications. He launched "Project Africa"
and strengthened the Salesian Family.
• He sought to redefine the Salesian charism so as to adapt it to the new times.
• After a period of suffering from tumour, he died on 23/6/1995
Year Place No. Days
1980
1985
1990
1995
SDB
16412
17046
16984
16899
Nv. Hse.
513 1814
656 1513
647 1641
657 1770
GC21 1977 Pisan
GC22 1884 Pisan
GC23 1990 Pisan
184 103
186 120
205 62

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Fr. Juan Vecchi
(1931-2002)
Rector Major (1995-2002) 6 yrs. First RM from the Missions.
Juan Edmundo Vecchi, the eighth successor of Don Bosco was born as the last among seven children at Viedma
in 1931 to an Italian couple who settled down in Argentina.
• He made his first religious profession in 1948 and in 1958 he was ordained priest.
• He participated in the 20th General Chapter as a delegate.
• From 1972 to 1977 he served the congregation as a Regional Councillor in the General Council and from
1977 to 1990 he rendered his service to the congregation as the Councillor for Youth Pastoral.
• Elected in 1990 as the Vicar General of the congregation, he carried it out faithfully till 1996, but at the
death of Father Vigano in 1995 he had to take upon himself the added responsibility of guiding the
congregation into the 24th General Chapter during which he was elected as the Rector Major on 20th March
1996, a responsibility he carried out faithfully and with much difficulty especially in the last days because
of his serious illness.
• He died at the infirmary of UPS on 23/1/02 at the age of 70.
He underlined the cultural dimension of formation. He stressed the educational and pastoral nature of Salesian
action as he launched the idea of an updated PS. He developed the 'project mentality' and working with laity &
Salesian Family.
1996
1997
1998
1998
SDB
16823
16761
16680
16596
Nv.
602
602
547
504
Hse.
1772
1792
1809
1831
Year Place No. Days
GC24 1996 Pisana 208 62

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Rector Major (2002-)
Fr. Pascual Chavez Villanueva
Mexican, was born on Dec. 19, 1947 at Real de Catorce (San Luis de Potosi), a mining area in the centre of
Northern Mexico.
Later, his family moved to Saltillo (in the state of Coahuila) where Pascual attended the Salesian school,
"Colegio Mexico"; this is where his vocation began and he pursued his goal of following Don Bosco.
• He made his first profession at Coacalco in August 1964, and made his perpetual profession at Guadalajara in 1970.
• He was ordained a priest on the 8th of December 1973 at "Perla Tapatia", the capital of the state of Jalisco.
• He spent the first years of his ministry among the young Salesians of the formation community of Chapalita
(Guadalajara).
• From 1975 to 1977 he studied at the Biblical Institute in Rome where he obtained his Licentiate in Sacred
Scripture.
• He was the Rector of the Theological Institute of San Pedro Tlaquepaque from 1980 to 1988 where he taught
Sacred Scripture.
• From 1986 to 1989 he was also a Provincial Councillor of the Province of Mexico-Guadalajara.
• From 1989 to 1994 he was Provincial of the same Province, which comprises the whole northern part of Mexico
right up to the border with the United States.
• In 1995 he began his Doctorate in Biblical Theology and took up residence at Madrid-Carabanchel where he stayed
till he obtained his degree from the Pontifical University of Salamanca (Spain).
• In 1996, during the GC24, Fr. Vecchi called him over the telephone and asked him to become a regional councillor,
even though he was not a member. The new Rector Major's mother tongue is Spanish, but he is also fluent in
English and Italian, and understands German, French and Hebrew as well. In addition to his ecclesiastical degrees,
Fr. Chavez is also a qualified teacher in science subjects. Both the types of formation have made him a solidly
spiritual person.
SDB
1999 16692
2000 16502
2001 16422
Nv. Hsc.
504
512
491 2073
Year Place No. Days
GC25 2002 Pisan 231 51