1-A.-Lenti-The-Bosco-Gastaldi-Conflict-1872-82-Part-I%281993%29


1-A.-Lenti-The-Bosco-Gastaldi-Conflict-1872-82-Part-I%281993%29



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THE BOSCO-GASTALDI CONFLICT
(1872-1 882)
[PART I]
Arthur J. Leoti, SDB
General Introduction
(1) Nature and Serious Character of the Conflict
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. It was indeed a clash between
episcopal authority as claimed by an ordinary and the freedom sought by the
founder of a new (and different) religious congregation. But the confrontation
should be seen as an event within a particular moment in history and as deriving
its specific character from it. It was a time when the Church, pitted against the
encroachments of the liberal state, after the First Vatican Council and the
triumph of Ultrarnontanism, was struggling to "redefine" the nature and extent of
those competencies, and to institute reforms within the ranks of both the secular
and the regular clergy. Furthermore, the engagement was between two men risen
to preeminence from vastly different cultural and educational backgrounds, and
working in the same city with different conceptions in theology and pastoral
practice.
The conflict acquired unusual asperity from the strong personalities of
the protagonists, and their belief in the rightness of their cause, as well as from
the actions of subalterns. The archbishop regarded Don Bosco's opposition as a
rejection of his episcopal authority. At first, Don Bosco looked upon the
archbishop's opposition as a failure to understand; later, he experienced it as
outright persecution. Don Bosco's perception that he himself personally, his
Salesians and the Congregation, were the object of an unjust and systematic
persecution by his own archbishop, from whom he had hoped to have not only
understanding, but also encouragement and support, and this in the very diocese
and very city of the Congregation's origin and best work, made it all the harder
to bear.

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The Bosco-Gastaldi Conflict
Inevitably members of the diocesan clergy and of the nascent Salesian
Congregation were drawn into the quarrel together with the principals, and the
affair did not fail to engage also the press and public opinion.
The serious character of the clash is evidenced, on the one hand by the
fact that the clergy of the diocese of Turin has retained a memory of the conflict
as distinctive of Gastaldi's episcopacy; and on the other hand by the fact that the
Salesian biographical tradition has given much attention to it, with an obviously
partisan slant. The resentful, sometimes angry feelings surfacing in the tradition
reflect the painful experiences of those difficult years. And such feelings are
understandable in the light of the fact that from the start the conflict took the
form of opposition to the official and definitive approval of the Salesian Society
and its constitutions, and that, at a later stage, it resulted in obstructions to the
process of Don Bosco's beatification.
(2) Length and Complexity of the Conflict
The confrontation was a long drawn-out affair that, beginning with the
archbishop's appointment in 1871, lasted more than a decade. And it was really
the archbishop's death in 1883, which preceded Don Bosco's by some five years,
rather than the reconciliation (Concordia) enforced in 1882, that brought it to an
end. It was also a complex affair. The complex character of the conflict is
evidenced by the fact that it went beyond the phase of the approval of the
Salesian Constitutions (1874). At this stage, the archbishop's brief was chiefly
with the alleged lack of religious spirit among Salesians and with inadequate
provisions for study and formation in the constitutions themselves. But the
conflict continued unabated over matters pertaining to episcopal authority and
pastoral practices, and it finally degenerated into a legal battle before the
Church's highest tribunal for alleged personal attacks on the archbishop by the
Salesians through anonymous defamatory pamphlets.
As the issues multiplied and as the exchanges dragged on over a long
period of time, the conflict acquired complexity in yet another sense. The terms
of the confrontation themselves appear fairly straightforward. But a number of
incidental elements, less definable and more elusive, came between to befog the
dialogue and to give rise to a tangled skein of misunderstandings and suspicions:
the personality of the protagonists (already mentioned) and the difficulty of
ascertaining their real behavioral motivations; the role of the lesser figures
revolving and acting within the orbits of the principals; the network of
intersecting interests and relationships; the tangled jumble of ecclesiastical
gossip; the provocation of the anticlerical press.

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Journal of Salesian Studies
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These and other interfering factors affected the quality of the abundant
archival material both published and unpublished.1 In addition, the polemical
climate in which the material originated affected its shape then, and renders its
reliability problematic now. It is always difficult, and often impossible, to get to
what really happened; namely, to disengage the words actually spoken from the
maze of hearsay reports, or from words attributed to various persons whether in
good or bad faith. A further problem peculiar to the literature originating with
the Salesian part lies in the psychological conditioning consequent upon Don
Bosco's canonization and the celebration of his holiness. Hence, one must rely
on the scholarly literature available on the subject for guidance in the matter.
3) Method Employed in the Present Study
In view of its length and complexity, the story of the conflict will be told in two
parts. In the present installment I will describe the phase connected with the
approval of the Salesian Constitutions (1872-1874). The further developments of
the confrontation will be surveyed in the concluding installment.
However, I think it helpful, for a better understanding of the affair, to
preface the whole treatment with a somewhat detailed biographical sketch of
Lawrence Gastaldi. Who was Lawrence Gastaldi? Our readers may be familiar
with the life story of one of the protagonists, Don Bosco, but they may not be
quite as familiar with the cursus vitae et honorum of the other. A knowledge of
the man and of his work will enable us to gain a better perspective on the
conflict, its phases and episodes.
SECTION ONE: LAWRENCE GASTALDI-A BIOGRAPHICAL
SKETCH
Introduction
Of Lawrence Gastaldi we now possess a valuable critical biography by Giuseppe
Tuninetti, 2 and the sketch which follows is based almost entirely on it.
1 The Vatican archives, Turin diocesan archives, and Salesian archives.
Much material is held in lhe Archivio Salesiano Centrale [ASC] (Fondo Don Bosco
Microfiches [FDBM]): in ASC 123: Persone: [i] Franchetti, FDBM 591 B7-603 07;
[ii] Gastaldi, FDBM 614 A5-619 A2; Gastaldi e i Salesiani, FDBM 619 A3-676 B2;
Gastaldi-Bertagna, FDBM 676 B3-679 C9; [iii] in ASC 133: Pubblicazioni,
Esposizione, FDBM 317 07-324 Al.1
2 Giuseppe Tuninetti, Lorenzo Castaldi 1815-1883 (Casale Monferrato:
PIEMME, 2 Vols., 1983 & 1988). Vol. I: Teologo, publicista, rosminiano, vescovo
di Saluzzo (1815 -1871); Vol. II: Arcivescovo di Torino (1871-1883). [Hereafter,
Tuninetti, Castaldi I & II]

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Lawrence Gastaldi, in many ways a controversial figure, stands out as
one of the most distinguished bishops of nineteenth century Italy, and one whose
influence extended beyond the archdiocese of Turin. His was a multifaceted
personality, rich in natural and acquired endowments. He was a man of many
interests and diversified involvement-a scholar, a patriot, a theologian, a man
devoted to prayer and asceticism, a priest fired with zeal, a bishop driven by deep
commitment to the Church. The flaws under which he labored, and which were
the cause of much suffering to himself and to others, should not blind us to the
reality of his outstanding achievements. The protracted struggle with Don Bosco
over a variety of issues (which forms the object of the present inquiry) is
certainly not the only thing for which he should be remembered.
I. Lawrence Gastaldi's Early Life to His Appointment as Bishop
of Saluzzo (1815-1867)
1. Family, Education, and Priesthood
Lawrence Gastaldi was born in Turin on March 18, 1815 (some five months
before Don Bosco), as the monarchies were being "restored" by the Congress of
Vienna, following upon the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte. He was the eldest of
the thirteen children born to Bartolomeo Gastaldi and Margherita Volpato. His
parents, both originally from the Chieri area, were people of good family and
considerable fortune.3
Lawrence received his first education, and his first moral and religious
guidance outside his family, from the Jesuits at the Collegio del Carmine, also
called Collegio dei Nobili, which he attended as a day student.
His father, a successful attorney, would have liked his oldest son to
study law and follow him in that profession. Lawrence, however, chose the
priestly vocation. In 1829, at the age of 14, he received the clerical habit and
started his studies at the University of Turin as a non-resident seminarian.4 He
3 Tuninetti, Castaldi I, 12-16.
4 The non-resident seminary (chiericato esterno) was an institution for the
training of candidates to the priesthood which did not require residence at a seminary.
It was popular in the first half of the nineteenth century in the dioceses of the
Kingdom of Sardinia and throughout Italy. Many candidates availed themselves of it,
especially in the city of Turin. The non-resident seminarians would live at home or in
lodgings and attend lectures either at the seminary or at the university. They would
belong to one of three "clerical communities" established at designated parishes in
Turin, where they met as scheduled for prayer and where they would receive formation
and direction. It is believed that this practice was responsible for the poor education
and spiritual formation of the clergy in Italy in the eighteenth and nineteenth
century. This was obviously not universally true, and certainly not in Gastaldi's case.

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Journal of Salesian Studies
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was awarded the diploma in philosophy and liberal arts in 1831, and the doctorate
in theology in 1836. He was ordained a priest by Archbishop Luigi Fransoni in
1837, and the following year he was admitted to the university's theological
faculty. While still in theological studies, he had been voted to membership in
the Accademia Solariana , one of several learned societies in the city, where
scholars met to discuss the relevant religious, social, and political questions of
the day. 5
The teaching of dogmatic theology at the university was Thomistic at
the time; that of moral theology was rigorist-probabiliorist (based principally on
the works of Antonio Alasia); and that of canon law and ecclesiology,
jurisdictionalist in orientation. Such was laureate Gastaldi's position in these
fields, a stance which explains his enduring opposition to the Probabilism of
Alphonsus de' Liguori , the Jesuits, the Amicizie, and the Convitto
Ecclesiastico. It would also explain the fact that in his doctoral dissertation he
defended the infallibility of the Church without reference to papal infallibility. 6
But it was not long before Father Gastaldi came under the influence of
the philosopher-theologian Antonio Rosmini-Serbati, whose doctrines had a
following also among some of the university professors. In the conflict between
the Probabilism of St. Alphonsus de' Liguori and the prevalent Probabiliorism,
Rosmini indicated a third ("conciliating") way. First, with respect to original
sin, he distinguished between the sin (peccatum) and the fault (culpa). Secondly,
with respect to the moral law, he made a distinction between the natural law and
the positive law; he allowed a probabilist solution in cases of doubt within the
field of the latter, not within the field of the former. In 1841 Father Gastaldi (by
this time a canon of the church of the Holy Trinity) took an active part in the
Rosminian controversy, in defense of the philosopher when the latter was
attacked for his Treatise on Moral Conscience. In 1842 he began to correspond
with Rosmini, whose philosophy was exerting an ever greater influence on him.
He spoke of the light obtained from Rosmini's writings, and expressed the hope
that the master's work would bring about a renewal in Catholic philosophy and
theology-the desired effect being a deeper and more professional education of
the clergy. This would always remain Gastaldi's overriding concern. By 1844
Most of the Piedmontese bishops at the time had studied for the priesthood by
attending the university as non-resident seminarians.
5 Tuninetti, Castaldi I, 16-23.
6 Tuninetti, Castaldi I, 23-36. For these terms and positions, cf. Arthur
Lenti, "The Convitto Ecclesiastico-"Where One Learnt to be a Priest," Journal of
Salesian Studies 3:1 (1992) 39-77, esp., 40-54, and notes 6, 7, and 10. [Hereafter,
Lenti, Convitto]

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Father Gastaldi was discussing religious life with Rosmini, an option which the
founder of the Institute of Charity encouraged. 7
Then came the liberal revolution of 1848, and with it a plethora of
liberal newspapers, increasingly anticlerical, and (in counterpart) a number of
Catholic newspapers, at first generally conciliatory in orientation. Father
Gastaldi, even while considering following a religious vocation, caught the
patriotic spirit and espoused the neo-Guelf doctrine of the day, of which Rosmini
(with Vincenzo Gioberti) was an ardent proponent. 8 He was thus drawn into the
political arena. From July 1848 to September 1849, aided by collaborators
chiefly of Rosminian persuasion, he published a paper called fl Conciliatore
Torinese, first as a biweekly, then as a triweekly. As principal contributor,
Father Gastaldi wrote in defense of Rosmini's philosophical-theological system,
and of his work, Of the Five Wounds of the Church. 9 In this connection, he
argued for a new approach to the education and formation of the clergy. On a
strictly political line, while defending the Pope's temporal power, he supported
the monarchy, the new political institutions, and Italian independence. He
expressed critical but balanced views on the laws establishing an a-confessional
state and liberalizing education. But events in Rome in 1848-49 (the Mazzinian
Republic) swung Catholic sympathies away from the liberal cause, and therefore
toward more conservative positions. Conservative Catholic dailies, such as
L 'Armonia, began to dominate Catholic public opinion, thus forcing Father
Gastaldi 's paper out of business. lO
Gastaldi never quite left behind the political ideas of the period of the
Conciliatore, even when at his most ultramontane (or so represented). But his
venture into journalism and its subsequent failure signaled the onset of a period
of reflection and study, in fact of retreat. During this time he continued his work
on a new edition of Antonio Alasia's Compendium of Moral Theology,
tempering this author's probabiliorist positions with "Rosminian corrections." It
was also a period of intense personal questioning, vocational discernment, and
"conversion." In 1850 he resigned from the chapter of canons; and after having
considered and decided against the Jesuits, he joined Rosmini's Institute of
7 Tuninetti, Castaldi I, 37-52.
8 "Guelf' and "Ghibelline" are medieval terms designating respectively
partisans of the Pope and of the Holy Roman Emperor in their long struggle. In the
earliest period of the liberal revolution and of the unification of Italy, the term "neo-
Guelf' was applied to a Catholic patriot who conceived of the unity of Italy as of a
federation under the presidency of the pope.
9 Cf. note 40 and related text, below.
10 Tuninetti. Castaldi I, 53-88.

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Journal of Salesian Studies
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Charity in 1851-in spite of the fact that "it enjoyed neither the pope's nor the
bishops' wholehearted sympathy."11
2. Rosmini's Institute of Charity and Missionary Activity in
England
After completing his novitiate in the Institute of Charity at Stresa, where he was
in close contact with Father Rosmini, its founder, Father Gastaldi was assigned
to England in 1853. Since 1835, the Rosminians had been actively engaged in
parish ministry and preaching in that country. English society at the time was
undergoing profound transformations, after the publication of Karl Marx'
Communist Manifesto (1848), and with the onset of a new phase of the
industrial revolution. Equally remarkable was the religious transformation in
progress. Roman Catholics were making a good recovery thanks to the decree of
"Emancipation" of 1829. The Oxford Movement was reaching its zenith, and a
second great wave of conversions to Roman Catholicism was in effect. But even
more telling from the social and religious points of view was the migratory
movement from Ireland to large English cities in consequence of the great famine
(1845-1852). This was the context in which Father Gastaldi began his work as
teacher, preacher, and pastor. He taught moral theology and other disciplines at
St. Mary's Rosminian Seminary , Rugby, till 1856, while studying English
intensively. Fluency in the language soon enabled him to engage in the ministry
of preaching, in which he excelled, and which took him as far afield as Ireland
and Scotland. In 1858 he was appointed rector of St. David's mission at Cardiff,
for a large Irish immigrant community. Here he built what still remains the
largest Catholic church in the area, St. Peter's. All the while, Father Gastaldi
kept in touch with political developments in Italy, and had occasion to express
in print his disappointment with the policies of the liberal state. 12
But there were problems. Educated to a life of personal freedom and self-
sufficiency, unaccustomed to community life, authoritarian in manner, seeing
his ambition to get ahead in the ranks of the Institute frustrated, and hence
finding religious life a struggle, Father Gastaldi suffered periods of deep personal
crisis. In 1855, after Father Rosmini's death, he had asked to be released from
his vows, but later changed his mind and decided to continue in the Institute. In
1856 and 1857 he was allowed to return to Turin for fairly extended periods, to
attend to family affairs as the first born. 13 In 1862, after a dispute with his
11 Tuninetti, Castaldi I, 89-96. Gastaldi remained a lifelong admirer of the
Jesuits for their learning and religious discipline, but was frankly critical of their
support of Alphonsian Probabilism and of their opposition to Rosmini.
12 Tuninetti, Castaldi I. 97-110.
13 The Gastaldi family 's property was valued at well over half-a-million pre-
revolutionary lire. At the father's death in 1843, the administration of the property

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superior over the organization of the Cardiff mission and several failed attempts
by a third party to effect a reconciliation, and for an accumulation of other
reasons, including ill health, he returned to Turin permanently. There he was
released from his vows "for reasons of health"; severing his ties with the
Institute (but not with Rosminianism), he returned to the archdiocese.14
The biographer points out that the conflict between Father Gastaldi and
his superior relating to the administration of the Cardiff mission and its strategy
was only the final episode of a deep on-going crisis in the subject himself. The
root cause of the "final solution" lay chiefly in Gastaldi's inability to fully
espouse, perhaps even to understand, the type of religious consecration demanded
by Rosmini. l5 Tuninetti writes:
The converging causes may be summarized as follows: the uncertain
quality of his religious commitment with regard to obedience and
poverty; his basic inability to accept community life due to an
individualistic and authoritarian character. Added to these reasons were
Gastaldi's pride and underlying contradictions and ambiguities in his
personality; Finally, the asperity of the Cardiff conflict and lack of tact
on the superior's part brought things to a head. 16
3. Pre-Episcopal Period in the Turin Archdiocese
(1) Five Years ofActivity as Preacher and Writer
Having regained his post as canon, this time of the collegiate church of St.
Lawrence, during the next five years (before his appointment as bishop), Father
Gastaldi devoted most of his time to his family and to family matters, as well as
to preaching. For this ministry, chiefly in the form of missions and spiritual
retreats, he was sought far and wide. His preaching was now characterized, to a
greater degree than before, by simplicity and by a pervasive concern for depth and
relevance. 17
He also devoted time to writing. During and after the English period,
Father Gastaldi made significant contributions to Don Bosco's Catholic
Readings. While writing in the popular vein as required by editorial policy, he
nonetheless exercised considerable restraint and critical judgment. The following
was passed on to the first born, Lawrence, until its division in 1864 [Tuninetti,
Castaldi I 15].
{4 Tuninetti, Castaldi I, 110-122.
15 Tuninetti, Castaldi I, 121.
16 Tuninetti, Castaldi I, 122.
17 Tuninetti, Castaldi I, 123f. 135-138.

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works are worthy of note: Catechetical Instruction on Marriage (1855); The Life
of St. Jean Marie Vianney (1863); On the Authority of the Roman Pontiff
(1864); The Life of Father Giovanni Ignazio Vola (1865); the History of the
Holy Martyrs of Turin (1866).
In the biographies of the Cure d' Ars and of Father Vola, Rosmini's
influence is evident in his depiction of the priest primarily as the man of God,
pursuing holiness through ascetic practice and the spiritual life. In this regard, at
this time, one may note on Gastaldi's part an almost total disengagement from
the social and political issues (in which he had earlier taken such great interest)
and an increasing interest in the problems of the clergy. 18
Again, under Rosminian influence, a development took place also in
Gastaldi's ecclesiology, in an ultramontane direction. From the late fifties on, in
letters and other writings, such as the just mentioned On the Authority of the
Roman Pontiff, he expressly upheld the centrality of the papal magisterium and
papal infallibility. l9
(2) Father Castaldi and Don Bosco 20
Besides contributing to the Catholic Readings, Father Gastaldi, now
reestablished in Turin, was keen on resuming his good relations with Don Bosco
and assisting him with his work. For he had earlier joined the group of priests
who helped Don Bosco with the work of the oratory at Vadocco. He had made
himself available for confessions, the teaching of catechism, and preaching,
especially on Sunday afternoons. 21 In 1848, Canon Gastaldi had headed a
committee that sought to unite, regulate, and give permanence to the oratory
movement. Don Bosco insisted on his own independence, however, but the effort
showed the canon's concern. 22 In spite of such failure, Canon Gastaldi
continued to assist Don Bosco, even financially.
When the canon entered the Institute of Charity in 1853, he asked his
mother to look after Don Bosco's boys as she would her own children.
Margherita Gastaldi, as one of the "mothers," had been helping Mamma
18 Tuninetti, Gastaldi I, 124-129.
19 Tuninetti, Gastaldi I, 129-132.
20 It appears that Father Gastaldi and Don Bosco had first met in Chieri on
February 17, 1841, across the examination table. On that occasion subdeacon John
Bosco sought to bluff his way through a certain question posed by Father Gastaldi by
creating a canon of the Council of Trent. The ruse did not succeed [G. B. Lemoyne, A.
Amadei, E. Ceria, The Biographical Memoirs of Saint John Bosco (An American
Edition, Diego Borgatello, Editor-in-chief. New Rochelle, N. Y.: Salesiana
Publishers, Volumes 1-15, 1965-1988) I, 38a].[Hereafter, EBM.]
2 1 EBM ill, 80.
22 EBM ill, 320f.

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Margaret at Valdocco since 1848. When Mamma Margaret died in 1856, she
took over the leadership of the "mothers" and continued her charitable work till
1867, at which time she followed her son on his appointment as bishop of
Saluzzo. Her place was taken by a daughter and a niece of hers, who helped till
1877. 23
Father Gastaldi had been generous with financial help on a number of
occasions. When leaving for England in 1853, he made a secret will, leaving to
the superior of the Oratory, in the event of his own death, the not inconspicuous
sum of 70,000 lire. Throughout the Rosminian period, as correspondence shows,
Don Bosco was close to Father Gastaldi's family.
During Father Gastaldi's furloughs of 1856 and 1857 (Dominic Savio
had visions of the conversion of England at this time!), and after his definitive
return from that mission in 1862, he intensified his activity on behalf of the
Oratory to an even greater degree, especially through preaching. He preached the
first spiritual retreat for Salesians at Trofarello in 1864. While the church of
Mary Help of Christians was under construction, he made financial
contributions. He spoke at the laying of the first stone in 1862; and in 1868 (as
bishop of Saluzzo) he was the principal guest speaker during the solemn
dedication octave. 24
II. Lawrence Gastaldi, Bishop of Saluzzo (1867-1871)
The confrontation between the Italian government and the Holy See resulted in
many diocesan vacancies. Turin had been vacant since the death of exiled
Archbishop Luigi Fransoni in 1862; Saluzzo, since the death of Bishop
Giovanni A. Gianotti in 1863. Vacancies began to be filled in 1867, and Don
Rosco's contribution in this regard is to be noted. At Pius IX's request, so
Lemoyne tells us (and a document in the Vatican archives confirms it), Don
Bosco submitted a list of names of Piedmontese priests for appointment as
bishops, and Gastaldi's topped the list. 25
23 Memoirs of the Oratory of Saint Francis de Sales from 1815 to 1855. The
Autobiography of Saint John Bosco ([...] New Rochelle, New York: Don Bosco
Publications, 1989), 297. [Hereafter, MO-En] Cf. EBM IT, 414; ill, 178f. (his, not
her, sister!); IV, 99.
24 EBM Vll, 372, 394; YID, 318; IX, 125-238. For all the above, cf. also
Tuninetti, Castaldi I, 132-135.
25 EBM YID, 279. Cf. Tuninetti, Castaldi I, 145, note 2; and more recently
and critically, Francesco Motto, "L' azione mediatrice di Don Bosco nella questione
delle sedi vescovili vacanti dal 1858 alla morte di Pio IX (1878)," in Don Bosco nel/a
Chiesa a servizio dell' umanita. Studi e testimonianze (ed. by Pietro Braido. lstituto
Storico Salesiano, Roma, Studi 5. Roma: LAS, 1987 [p. 25 1-328]), p. 283-299, esp.
p. 291-294. [Hereafter, Motto, L ' a z ione]

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1. The Man and the Priest
Father Gastaldi appeared well qualified for an episcopal career. His had been a life
lived to the full amid the most varied experiences: scholarly endeavors, priestly
ministry, religious controversy, political involvement, writing and publishing,
the challenge of a major philosopher and theologian (Rosmini), religious life,
the English mission-a series of successes, failures and crises. Moreover, as
already noted, after his doctoral studies he had progressed to a personal synthesis,
uniting Piedmontese theology and Rosminian thought. It was the latter which
was responsible for Gastaldi's modified Probabiliorism and for his progress
toward Ultramontanism. Rosmini's ascetic and spiritual program as expounded
in his Maxims of Christian Perfection, even if assimilated only in part, was
responsible for shaping Gastaldi's spirituality. And Rosmini's Of the Five
Wounds of the Holy Church helped him formulate a doctrine of the Church's
present need, and a conception of the role of the bishop in the modem Church. 26
This is the background that conferred episcopal stature on Father
Gastaldi. During the years of reflection, following his withdrawal from the
Institute of Charity, his character and personality seemed to settle, solidify and
come to maturity in preparation, as it were, for the episcopal ministry. He was
indeed a worthy candidate. But reasons of personal friendship also were a strong
motivation behind Don Bosco's decision to place Gastaldi's name on his list of
nominees, with a special recommendation for Saluzzo.
On March 27, 1867 Canon Gastaldi was in fact named bishop of
Saluzzo. He was ordained on June 2 in the church of St. Lawrence by the
recently appointed archbishop of Turin, Alessandro Ottaviano Riccardi dei Conti
di Netro. On June 9 he entered his see. 27
2. Gastaldi's Ministry as Bishop of Saluzzo
(I) The Setting
Saluzzo, situated some thirty-five miles south of Turin, in the province of
Cuneo, was at the time a city of some 16,000 inhabitants. The diocesan territory
surrounding it, lying in the alpine foothills and valleys, sustained a population
of some 140,000 people. They were largely engaged in agriculture, partly in
sheep herding, and very little in industry. The area was poor, and the economy
generally depressed, a depression made worse by the unstable conditions in Italy
at the time. The priests directly in care of souls in the 91 parishes numbered
26 Cf. note 40 and related text, below.
27 Tuninetti, Castaldi I, 145f.

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138, and the people's religious practice was generally satisfactory, though much
was needed to be done with regard to religious instruction. 28
Bishop Gastaldi's greatest concern was the education and formation of
the clergy. He wanted priests who were outstanding in holiness and learning, as
well as attuned and equal to the challenges of the times. As bishop he could at
last try to implement some of the ideas he had been fighting for through the
spoken and written word for many years.
Since the government had denied him use of the episcopal palace, due to
difficulties with the granting of the Exequatur, he had chosen to reside at the
seminary. This enabled him to supervise personally the seminary program and
the forty-five seminarians. 29
(2) The Pastoral Visitation
Undoubtedly, in his episcopal ministry Gastaldi aimed at exemplifying the ideal
of the reformer-pastor bishop, as he understood the role. Tireless in his priestly
work, and in the spoken and written word, he sought to bring about a genuine
reform among the clergy and a renewal in the Christian life of the faithful
throughout the diocese.
The two most important acts of his episcopal ministry during his brief
tenure at Saluzzo were the pastoral visitation of each parish in the diocese,
carried out during the years 1868 and 1869, and his participation at the First
Vatican Council during 1869-70.
The pastoral visitation in its content shows that genuine reform and
renewal were the bishop's immediate priority, as well as the goals that would
characterize his future administration. But, in its pastoral style, the visitation
also revealed his limitations. Though inspired by a spirit of priestly service, his
efforts to achieve full unity and control and to strengthen ecclesiastical discipline
bore the stamp of a centralizing tendency aggravated by an unyielding character.
His very pastoral charity and spirituality seemed far removed for the realities of
life in that backwater that was the diocese of Saluzzo. Likewise, his austere
asceticism tended to alienate his clergy's sympathy. 30
28 Tuninetti, Castaldi I, 147-172.
29 Tuninetti, Castaldi I, 178-182.
The Exequalur was a decree issued by the government permitting the bishop
to enter into possession of the diocesan institutional premises and to receive the
bishop's revenues. (The Place/, on the other hand, was a similar document issued to a
pastor with respect to the parish to which he was appointed.)
30 Tuninetti, Castaldi I, 185-188.

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(3) The First Vatican Council
The forthcoming Council, first announced by Pius IX on June 29, 1867 to
bishops gathered in Rome for the celebration of the eighteenth centenary of the
martyrdom of SS. Peter and Paul (among them the newly ordained Bishop
Gastaldi), and publicly proclaimed on June 29, 1868, dominated Gastaldi's
whole Saluzzo period. From its inception, the bishop engaged in intense
personal reflection on the Council and on the roles of pope and bishops. He gave
frequent expression to these concerns in his preaching and writing. This was
followed by preparatory meetings of the clergy and by surveys among the
people. Bishop Gastaldi departed for Rome on November 16, and was an active
participant in the work of the Council from its first session on December 8,
1869.
The Piedmontese bishops were deeply divided, especially over the
question of infallibility. Such division gave rise to blocks of opinion which
solidified through dialogue during the Council itself. More generally, these
opposing stances reflected different conceptions of Church order and canon law-
the ultramontane and the Gallican in their various shades and degrees. It appears
that Bishop Gastaldi at first suffered through a period of uncertainty, and then for
some time maintained an "independent" posture in the matter. But on January 23
(1870), in a letter to Cardinal Filippo De Angelis he declared his support for
papal infallibility and its definition. But he also expressed his reservations as to
the manner in which it was presented in the schema. He explained (as mentioned
above) that he found it difficult to conceive of an infallible papal magisterium in
isolation, apart from the bishops. It seems, as Lemoyne relates, that it was
through Don Bosco's efforts that Bishop Gastaldi set aside these reservations;
therefore when the question was debated in general congregation, he was the first
of the Piedmontese bishops to speak in favor of infallibility (May 30, 1870). 31
(4) New Pastoral Goals and Illness
Throughout that spring Bishop Gastaldi had not been well. Consequently, after a
spiritual retreat with the Jesuits and an audience with Pius IX, in which he
received assurances that his services to the Church would not go unrewarded, he
31 Tuninetti, Gastaldi I, 189-211; EBM IX, 382-384.
As mentioned above, Gastaldi had been a supporter of papal infallibility as
such as early as 1858. He was also a supporter of its definition. His uncertainty (if he
indeed suffered a period of uncertainty) concerned not whether the pope was or was not
infallible, nor whether the definition was or was not opportune or timely, but rather
the manner in which it was expressed (without meaningful reference to the bishops'
magisterium). Tuninetti [ibid., 198] believes that Lemoyne's statements should be
interpreted in this light.

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The Bosco-Gastaldi Conflict
quit Rome at the end of July. A number of bishops did the same, since by this
time the work of the Council seemed to be winding down. Then came the Italian
occupation of Rome (September 20, 1870) and the Council's hasty adjournment
sine die (October 20, 1870).
This development had the effect of widening the rift dividing the
Piedmontese bishops, as they met in congress in November, a division now
aggravated also by disagreements over the question of participation in political
elections.
In spite of such controversies and poor health, through the first half of
1871, Bishop Gastaldi turned his renewed, vigorous attention to the pastoral care
of his diocese and to the reform and renewal program initiated with his pastoral
visitation. For this purpose he announced a diocesan synod to be held in early
July. The synod, however, never took place. He fell gravely ill (of an unspecified
illness), and had to take a leave of absence on that account. After convalescing
through the summer, in September he returned to his diocese only to learn that
he had been nominated archbishop of Turin, the appointment being officially
confirmed on October 27 (1871). 32
III. Lawrence Gastaldi, Archbishop of Turin (1871-1883)
1. Appointment
Archbishop Riccardi di Netro of Turin died on October 16, 1870. There followed
a vacancy of nearly a year, due to the "state of war" existing between the Holy
See and the Italian government after the occupation of Rome. Many other
dioceses were vacant at the time, for the conflictual situation interfered with the
free appointment of bishops. Nevertheless, in late summer of 1871, Pius IX
began to set in motion the process of nominations and appointments. At this
point (in September) Don Bosco was called in by Minister Giovanni Lanza to
act as intermediary in the matter in a private capacity. Don Bosco meanwhile had
submitted to the pope a list of eighteen nominees to fill vacant sees in Piedmont
and Liguria. He had specifically recommended the transfer of Bishop Gastaldi to
Turin; he had also suggested the nomination of Salvatore Magnasco for Genoa
and of Giuseppe M. Sciandra for Acqui. Don Bosco had his wish, and he
immediately notified Bishop Gastaldi. The official bull of nomination was
delivered on September 23. 33
32 Tuninelli, Castaldi I, 212-215.
33 EBM X, 198-200. For various phases of the mediation, cf. ibid., 183.,
186- 191, 197-208; and critically, Motto, L'azione, 308-315. At this point, Don
Bosco 's mediation was concerned only with bishops' nominations. Later, between
1872 and 1874, Don Bosco was to be actively engaged in the matter of the Exequaturs
[cf. note 39 and related text, below].

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Archbishop Gastaldi entered the See of Turin on November 26, 1871.
For political reasons his entrance was in a less solemn and public form than had
been originally planned. It was also marred by hostile manifestations and the fear
of personal abuse by the populace. The new archbishop was the object of hostile
attacks from the secular press, and was received ambivalently, even if civilly, by
the local authorities. The Catholic press, the clergy, and the Catholic laity,
generally speaking, were loud in his praises; but dissenting voices were heard
even in these quarters. 34 After all, he was a well known and, in many ways,
controversial figure. He had been no passive spectator in the religious and
political events of the past quarter century.
2. Facing a Difficult Situation
Other factors combined to make the new archbishop's position more difficult In
the first place, the economic situation was none too promising. The Turin
archdiocese lay partly in the Po valley, and took in the surrounding foothilI and
mountain country. Poverty reigned in the mountains, which accounts for the
sustained migratory movement to the cities. In the valley and in the foothills,
agriculture (the prevailing occupation, with a large number of small proprietors)
provided a better living; but it was already experiencing serious depression due to
the inflow of cheaper imports. Piedmontese cities, Turin in particular, had been
growing along the two related tracks of urban expansion and industrial
development. But, according to the 1862 census for Turin, of 204,715
inhabitants, only some 78,000 were engaged in industries or crafts, related to the
military, railroad construction, wood products, and food processing. Unlike cities
like Milan, perhaps also because of the transfer of the capital after the unification
of Italy, Turin would have to wait for decades for its industrial promise to be
fulfilled. But, although one may not yet speak of the existence of an "industrial
proletariat", the 1870s were characterized by a society in the process of
transformation. 35
Secondl y, the Church in the diocese of Turin was facing a critical
situation. The archdiocesan structures, such as the archbishop's household and
chancery, the chapters, the seminaries, the theological faculty, were left without
resources by the secularization Jaws. The operation of the parishes was largely
guaranteed. But only pastors and teachers had sure incomes; most of the
remaining clergy, including associate parish priests, lived from hand to mouth.36
34 Tuninetti, Castaldi II, 15-25.
For Don Bosco's participation in this event and his subsequent illness at
Varazze, cf. EBM X, 122-130.
35 Tuninetti, Castaldi II, 31-34.
36 Tuninetti, Castaldi II, 34-41.

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The Bosco-Gastaldi Conflict
As for the religious situation, the Church of Turin was suffering from
the general regression caused by the revolutionary movement, even if
circumstantial religious practice, together with private devotion, was still the
norm. Regarding pastoral care, the Church's religious life throughout the diocese
was in a state of neglect, with harmful results for both clergy and people. In this
regard, one should bear in mind that Bishop Gastaldi was taking over an
archdiocese which for twenty years had been deprived of its pastor. Archbishop
Fransoni's period of exile (1850-1862) had been followed by five years of
vacancy (1862-1867). Archbishop Riccardi di Netro's short term (1867-1870) had
been taken up in part with the Vatican Council, and for the most part was marred
by ill health. 37
3. The Struggle for the Exequatur
Archbishop Gastaldi's initial activity in Turin was rendered even more difficult
by an additional problem, which he would have liked to see resolved
immediately, but with which, by force of circumstances, he had to contend for
some years. As was the case with all the bishops nominated in 1871, Gastaldi
was neither permitted to take possession of the archiepiscopal palace nor allowed
to receive the bishop's revenues. He was thus forced to establish a temporary
residence at the seminary, where he acted as rector, and where he lived until May
1874 with the help of an allowance from the Holy See. This state of affairs both
hampered his ministry and deprived him of needed resources.
The Law of Guarantees passed by the Italian parliament on May 13,
1871, after the taking of Rome and the expropriation of papal territory, did
indeed concede to the pope the right to appoint bishops; but, in line with the
government's jurisdictionalist policy, the Law continued to reserve to the state
the granting of the Exequatur and of the Placet. These permits, the Exequatur in
particular, were to be issued to the bishop only upon submission of the bull of
nomination. Such provision of "guarantees" was flatly rejected by the Holy See.
By injunction from the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Giovanni Antonelli,
bishops were forbidden to request the Exequatur or to make any act of
submission to the State authority. They were to enter their see and immediately
challenge the State by some official acL Not only did such a modus operandi
give rise to situations of conflict; it also deprived the bishop of a rightful
financial base.
As already indicated, it was on the occasion of the pope's first
appointments after the Law of Guarantees, that Minister Lanza sought Don
Rosco's private mediation. Lanza's purpose would have been that of obtaining
favorable nominations. But Don Bosco was then "retained" by the Holy See as a
37 Tuninetti, Castaldi II, 41 -49.

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private mediator in the matter of the Exequatur. The idea was to negotiate a
formula that would make it possible for a bishop to enter into possession of
diocesan assets without the humiliating procedure of submitting the nomination
bull to the government. He was active in the matter between 1872 and 1874.
The outcome of these negotiations was important to every bishop, including
Archbishop Gastaldi. Don Rosco's effort, however, ended in failure in spite of
the government's willingness to reach a compromise, chiefly (so it seems)
because of Cardinal Antonelli's intransigence, but also (so Don Bosco believed,
according to the biographer) because of Chancellor Bismarck's opposition to any
concession to the Church. 38
Eventually, however, a practical, unofficial modus operandi was
developed by which individual bishops requested the Exequatur indirectly-to
which procedure the Holy See acquiesced. It consisted in exhibiting the
nomination bull for the inspection of "clergy and people" in the sacristy of the
cathedral, and allowing a notary public to make a copy for the authorities(!).
This is how Gastaldi (with the added support of the local authority), finally, in
May 1874, obtained the Exequatur. 39
4. Gastaldi the Reformer-Pastor Bishop
Archbishop Gastaldi did not wait for the Exequatur to fall in place. No sooner
was he established, than he inaugurated his pastoral program, guided by the
understanding he had gained of what the role and task of a bishop should be.
38 Cf., e.g. EBM X, 241.
39 Tuninetti, Castaldi IT, 51-58. For a detailed description of Don Bosco's
mediating activity, cf. EBM X, 208-245, and more critically, Francesco Motto, "La
Mediazione di don Bosco fra la Santa Sede e Govemo per la concessione degli
Exequatur ai vescovi d'ltalia (1872-1874)," Ricerche Storiche Salesiane 6:1 (1987) 3-
79. [Hereafter, Motto, Mediazione]
Throughout this whole period (1872-1874), when Don Bosco was trying to
bring about a rapprochement between the government and the Holy See in the matter
of the Exequatur, Archbishop Gastaldi, while no doubt interested, and perhaps even
appreciative of his efforts, maintained nonetheless a certain independence both from
Don Bosco and from Rome. The Exequatur was ultimately granted on a different basis
than that sought by Rome through Don Bosco's mediation.
During those very years, the two protagonists were locked in a serious and
personal struggle over the approval of the Salesian Constitutions (a struggle which
Gastaldi carried beyond the approval of 1874 into the years during which Don Bosco
was seeking exemption privileges). This, the first significant stage of confrontation,
will be described below.

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The Bosco-Gastaldi Conflict
(1) Rosminian Influence
Earlier we discussed Rosminian influence on Gastaldi, and the fact that
Rosmini' s work, Of the Five Wounds of the Holy Church, published in 1846,
was decisive in shaping that understanding.
These wounds, Rosmini argues, are a legacy of medieval feudalism, and
the Church needs to reform itself so it can regain its earlier purity. The first
wound, the "Wound in the Left Hand," stands for the lack of unity between
clergy and people in public worship. This condition has been created not only by
the use of a dead language in its liturgical services, but also by inadequate and
incompetent preaching and teaching on the part of the clergy. The latter failure is
a consequence of the second wound, the "Wound in the Right Hand," which is
the insufficient education and formation of the clergy. This deplorable state in
the Church is perpetuated by the third wound, the great "Wound in the Side." It
is the wound of division among the bishops, and of their separation from one
another and from their priests and people. The principal contributing cause of
division has been the nomination of bishops by the civil power. This is the
fourth wound, the "Wound in the Right Foot." Because of such interference, all
too often bishops proved to be nothing but schemers and politicians, engrossed
in secular affairs, and generally more devoted to the pursuit of their own interests
than to the care of their flock. Historically the claim by the civil power to
appoint bishops is traceable to the feudal period. It was the time when land
grants held by the Church were fiefs of an overlord. In that system the bishops
on whom the fiefs were betowed were regarded as vassals. And this is the fifth
wound, the "Wound in the Left Foot." Rosmini then brought his reflections to a
close in an additional chapter, bearing the significant title, "On the Election of
Bishops by Clergy and People." 40
Archbishop Gastaldi then believed in the necessity of structural, as well as
spiritual reforms in the church, especially with regard to the formation of the
clergy. This went along necessarily with a new conception of the centrality of
the role and function of the local bishop, for this is the emphasis of Rosmini's
book. The latter point was decisive for Gastaldi's conception and exercise of
40 Antonio Rosmini, Of the Five Wounds of the Holy Church (tr. & ed. with
an introduction by H.P. Liddon. New York: E.P. Dutton and Co., 1883), passim.
Rosmini had first published the work anonymously in 1832. But with the
accession of Pope Pius IX, who had the reputation of being a "liberal," he thought
that reforms could take place in the Church, and thus published the book in his own
name. However, such a critical assessment of the situation (at once social, political,
and religiou s in character) inevitably incurred the Church's censure. The book,
together with another work of Rosmini, The Constitution According to Social
Ju stice, published in 1848, was condemned.

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episcopal authority. Such an idea received support from Gastaldi's university
education, as well as (from a different perspective) from Roman policy, which,
in view of the attacks mounted by the liberal state, sought to strengthen the
bishops' authority.
(2) Castaldi' s Conception ofEpiscopal Office
Gastaldi brought to his new and difficult task a high concept of the episcopal
dignity. In his first pastoral letter as bishop of Saluzzo, he had described the
bishop as "a new Moses," as "holding the perfection of the priesthood," and
called to a "holiness more perfect than that of religious with vows." Bishops
were "the successors of the Apostles, to whom Christ had said, 'He who hears
you hears me'." 41 In his first (rather restrained) pastoral letter as archbishop, he
asked for prayers that he might be worthy of "this office of father, teacher, judge,
and leader."
His statements at Vatican I were even more explicit. When speaking in
support of papal infallibility, Gastaldi expressed his reservations with respect to
the doctrine's formulation, precisely because of a failure to relate it to the
bishops' magisterium. In his comments on the schemata, De Ecclesia and De
Romano Pontifice, he spoke of the bishops as collaborators of the pope in
matters of faith (what we now call, "collegiality"); as seated at the ecumenical
council, not just as advisers, but as judges jure divino in decrees and definitions;
and as having teaching authority in their own dioceses.
In speaking on the schemata, De Episcopis and De vita et honestate
Clericorum, he stressed the necessity of the pastoral visitation, and of diocesan
and national synods. A bishop's pastoral activity, he emphasized, should be
modeled on that of the great bishops of antiquity, with salus animarum as the
top priority. St. Charles Borromeo could well serve as the model of the post-
Tridentine pastor bishop. 42
(3) Castaldi' s Personality and Character
In all this, Rosminian influence (stemming especially from The Five Wounds)
is evident These understandings, however, were processed in a very personal
way. Without a doubt, Gastaldi was a person of deep faith, spirituality, and
piety; he was austere in personal habits and demeanor. Gifted with a keen
intelligence and a strong will, he was dynamic, aggressive, and zealous in the
ministry to the point of self-sacrifice. But, though generally self-reliant, he was
not free of self-doubt, uncertainty, and restlessness; there was in him a tendency
41 Lk 10:16.
42 Tuninetti, Gastaldi II, 26-29.

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The Bosco-Gastaldi Conflict
to seek compensation in feverish activity. He was conscious of his own gifts and
merits to the point of haughtiness; and he often reacted strongly when slighted.
Most damaging of all, just as Gastaldi never really appropriated Rosmini's ideas
of religious consecration and spirituality, so also in his conception of the
Church, unlike Rosmini, he never quite transcended the rigidly clerical-
hierarchical-institutional model. All such traits of character and formation could
not but be reflected in his pastoral style, the chiefly quality of which was a
relentless and unyielding pursuit of stated reform goals.
To sum up: a person of outstanding qualities and tragic flaws-this was
the man whom Don Bosco had recommended for the archiepiscopal see of St.
Maxim us.
5. Gastaldi's Collaborators
As indicated above, the new archbishop's pastoral program would have to face
serious problems, especially as it related to the Church and the clergy. The better
to achieve his goals, Gastaldi put together a team of able collaborators. He
brought with him from Saluzzo a dynamic, if controversial, private secretary in
the person of Canon Tommaso Chiuso, who was to figure prominently and
adversely in the Bosco-Gastaldi conflict. 43 The experienced Canon Giuseppe
Zappata was named vicar general. 44 Once granted the Exequatur and established
in his own residence in 1874, the archbishop appointed Giuseppe Soldati as
rector of the seminary, a young priest whom he had learned to appreciate when in
residence there. 45 Later Archbishop Gastaldi installed as a key figure in his
43 Tuninetti, Gastaldi II, 59-62.
Tommaso Chiuso (1846-1904), as personal secretary, was very close to the
archbishop, who successively named him to the metropolitan chapter of canons and
then appointed him archdiocesan chancellor. In these capacities, he was deeply
involved in the Bosco-Gastaldi controversy, and was accused of having been its evil
genius. Archbishop Gastaldi made him his universal heir. Later, to offset debts
incurred by speculation in the stock market, the canon became embroiled in
mismanagement of church property he had in trust and in embezzlement of funds. He
would later be brought to trial, suspended and defrocked by Gastaldi's second
successor, Archbishop Davide Riccardi.
44 Tuninetti, Gastaldi II, 62f.
Giuseppe Zappata (1796-1883) had already served as vicar in the previous
administration, and had practically governed the diocese since Archbishop
Fransoni's death in 1862. Both loyal and independent, he was one of Gastaldi's most
trusted advisers.
45 Tuninetti, Gastaldi II, 64-68.
Giuseppe Maria Soldati (or Solda, 1839-1886), doctor in theology and, like
his archbishop, an austere and demanding pedagogue, was the chief agent of
Gastaldi's seminary reforms. He had been appointed vice-rector of the seminary by
Canon Zappata in 1863. He then served as rector until 1884, when he was removed by

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administration a bright young canon lawyer and theologian, Emanuele
Colomiatti, to serve as diocesesan fiscal attorney. Colomiatti was to be deeply
involved in the Bosco-Gastalcli conflict at its most critical stages; and later, by
his adverse testimony and action, he was to prove a redoubtable opponent in Don
Bosco's process of beatification. 46 Archbishop Gastaldi often had recourse to
advisers outside his official team, usually men of high qualifications. Two of
these were particularly influential as counselors in spiritual matters: Father
Felice Carpignano, the archbishop's confessor, and Father Marcantonio Durando,
Vincentian provincial, his most trusted adviser. 47
It should be emphasized that Gastaldi put together a team of
collaborators endowed with both experience and competence, and all (perhaps
with one exception) of high repute. He did not simply look for yes-men who
would do his bidding. The same may be said of the canonical body of advisers ·
that formed the cathedral chapter of canons. Its diversity and its independence
virtually guaranteed unbiased advice. 48
6. Reform of the Clergy and Church Life: Synods
As mentioned earlier, up to this point Gastalcli had not been in a position to put
his ideas into execution. As archbishop of Turin at the age of 56, even though
not in the best of health, he dared to hope for the span of time necessary to tum
those understandings into the reality of needed reforms.
Gastaldi's successor, Cardinal Gaetano Alimonda. Soldati's perception of the inferior
quality of Salesian priestly formation made him, like his archbishop, a very hostile
participant in the struggle over the approval of the Salesian Constitutions.
46 Tuninetti, Castaldi II, 64.
Emanuele Colomiatti (1846-1928), a doctor in theology from Turin and a
doctor in canon law from Rome, a professor of canon and international law in Turin,
joined the Gastaldi chancery in 1875, and was formally named fiscal attorney in
1882, on the death of the incumbent. The fiscal attorney or lawyer was a bishop's
counsel and procurator in all legal questions arising within the territory. In 1881-82,
Colomiatti conducted the legal defense of the archbishop against Don Bosco and
Father John Bonetti in their trial by the Holy Office in Rome.
47 Felice Carpignano (1810-1888) was a priest of the Oratory of St. Philip
Neri . Marcantonio Durando (1801-1880), the austere visitor (provincial) of the
Priests of the Mission of St. Vincent de Paul, was for nearly forty years a major
influence in the church of Turin. At the request, first of Archbishop Fransoni in 1860,
and later of Archbishop Riccardi di Netro in 1867, Father Durando examined the
Salesian Constitution, recording his critical observations regarding their provisions
and spirit.
48 For all the above, cf. Tuninetti, Castaldi II, 59-77.

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The Bosco-Gastaldi Conflict
(1) Assessment of Church Life
In his first Report to the Holy See on the state of the diocese, presented in 1874
but reflecting the experiences of the first three years in office, Archbishop
Gastaldi described a real situation and expressed real concerns. Speaking of
pastors, he found that, while most of them were good and zealous priests, a
number of o therwise good priests lacked any kind of pastoral concern. Then there
were those who led worldly lives and "seemed to have lost even their faith." He
had suspended one of them, but regretted that bishops lacked the canonical tools
to remove pastors as needed.
With respect to the diocesan clergy at large- he had silenced some
otherwise gifted priests who were spreading doctrines at variance with papal
teachings; he had ordered others to wear the ecclesiastical garb under pain of
suspension; he had reprimanded some for not celebrating Mass correctly; he had
tried in various ways to correct priests addicted to drinking or guilty of sexual
misconduct. Some were found to be incorrigible, claiming that they never had a
vocation. Gastaldi stated that his efforts had evoked accusations of undue severity
from the clergy and personal attacks in the press. But he was determined to move
forward, after the example of St. Charles Borromeo.
Religious (especially if priests) driven from religious houses by the
laws of suppression were a serious social and religious problem. The root cause
of their malaise was the poor quality of their early formation, particularly in
their novitiate. He expressed the hope that the Holy See would require all
candidates to the priesthood, including exempt religious, to be examined by their
bishop before ordination, as the Council of Trent prescribed. 49
In assessing the religious life of six classes of people, he found that the
nobility, and the peasantry remained in different ways the most attached to their
religion. Merchants and tradesmen had turned anticlerical , but still largely
attended church. The educated intellectuals and the moneyed middle class engaged
in business and finance had lapsed almost entirely. Likewise, applying different
criteria-people educated before the liberal revolution of 1848 generally still
practiced their faith. Those educated between 1848 and the unification of Italy
(1861) had to a considerable extent abandoned its practice. But those educated in
the sixties and seventies had generally lost their faith. This was especially true of
university students.
49 At this point, Gastaldi makes a critical reference to the Salesian novitiate
and to Don Bosco's way of forming his Salesians. Throughout the process of
approval of the Salesian Constitutions (1872-1874) Gastaldi stated his opposition
on these and other grounds in the most forceful terms [cf. Part II of this installment,
below].

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Archbishop Gastaldi reached the conclusion that reform of the clergy and
restoration of ecclesiastical discipline had to have priority. Only then could
Christian life be made to flourish among the people, and programs for education
and renewal undertaken. Moreover, his pastoral strategy included the development
of a new type of parish priest. True, the archdiocese had in the recent past
produced such saintly priests as Giuseppe Benedetto Cottolengo, Giuseppe
Cafasso, Don Bosco, Leonardo Murialdo, Carlo Faa di Bruno, Federico Albert,
and others. But these were charismatic persons who transcended the current
seminary model. Now, by a kind of shock treatment, he meant to put into effect
reform programs that would produce holy, learned, totally dedicated priests. This
goal dictated his point of attack. so
At Saluzzo Bishop Gastaldi had begun his term of office with an
extended pastoral visitation, and only after the Vatican Council (at which he had
upheld the necessity of episcopal councils and diocesan synods) did he tum his
attention to a synod. Now, by contrast, he felt that diocesan synods would be the
most effective instruments of reform and of government. The archbishop then
convoked the first diocesan synod for June 25-27, 1873. Although such synods
had been prescribed by the Council of Trent, no synod had been held in the
archdiocese since 1788, and none in Piedmont since 1848.
He convoked further synods in 1874 and 1875; and again (at three-year
intervals) in 1878, and 1881. Other bishops in Piedmont followed Gastaldi's
example. Gastaldi was convinced that after Church life and clergy discipline were
put on a firm basis, a proper canonical visitation of the parishes could be
undertaken with success. As it turned out, time ran out on Archbishop Gastaldi
before he could complete such a visitation.
(2) Synod of 1873
Among the Gastaldi synods, those of 1874 and 1878 were important; but that of
1873 was fundamental and pace-setting. For this first synod, which was to serve
also as a basis for future synods, the archbishop drafted elaborate new statutes for
the ordering and reform of all areas of Church life and discipline, to be discussed
at the synod. He submitted them to a representative theological committee of
fifteen, and to the cathedral chapter of canons for their comments and proposals.
These two bodies generally sought to reduce the severity of the archbishop's
formulations-for example on such titles as: internal assent to the papal
magisterium, with special reference to Pius IX's Encyclicals and the Syllabus;
ecclesiastical censorship of publications by priests in the diocese; necessity of
baptism and responsibility for children dying without it; absolution of sins
50 For all the above, cf. Tuninetti, Castaldi II, 79-85.

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The Bosco-Gastaldi Conflict
reserved to the bishop; obligation on the part of the faithful to support seminary
and clergy; the promise of obedience to the bishop made at ordination; etc. Only
in some instances did Gastaldi accept their modifications. But one area of reform,
and one in which he was determined from the start to effect a major change, dealt
with the lifestyle, discipline and responsibilities of the clergy. On these issues
he was adamant. After all, that was to be the real purpose of the synod.
Inevitably, the text of the statutes was leaked, and there followed a
series of protests from various quarters of the clergy as well as vicious attacks on
the archbishop by anticlerical newspapers in defense of the clergy(!). During the
synod itself the reading of the statutes met with numerous vocal protests. After
the synod, appeals were made to the Holy See by members of the clergy; and on
July 11, 1873, an anonymous brief was presented to the Congregation of the
Council. The anonymous author not only decried the severity of the norms,
calling for greater humanity and charity in regard both to the diocesan clergy and
to religious; he also attacked the archbishop's basic pastoral policy at several
points. A secret investigation by the Secretary of State through the Apostolic
Delegate in Turin confirmed the substantial truth of the allegations. The Holy
See then contacted Archbishop Gastaldi, and issued a decree disqualifying some
of the judges and examiners for being (as had been alleged, and were in reality)
politically "fellow travelers". The Archbishop in reply expressed his keen
disappointment, rejected the decree as undermining his authority, and even spoke
of resigning. But he acquiesced when the Rome yielded on the statutes
themselves, which were already being printed.
This was Gastaldi's first clash with the Holy See. If, on the one hand,
he was allowed to publish the synodical statutes, on the other, he suffered defeat
in the matter of the judges and examiners, and more so in the fact that Rome's
action implied disapproval of some of his pastoral policies.
The synod, and the dialogue that preceded and accompanied it, also
revealed that positions for or against the archbishop's pastoral policy had been
forming among the clergy. 51
(3) Synod of 1874
Opposition from among the clergy again reared its head in 1874. Relying on the
Tridentine decrees and the example of St. Charles Borromeo, Archbishop
Gastaldi convoked a second synod for May 4, 1874. The purpose of this one-day
meeting was to ascertain if the statutes of 1873 were being implemented.
Immediately the cathedral chapter of canons, to whom Gastaldi had sent
the agenda and some additional articles, protested that the statutes had not been
reviewed by them before publication. The canons then proceeded to examine each
51 Tuninelti, Castaldi II, 85-107.

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article, making substantial alterations, noting that the first synod had not been
well received, and that the many penalties attached or threatened had been
strongly resented.
The Archbishop, surprised and disappointed, countered by reaffirming
the deliberations of the synod, and by publishing a revised list of judges and
examiners (including some names vetoed by Rome!).
(4) Synod of1878
The fourth synod (convoked for November 5, 1878) was noteworthy for the
archbishop's addresses and the important pastoral concerns expressed therein: the
primacy of preaching; the necessity of festive oratories; the importance of unity
between clergy and bishop.
This synod also added articles to the statutes that dealt chiefly with
theological conferences and preaching (all priests, except pastors, had to submit
to the archbishop a sample sermon!). Gastaldi also presented revised lists of
judges and examiners. Again, among the former he had named four who had been
proscribed by Rome earlier; among the latter he had named Don Bosco. 52
(5) liturgical Calendars
Every year, from 1872 to 1883 Archbishop Gastaldi published a liturgical
calendar, which included a "Letter to the Clergy," as well as directives and
decrees. It was the vehicle by which he instructed his priests, gave them
directions for their pastoral activity, sought to control abuses and lack of
discipline, and specified how the synodical statutes should be observed.
In conclusion, it can be said that through the synods and the liturgical calendars
Archbishop Gastaldi asserted his concept of the bishop's role, and his right to act
accordingly. He expressed his idea of what a priest should be like, and
demonstrated compelling concern for priestly holiness and asceticism, and for a
pastoral dedication expressing the essentially religious nature of the priestly
vocation. A clerical, hierarchic ecclesiology (that of Trent and of Vatican I)
supported Gastaldi's actions and pronouncements, as well as his frequent recourse
to canon law, to Tridentine disciplinary norms, and to ecclesiastical sanctions.
52 In his address, Archbishop Gastaldi referred to factions among the clergy,
and particularly to Don Bosco's "insubordination." By the end of 1878, a definitive
breach between the two seemed inevitable. How then is one to explain the honor
conferred on Don Bosco by the archbishop? Was it a concession, an attempt at a
rapprochement? Or was it simply a recognition of merit, nobly overlooking personal
disagreements?

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The Bosco-Gastaldi Conflict
And remarkably, no attempt was ever made to address the transformations
occurring in society and the need to develop appropriate pastoral strategies. 53
7. Reform of Structures for the Education and Formation of the
Clergy
(1) The School of Theology and the Theological Faculty
It is a matter of record that during the eighteenth and the nineteenth century
Catholic culture, religious and ecclesiastical studies, and in particular the
theological formation of the clergy, had been in steady decline in Italy, Piedmont
included. This situation was now aggravated by the secular laws passed after the
liberal revolution and the unification of Italy. School reforms, beginning with
the Boncompagni Law of 1848, had removed the theological faculty at the
University of Turin from the bishops' control. This action marked "the
beginning of the end." The school of theology and its faculty were caught in a
stranglehold, so to speak, and it became increasingly difficult to maintain
enrollment and standards, whether academic or "Catholic." By decree of January
26, 1873, the government closed the school of theology altogether. The
seminaries, on the other hand, did not offer graduate degrees in any branch of
ecclesiastical studies; Archbishop Gastaldi regarded such lack as one of the chief
causes for the insufficient education of the clergy. After all, most priests attended
one of the diocesan seminaries.
The archbishop was quick to take action and ask the Holy See for
permission to transfer the school of theology to the seminary, with the power to
grant the doctoral degree. By decree of February 24, 1874, the transfer was
granted. The new statutes a!Jowed the archbishop to assemble a new faculty, and
to place theological studies on a new and firmer basis.
The archbishop had requested also the establishment of a faculty of
canon law, but did not obtain it However, the negotiations continued and came
to a favorable conclusion in 1883, a month before the archbishop's death.
To foster the study of Church history, in 1872 Archbishop Gastaldi had
developed a plan for the establishment of an Academy. It became a reality on
January 28, 1874 under the title of the Sub-Alpine Academy of Church History.
In the list of the founding members we find also Don Bosco's name. 54
53 For all the above cf. Tuninetti, Castaldi II, 79-114.
54 TunineLLi, Castaldi II, 115-143.
Archbishop Gastaldi asked Don Bosco to become a member of the Academy
in December, 1872. In the founding document of January 28, 1874, Don Bosco is
listed third among the IO founding members. According to the biographer, Don
Bosco's diploma of appointment was signed on the same date, but "for some reason"

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(2) Reform ofDiocesan Seminaries
Archbishop Gastaldi, like many of his brother bishops, had never attended a
seminary, but had studied for the priesthood as a non-resident seminarian, living
at home and attending the university. A number of factors converged in shaping
his new understanding of the seminary and its role: his ultramontane conversion;
his espousal of Rosmini 's doctrine of the Five Wounds with regard to education
and formation of the clergy; his experience at the First Vatican Council; and,
finally, his recourse to the Council of Trent and to the example of St. Charles
Borromeo for inspiration in his episcopal ministry. The experience of the first
two synods conferred a sense of urgency on Gastaldi's plan for seminary reform.
At the time of Gastaldi's appointment, the archdiocese operated four
seminaries. The Turin seminary alone offered the five-year theological course (as
well as the doctoral program from 1874 on). The Chieri seminary alone offered
the two-year course in philosophy, together with a five-year non-graduate
theological program. Bra and Giaveno conducted junior seminaries. The first and
the last of these four were most in need of reform both as to studies and
discipline. Obviously the Turin theological seminary had to have priority.
For the first three years Archbishop Gastaldi had resided at the
seminary, and had taken personal direction of it. Out of this experience, with the
collaboration of Father Soldati, first vice-rector then rector, he drafted new
statutes, which were published in September 1874. They were quickly adapted to
the other seminaries, and they remained the magna charta of clergy formation in
the Turin archdiocese until the Second Vatican Council. By these statutes the
seminary, conceived as a religious house("ad instar domus religiosae"), acquired
a monastic character; it was a place of retreat in which the seminarian could
pursue his intellectual and spiritual formation in-depth, away from "the world."
Priestly holiness and priestly learning were emphasized in the statutes as the all-
important goals of the seminary. The virtues inculcated were: faith, hope,
charity, humility, obedience, chastity, modes ty, devotion, temperance and
mortification. The program of studies was expanded and made more demanding.
was not delivered till after the archbishop's death in 1883 [Ceria-Ep II, 243f.; EBM
X, 376; Tuninetti, Castaldi IT, 143].
It will be recalled that from 1872 to 1874 Don Bosco and the archbishop
were already at loggerheads over the approval of the Salesian Constitutions and
related matters. Hence, one may wonder about the significance of the archbishop's
action. Was this a conciliatory gesture, or a recognition of merit? Church history was
a predilection of Don Bosco; he had authored a survey of Church history (1845) and
had written a series of lives of the popes. But he could not be regarded as a scholar in
the field.

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The Bosco-Gastaldi Conflict
The seminary syllabus also acquired a Rosminian orientation in both philosophy
and theology, which fact drew a reprimand from the Roman congregation. To
encourage good priestly vocations, scholarships and grants-in-aid were given to
many poor students. Summer residences in the hill country with hermitages were
provided for each seminary. 55
(3) Reform of the Convitto Ecclesiastico and of the Teaching of Moral
Theology
As has been explained elsewhere, 56 the Convitto Ecclesiastico {Institute of
Moral and Pastoral Theology for Priests) was founded by Father Luigi Guala
(with Father Pio Brunone Lanteri) and flourished under the founder and even
more so under Father Joseph Cafasso. The orientation of the teaching of moral
theology and pastoral practice at the Convitto was thoroughly Alphonsian, that
is to say, [equi-]probabilist. This alone, as already mentioned above, would set it
at variance with the teaching of the school of theology at the university and at
the diocesan seminaries. It would also set it at variance with Lawrence Gastaldi,
even after the latter's Rosminian and ultramontane conversion. 57
But Archbishop Gastaldi decided to look into the affairs of the Convitto
for a further reason. Back in the early fifties, Father Cafasso had named Father
Giovanni Battista Bertagna as his assistant lecturer in moral theology. After
Father Cafasso's death in 1860, Father Bertagna had become the Convitto's
principal lecturer, though not its rector. 58
55 Tuninetti, Castaldi II, 145-163.
The archbishop's concern for a deeper intellectual and spiritual priestly
formation explains his objections to the way in which Don Bosco formed his priests.
It also explains his demands: that Salesian candidates attend the seminary; that they
be examined by the bishop before ordination; and that the Salesian Constitutions
provide specifically for a regular novitiate and a regular course of studies . The
severity of the Gastaldi-Soldati seminary also explains why a seminarian would wish
to "defect" to Don Bosco and do "his studies" at the Oratory, a situation which
angered and frightened the archbishop [Tuninetti, Castaldi II, 270, note 50].
56 Lenti, Convitto, cit.
57 Cf. note 6, 7, and 11 and related text, above.
58 Giovanni Battista Bertagna (1828-1905), a native of Castelnuovo,
attended the seminary in Turin, earned his doctorate in theology at the university in
1850, and was ordained in 1851. He then enrolled in the Convitto, where he
eventually succeeded Father Cafasso in the chair of moral theology, though not in the
rectorate. With a reputation of taking Probabilism to extremes, he was dismissed by
Archbishop Gastaldi. He subsequently accepted the appointment of professor of
moral theology and vicar general in the diocese of As ti. In 1884, after Archbishop
Gastaldi 's death, he was named auxiliary bishop of Turin under Cardinal Gaetano
Alimonda. Dismissed by Cardinal Alimonda 's successor, Archbishop Davide
Riccardi, he was later named to the post of Vicar General by Cardinal Agostino

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In 1871, the Convitto was transferred to the church of Our Lady
Consoler of the Afflicted (Consolata) by Archbishop Riccardi di Netro, under the
rectorate of Father Felice Golzio. When the latter died in 1873, Archbishop
Gastaldi appointed Father Bartolomeo Roetti as rector. It was at this point that
the Convitto and Father Bertagna came under Archbishop Gastaldi's critical
scrutiny. For it seems that his quarrel was both with the kind of moral theology
that was being taught and with Father Bertagna's in particular.
The accusation leveled at Father Bertagna was that his course of moral
theology had deteriorated into dry casuistry. Whether this was true or not is
debatable. The archbishop may or may not have given credence to the rumors;
but in any case, the accusations of laxity that circulated and had come to his
attention had to be investigated. The investigation dragged on for over two years,
and left behind a considerable amount of documentation, chiefly in the form of
letters from the Archbishop. In these statements, Gastaldi emphasized the
bishop's magisterium-his right to exercise it in the fields of moral theology
and pastoral practice, and to choose, from among those opinions that are free of
censure, that which he deems most conducive to the spiritual good of his flock.
In September 1876 Father Bertagna was relieved of all duties at the
Convitto; he obeyed without a protest and retired quietly to his hometown of
Castelnuovo. The event was given little publicity in the press, but it had the
effect of widening the rift already dividing the clergy.
A period of crisis followed which led to the closing of the Convitto for
the year 1878-79, amid protests and recriminations.
But the Convitto, and what it stood for, had become a fact of life in the
Archdiocese, especially among the younger clergy, most of whom had attended
the Convitto. The person that made the resurgence of the Convitto possible, and
in such a way that the archbishop's fears were allayed while the Cafasso tradition
was carried forward, was Father Giuseppe Allamano. 59
Richelmy. An early helper of Don Bosco at the Oratory, he remained his lifelong
friend and ~resided at his funeral [Lenti, Convitto, 68, note 60).
5 [Blessed] Giuseppe Allamano (1851-1926), was Father Cafasso's
nephew, and like him and Father Bertagna a native of Castelnuovo. He attended Don
Bosco's Oratory, entered the seminary in Turin, and was ordained in 1873. After
studying moral theology under Father Bertagna at the Convitto (1873-1875), he was
hand-picked by Archbishop Gastaldi to serve as spiritual director and vice-rector of
the seminary (1876-1880). Known for his spirituality, his learning and his loyalty,
he remained ever thereafter a trusted collaborator of the archbishop, without ever
sacrificing his freedom and his personal convictions. He was successively named
associate professor in the School of Theology (which the archbishop had transferred
from the university to the seminary), rector of the church of the Consolata , and rector
of the 'new' Convitto in 1882. He went on to found the Institute of the Consolata for
Foreign Missions (1901) and the Missionary Sisters of the Consolata (1910), and

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The Bosco-Gastaldi Conflict
Father Allamano enjoyed the archbishop's trust; and as rector of the
church of the Consolata, in 1882, he negotiated with the archbishop for the re-
establishment of the Convitto, which had always stood at the center of his
concern. Tuninetti writes:
[Archbishop Gastaldi] had been displeased with Dr. Bertagna's teaching
[...], but perhaps he was also unhappy with the whole Guala-Cafasso
orientation [of the Convitto] . In other words, he had reservations about
the Convitto's very tradition, and his preferred option would have been
for a continuance of the Piedmontese theology of the kind that had
found expression in his own edition of the Alasia-Stuardi
compendium.[...] He may therefore have believed that his man
Allamano would be the agent of the reform-perhaps not the reform he
himself yearned for, but (as the six-year crisis had brought home to
him) of the only reform that was concretely possible under the
circumstances. (JO
8. Archbishop Gastaldi's Pastoral Activity among the People
The emphasis on clergy reform, with priority given to synods, and the fact that
the archbishop did not immediately undertake a pastoral visitation, may have
conveyed the impression that the people themselves were not at the center of his
concern. This was not the case. While pressing forward with clergy reform,
which he considered basic and essential, he was also engaged in energetic pastoral
action.
As mentioned earlier, for what concerned religious life and Catholic
practice, the situation in the diocese was ambivalent. The real problems,
however, arose from blatant anticlericalism in the press and in the literature. It
was a pervasive, underground anti-religious movement, the danger of which was
certainly felt, but against which there seemed to be no defense. The resulting
sense of powerlessness explains the pessimism and the apocalyptic tone of
Roman documents and of pastoral letters, Archbishop Gastaldi's included. 61
Nonetheless, the archbishop acted on several fronts.
was without a doubt one of the most influential personalities in the Church of Turin,
especially under Card. Richelmy (1897-1923) [Lenti, Convitto, 73f., note 77).
60 Tuninetti, Castaldi II, 183. For all the above, cf. Ibid., 68-70, 165-184;
and Lenti, Convitto, 67-76.
61 Tuninetti, Castaldi II, 185-192.

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(1) New Parishes
Urban development to the north and to the south of the city of Turin made new
parishes necessary. Even though the steadily dwindling offerings of the faithful
were now the only resource for such projects, during his tenure Archbishop
Gastaldi built three new parish churches, and initiated a fourth: they were the
parishes of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and St. Secundus in the southern district; 62
and St. Joachim (in honor of Pope Leo XIII) in the northern district of Borgo
Dora, near Valdocco. He had a fourth parish church on the drawing boards, the
Holy Guardian Angels on the southwest side; but he died before actual
construction could begin. The archbishop made a sizable financial contribution
toward these projects out of his own share of the family estate. 63
(2) Preaching and Religious Instruction
Archbishop Gastaldi was personally and tirelessly engaged in the ministry of
preaching-at the seminary, at various churches, in spiritual retreats and
missions. The synod of 1873 emphasized the central role of preaching in priestly
ministry and the duty incumbent upon all in care of souls. He placed preaching
under strict disciplinary rules, and organized liturgical and occasional preaching
in the churches throughout the city.
Catechetical instruction was another important matter treated and
legislated in the Synods and implemented in new and better ways in the parishes.
For this purpose, Archbishop Gastaldi published an expanded and updated edition
of the catechism then in use. In this edition, theological updating is seen in such
areas as the nature and order of the church, and frequent Communion. Other
initiatives of a catechetical nature were the promotion of festive oratories in
parishes and catechetical instruction of children in schools as allowed under the
law. 64
62 In 1871 Don Bosco undertook to build the church of St. Secundus, first
planned in 1867, at the request of Canon Zappata. He withdrew in 1872 because of
restrictions imposed by the city authorities [EBM X, 89. 171].
63 Tuninetti, Castaldi II, 192-194.
64 Tuninetti, Castaldi II, 194-203.
Since the ordinance issued in 1870 by Minister Cesare Correnti, religious
instruction was available in State schools only if parents requested it for their child.
Don Bosco, in his own Memoirs, when speaking of the infrequent reception
of Communion in his day lauds the archbishop: "This defect of piety was corrected
when, through an order of Archbishop Gastaldi, things were arranged so as to permit
daily Communion, provided one is prepared" [MO-En, 132].

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The Bosco-Gastaldi Conflict
(3) Doctrinal Teaching
During his eleven-and-a-half-year tenure, Archbishop Gastaldi addressed 47
pastoral letters to his people. Although they do not exhibit a systematic pastoral
approach yet together with the letters to the clergy published in the yearly
Liturgical Calendar, they constitute a remarkable body of teaching. Topics most
frequently addressed are: the Church and the papacy (to counter the mounting
anticlerical offensive); the clergy and the seminary; Christian education; prayer
and the sacraments, especially Holy Communion, and devotion to Our Lady. Of
great interest are his controversial letters on the death of King Victor Emanuel II
(1878) and on the failed assassination attempt on King Humbert I (1878). Of
doctrinal importance, and no less controversial, is his pastoral letter on the papal
encyclical Aeterni Patris (1879). 65
(4) Pastoral Visitation
Catholic pastoral tradition, and canon law itself after Trent, saw the pastoral
visitation as a privileged moment of pastoral activity in the diocese. Through it
the bishop met, addressed, and took the pulse of the people in the parishes, and
from it then could stem syncxls and pastoral policies. Therefore, as at Saluzzo, so
in Turin, it should have had priority. The archbishop, however, as we saw,
followed a different course of action. He began by addressing the clergy, rather
than the people. He chose to institute his reforms and to govern through synods
and statutes. He had come to Turin with a pre-programmed pastoral policy. After
65 Tuninetti, Castaldi IT, 207-209.
The two letters of 1878 expressed greater sympathy for the house of Savoy
and for the political order it represented, than the Vatican authorities could
countenance.
Leo XIIl's encyclical Aeterni Patris called for a renewal of philosophical
thought on the basis of Thomism, and for sound, traditional doctrinal teaching in the
seminaries- this, to counter liberalism and secularism. The encyclical was followed
by a series of actions in the same direction which included the condemnation (in
1887) of propositions extracted from the works of Rosmini [New Catholic
Encyclopedia (1967) VIIl, 648f.]. In his comments on the encyclical, as earlier in his
Monitum (published in the Liturgical Calendar of 1876), Archbishop Gastaldi
defended Rosmini ' s orthodoxy. He was thus drawn into the fierce polemic surrounding
Rosmini which had flared up again in the context of the Thomistic philosophical
renewal. Repeatedly the Roman authorities expressed their disapproval of his
Rosminian persuasion. For an extended treatment, cf. Tuninetti, Castaldi IT, p. 307-
329.
The Bosco-Gastaldi conflict reached its climax at the time of Rosmini's
condemnation and ensuing debate (1879-1881), with the publication in late seventies
of the anonymous pamphlets against the archbishop, two of which attacked him for
his Rosminian leanings. He and his chancery held Don Bosco responsible for them.

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all, except for the period of the Rosminian years, he had been active in Turin all
his life! But there was a deeper reason for this inversion. At the Vatican Council
he had been vocal in defending the necessity of regional councils and synods; and
probably his clerical-hierarchic view of the Church had a lot to do with such an
approach. Hence, once established in Turin, unable to hold a regional council
(because the ecumenical council was still "in session"), he began by holding a
synod. But both the convening and the style of the synod were resented by many
in the diocese.
In his visits ad limina, Archbishop Gastaldi defended his modus
operandi. But he finally decided to undertake a pastoral visitation in 1880.
Although he was thorough and conscientious, the sense of urgency had gone out
of it. He died before he could complete it.
9. The Social Question and the Catholic Lay Movement
At the time of Lawrence Gastaldi's appointment as archbishop of Turin,
Catholics were becoming increasingly more aware of the labor question. The
Archbishop too showed both awareness of, and sensitivity to, labor problems.
His pastoral letter of 1873 appears to have been the first official instance of an
Italian bishop's addressing the problem. This was to be expected, since Turinese
Catholics were ahead of most other groups in Italy in that respect. But his
perception of the problem and the solutions envisaged were quite restricted. Not
only was his attitude basically negative and defensive, but he vastly
underestimated the nature, the newness and the magnitude of the problem. Thus,
the solutions which he proposed, namely, the reviving of medieval guilds and
social welfare through charitable works, would have been totally inadequate.
These inadequacies, which were also those of the Catholic workers unions at the
time, appear serious indeed when one looks at what was being said and done at
the time by bishops and Catholic laity in France, Belgium, England, Austria,
Switzerland, and especially in Germany.
Limitations notwithstanding, Archbishop Gastaldi has the merit of not
having overlooked the problem. Although he showed little sympathy for the
incipient Catholic lay movement typified in the Opera dei Congressi; 66 his
66 With the taking of Rome, the "intransigent" Catholic element, the
avowed defenders of the right of the papacy against the "usurping" Italian state, and
the advocates of political abstentionism, prevailed over Catholic moderates, who
favored an accommodation with the state. The "intransigents" acquired an effective
organizational instrument in the Opera dei Congressi (Associated Workers Unions),
founded in 1875. It stood as a counterpart to the growing labor movement and in
opposition to incipient organized socialism in Italy. Especially from 1885 on, it
promoted a range of economic and social welfare activities, mainly in the north and
central rural areas [Encyclopedia Britannica (Macropedia, 1987) XXII, 233].

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The Bosco-Gastaldi Conflict
interest and support greatly encouraged other initiatives on behalf of workers,
such as the Catholic Workers Union founded by Father Leonardo Murialdo in
association with some Catholic laymen. 67
10. Archbishop Gastaldi's Relationships with Religious
The Napoleonic law of 1802; the Rattazzi Law of 1855 (preceded by the
expulsion of the Jesuits in 1848); and the general laws of 1866 and 1867
practically wiped out religious orders and congregations in Piedmont first, then
in the rest of Italy. In the seventies there was a gradual return, and Archbishop
Gastaldi himself was instrumental in re-establishing religious in their former
houses and churches. Meanwhile, surprisingly, numerous new congregations
were founded in spite of the suppression laws. 68 Of the new congregations the
one that was experiencing the greatest expansion and vitality was the Salesian
Society of Don Bosco, founded in 1859, and approved in 1869 and 1874.
Religious were not widely engaged in the care of souls, in parishes and the like.
They were instead deeply involved in the education of the young; and this is
particularly true of the Salesian Society and of the Society of St. Joseph. 69
Contrary to what is sometimes claimed, Archbishop Gastaldi did not
downgrade religious life. As the synodical statutes of 1873 show, he exalted the
way of the evangelical counsels, especially consecrated virginity. He called for
unity between diocesan and regular clergy, but also required the latter not to
interfere in parish life. It may be said that, on the one hand, he had a deeper
theological appreciation of religious life than most bishops of his day; and on
the other, that he was more rigorous in his demands and more severe in applying
disciplinary sanctions. This attitude toward religious is to be explained less from
67 Tuninetti, Gasta/di II, 215-243.
Father Leonardo Murialdo (1828-1900), a collaborator of Don Bosco in the
work of the oratory, took over the direction of the Co//egio degli artigianel/i in
1865, and founded the Society of Saint Joseph in 1873. Unlike Don Bosco, Father
Murialdo (among others) was active in the Catholic labor movement, and was a
pioneer in this apostolate.
68 In Piedmont, seven congregations of men, and forty of women were
founded; in Turin alone five and nineteen, respectively. During the Gastaldi years, the
following congregations were founded: the Society of St. Joseph (1873, by Father
Leonard Murialdo); the Sisters of Our Lady of Sorrows (1875, by Father Roberto
Murialdo); the Little Servants of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1875, by Anna
Michelotti); the Daughters of St. Joseph (1875, by Father Clemente Marchisio); the
Sisters Minims of Our Lady of Suffrage (1881, by Father Francesco Faa di Bruno)
[Tuninetti, Castaldi II, p. 247).
69 In his Report ad limina of 1879, Gastaldi speaks of 2,000 young people
educated by the Christian Brothers, and of 800 and 200 in the care of the Salesians
and Josephites respectively [ASC 123: Franchetti, FDBM 697 A4].

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his personal authoritarian character than from his concept of episcopal function
and authority, that is, his ecclesiology. The paragraph on religious included in
his Report ad limina of 1874 provides a handy reference. In this document, he
first gave a critical assessment of the Salesian formation program. Then he
expressed the hope that the Vatican Council, once reconvened, would reform the
present formation practice of religious congregations as to novitiate, and as to
humanistic, philosophical, and theological studies, to be completed before
ordination. He further saw the role of the bishop as a participant in the
discernment process regarding the vocation and worthiness of candidates for
perpetual vows; and again as one who investigates and examines candidates
before conferring ordination.
Such a doctrine of the bishop's function with regard to religious
obviously reflects on his concept of religious exemption. Again for an
understanding of his position with regard to "exemption privileges," one must
keep this ecclesiology in mind. 70
Archbishop Gastaldi's encounters with the Jesuits were largely of a doctrinal
nature, arising from the fact that Italian (especially Roman) Jesuits were
Rosmini's principal opponents. Otherwise, as noted above, he admired their
spirituality and discipline.
On the other hand, the various clashes between the archbishop and
religious founders and their institutes in the archdiocese are to be seen in the
light of the archbishop's ecclesiology. Three instances are particularly
significant, as well as emblematic: his clashes with Sister Marie-Louise-
Angelique Clarac, with Father Francesco Faa di Bruno, and (the most serious of
the three) with Don Bosco.
(1) Marie-Louise-Angelique Clarac 71
°7 For all the above, cf. Tunineui, Castaldi II, 245-249, 254-257.
71 Marie Louise-Angelique Clarac (1817 -1887) joined the Daughters of
Charity of St. Vincent de Paul in France. She volunteered for the mission in Algiers,
was recalled because of grave illness, and was reassigned to Turin in 1853. Appointed
Servant (superior) of a community, she immediately began to broaden its work of
charity, acquiring with Don Bosco's advice, a new base of operation (with a public
chapel, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart). Thus the "institute" gradually set itself apart
from the Daughters of Charity, and enjoyed the protection of Archbishop Riccardi di
Netro and the service of the Salesians, who served as chaplains. Following an order to
return to France, Sister Clarac conferred with Don Bosco about leaving the Daughters
of Charity in order pursue her work of charity in Turin, and at his suggestion she
applied to Bishop Moreno of lvrea, the dean of the Piedmontese bishops (the see of
Turin was still vacant after the death of Archbishop Riccardi di Netro). Bishop
Moreno advised her to leave her community and join (temporarily) the Sisters of

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The Bosco-Gastaldi Conflict
By the time of Archbishop Gastaldi's appointment, Sister Clarac had already left
the community of the Daughters of Charity to engage in a more diversified
apostolate. Pressed by her former community, the archbishop ordered Sister
Clarac and companions to lay aside the habit of the Daughters of Charity, or
have the public chapel placed under interdict. Rather than remove the habit, she
had the chaplain remove the Blessed Sacrament and closed down the chapel. On
April 13, 1872 Archbishop Gastaldi notified her that she was no longer a
religious of any sort. A little later she was excommunicated by the archbishop
and given a public reprimand in the church of SS. Peter and Paul.
Not permitted to speak to the archbishop in person, Sister Clarac,
between 1872 and 1875, pleaded her case with him in numerous letters. She
made the point that the Daughters' habit was not a religious habit blessed by the
Church, but that she was ready to modify it; that she was not guilty of
disobedience, and had done nothing to deserve being deprived of the sacraments;
that the interdict placed her girls in spiritual danger from the Waldensian
activities in the area; that she was willing even to rejoin the community of the
Daughters of Charity. Repeatedly she begged the archbishop to allow her to
Mary Immaculate at lvrea under his patronage. In May 1871 she and four sisters
resigned from the Daughters of Charity. Her woes began with the appointment of
Archbishop Gastaldi in October 1871, when she was excommunicated and the chapel
placed under interdict. But the institute grew in number and foundations. Archbishop
Gastaldi's successor, Cardinal Gaetano Alimonda, restored her and her institute,
thenceforth known as the Daughters of Charity of St. Mary. The cause for her
beatification was introduced in Rome in 1941.
Through the sixties Don Bosco maintained a close relationship with Sister
Clarac and supported her work. It is believed that he had given some thought to
establishing his congregation of women in association with her. By the late sixties,
however, he had opted for the Momese group. After her reinstatement, the Salesian
Father Angelo Savio (about to leave for the mission of Ecuador) re-dedicated the
public chapel of the mother house with a spiritual retreat, and Don Bosco awarded
Sister Clarac the certificate of Salesian Cooperator.
Sister Clarac has been vindicated as a true and legitimate representative of
the work of St. Vincent de Paul for the poor. She was also deeply imbued with the
spirit of charity and devotion stemming from St. Francis de Sales. There was close
spiritual and educational affinity between Don Bosco and Sister Clarac. This above all
is what brought Don Bosco and Sister Clarac into close association, rather than the
fact that both were under Archbishop Gastaldi's censures. The Salesian Father Luigi
Fiora, postulator of the cause for her beatification, states that Sister Clarac and Don
Bosco were kindred spirits. The spiritual daughter of St. Vincent de Paul,
acknowledged "the St. Vincent de Paul of the nineteenth century," as being "by right
the founder of her oratory," [Commemorative centenary brochure, Maria luigia
Clarac. II coraggio dell' amore, Ne/ cenlenario de/la morte. Moncalieri 1887, Torino
1987].

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37
receive the sacraments, and to reopen the chapel. Following Archbishop
Gastaldi's recourse to the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars, between 1873
and 1875, Sister Clarac pleaded her case with the Congregation and with
individual cardinals; and on April 10, 1874 with Pius IX himself.
The Roman Congregation allowed Clarac's argument that the habit of
the Daughters of Charity was not a religious habit; but it also recognized the
archbishop's right to forbid anyone to wear it who was not a Daughter of
Charity. As to the archbishop's right to inflict canonical penalties on the sister
for her disobedience, the Congregation in its session (according to a biographer
cited by Tuninetti) sided with the archbishop, but in its official response to him
merely advised prudence. Archbishop Gastaldi did not relent, and Sister Clarac
was not restored to communion during his lifetime. 72
In conclusion, Tuninetti writes: "True, the archbishop was excessively
severe in inflicting the interdict at once; but neither can one excuse the
stubbornness with which the sister refused to lay aside the bonnet which she
regarded as a sign of fidelity to the Vincentian spirit. 73
(2) Francesco Faa di Bruno 14
By the time of Gastaldi's appointment, this highly educated Catholic layman and
university professor had initiated a number of charitable works on behalf of
working women in Turin. A regular contributor to the Catholic press, and a
leader in the Conferences of St. Vincent de Paul and other associations-he was
regarded as one of the most distinguished Catholic laymen in the city. At the
beginning of 1876, with encouragement from Don Bosco and Bishop Moreno,
he decided to become a priest. He wished his ordination to coincide with the
dedication of the church of Our Lady of Suffrage (an event planned for November
1); for he desired to offer his first Mass in suffrage. On such short notice, he
submitted a petition to the Pope directly; he was then advised to apply to his
archbishop.
72 Tuninetti [Castaldi II, 250] states that, in spite of the prohibition,
sympathetic priests administered the sacraments to her.
73 Tuninetti, Castaldi II, 251.
74 [Blessed] Francesco Faa di Bruno (1825-1888) was a man of noble birth.
A graduate of the military academy, he served as a captain in the Second War for
Italian Independence. With a degree in mathematics from the Sorbonne University in
Paris, he was professor of analytic calculus at the University of Turin. In 1876 he
decided to become a priest, and his ordination was engineered to take place without
Archbishop Gastaldi's consent. He was subsequently "pardoned" by the archbishop
and incardinated into the archdiocese. After Gastaldi's death, he founded the Sisters
Minims of Our Lady of Suffrage at the church of that name [Tuninetti, Castaldi II, 206,
239-241, 243, 251].

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The Bosco-Gastaldi Conflict
As Tuninetli (relying on a biographer favorable to Gastaldi) relates the
episode, the archbishop agreed, though on condition that Faa take the clerical
habit immediately and enter the seminary. This would allow the candidate ten
months of intense preparation in a seminary environment, a reasonable request in
Gastaldi's view. Because of his commitment to the university, Faa di Bruno
could not immediately enter the seminary; hence, when five months had gone
by, the archbishop set a later ordination date, some time in the spring of 1877.
At this point, still aiming at the earlier date, Faa di Bruno was invited to go to
Rome for his preparation. The archbishop did not object, but reserved to himself
the right to issue the dimissorial letters as circumstances demanded. Since Faa
was legally domiciled at Alessandria, at the urging of "friends," he applied to
Bishop Giocondo Solvay (of Alessandria) for the dimissorials, which were
granted. At the same time, testimonials of all kinds in support of an early date
for his ordination and first Mass, to coincide with the dedication of the church of
Our Lady of Suffrage, were received in Rome. He himself (with encouragement
from Pius IX himself) did everything he could to help his own cause in Rome.
The archbishop, however, stood firm on the later spring date. Faa di Bruno was
disposed to return to Turin and abide by the archbishop's decision. But his
supporters thwarted Gastaldi's plan and engineered Faa di Bruno's ordination in
Rome on the desired date, November 1, 1876, for the diocese of Alessandria.
Thus (so Tuninetti writes),
the archbishop's reasonable demands were rebuffed as unjustified by a
coalition which included the Piedmontese Bishops Moreno and Solvay,
who acted without due regard; Don Bosco, whose habit it was to ask of
the Pope what he could not obtain from his archbishop; the prelates of
the Roman and Vatican chanceries, who regarded Gastaldi's demands as
unduly severe; and Pius IX himself, who in matters that concerned the
diocese of Turin was more inclined to listen to Don Bosco than to its
archbishop. 75
Archbishop Gastaldi had suffered a humiliating defeat. But, aware perhaps of Faa
di Bruno's guilessness, he followed a moderate course of action in his regard.
Toward the end of 1877, he allowed the good priest to be incardinated into the
Turin diocese and to continue his work of charity from the church of Our Lady of
Suffrage. 76
15 Tuninetti, Castaldi II, 253f.
76 For all the above, cf. Tuninetti, Castaldi II, 251-254.
The confrontation between Archbishop Gastaldi and Don Bosco, which
spanned the decade 1872-1882, and which was much more serious both as to its
intensity and as to its effects, will be dealt with separately.

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11. Archbishop Gastaldi's Death
Lawrence Gastaldi had never spared himself in anything he did or undertook. His
was a life of sustained study and feverish activity. It was also a life of strife and
travail. Contrary to what one may be led to believe, he was never a very strong
man physically. He was small in stature, and subject to frequent ailments. He
had taken ill before the close of the First Vatican Council, after which he was
forced to take a long leave of absence from the diocese of Saluzzo. He had not
been a well man since his accession to Turin in 1871. Moreover, the frequent
situations of conf1ict in which he was involved, within the Archdiocese and with
Rome, were not only morally and psychically damaging, but also physically
debilitating. His ten-year-long conflict with Don Bosco, which exposed him to
relentless battering by the press, divided his priests, and compromised him with
Rome, was especially detrimental. The last and most bitter episode of the
conflict, the clash over the anonymous defamatory pamphlets of 1878-1879,
dealt him the final blow. His health deteriorated rapidly during the summer of
1882 after the settlement enforced by Pope Leo XIII, a period in which he
suffered frequent hemorrhages.
During Holy Week of 1883, he insisted on presiding at all the solemn
liturgical services. Early on Easter Sunday morning, March 25, 1883, at 7:30,
he was found unconscious in his apartment by his secretary, Canon Chiuso. He
had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and an apoplectic stroke. He died shortly
thereafter, at 9:55, at the age of 68. He had been archbishop of Turin for eleven
years and five months. 77
At the head of this essay, the conflict between Archbishop Gastaldi and Don
Bosco was introduced in its most general terms, and we spoke of its length and
complexity. We then proceeded to give a fairly extended biographical sketch of
one of the protagonists, Lawrence Gastaldi. We also stressed those features that
might illuminate his thought and action in relation to Don Bosco. We now
move on to a description of the first phase of the "hostilities", from the first
signs of trouble in early 1872 through to the contested approval of the Salesian
Constitutions in 1874.
77 Tuninetti, Castaldi IT, 341f.

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The Bosco-Gastaldi Conflict
SECTION TWO: FIRST PHASE OF THE CONFRONTATION:
ARCHBISHOP GASTALDl'S CLASH WITH DON BOSCO
OVER THE SPIRIT OF THE SALESIAN SOCIETY AND THE
APPROVAL OF ITS CONSTITUTIONS
[Bibliographical Note]
Eugenio Ceria, Epistolario di S. Giovanni Bosco. Torino: Societa
Editrice Intemazionale, vol. I (1955), II (1956). [Ceria-Ep]
Giovanni Bosco, Opere Edite. Ristampa anastatica, ed. by Centro
Studi Don Bosco, Vol. XXV. Roma: LAS, 1977. [OE]
Giovanni Bosco, Constituzioni della Societa di S. Francesco di
Sales [1858) -1875. Tes ti critici a cura di Francesco Motto. Roma: LAS,
1982. [Motto, Cost. SDB]
DocumenJi XIIl-XXIV, passim, ASC 110: Documenti, FDBM 1018
C9-1081 E12; and XLV (Bonetti-Gastaldi), FDBM 1194 B12-1201 A9.
[Doc umenti].
Giovanni Battista Lemoyne-Angelo Amadei, Memorie Biografiche
di San Giovanni Bosco, Volume X, 1871-1874. Torino: SEI, 1939. [IBM}
The Biographical Memoirs of SainJ John Bosco. An American Edition.
Translated from the Original Italian, Rev. Diego Borgatello, S.D.B. Editor-
in-Chief, Volume X, 1871-1874. New Rochelle, New York: Salesiana
Publishers, 1977. [EBM]
The Biographical Memoirs tell the story of this first phase of the
Conflict in Vol. X-the Italian edition fully and with ample documentation;
the English edition in more condensed fashion, omitting much of the
documentation.
Francis Desramaut, "Chronologie critique du differend entre don
Bosco et l'archeveque de Turin Lorenzo Gastaldi," in Cahiers salesiens.
Recherches et documenJs pour servir a 1'histoire des sa/esiens de don Bosco
dans les pays de langue fra~aise, Numero special 6-7, avril-octobre 1982.
Lyon: SDB, 1982.
This work of Father Desramaut lists all the relevant documentation
in critical chronological order, giving for each piece a summary of the
contents and references. It is an indispensable work. No reference will be
given to it, but it will be followed scrupulously.
Id., "Etudes prealables a une biographie de saint Jean Bosco V: La
pleine maturite (1867-1874)," in Cahiers salesiens [. ..], Numero 24-25
(Avril-Octobre 1991). [Desramaut, Etudes V] .
This carefully documented and annotated study of the period, deals
with this phase of the conflict in a brief but scholarly manner: p. 187-196
(Origin of the conflict; Gastaldi's negative report); p. 200-202 (Troubles in
Turin); p. 202-205 (Constitutions 1873); p. 221-231 (Definitive approval).
Giuseppe Tuninetti, Lorenzo Castaldi 1815-1883. Casale
Monferrato: PIEMME [Vol. II: Arcivescovo di Torino (1871-1883)], 1988.
[Tuninetti, Gastaldi II]
Chapter 12 (p. 259-290) of this critical, carefully documented
biography, surveys the events of the entire conflict. Pages 259-270 deal

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Journal of Salesian Studies
41
with the phase under consideration. Like Desramaut's works listed above, it
is a basic resource.
Pietro Braido, "L'idea della Societa Salesiana nel <Cenno
istorico> di Don Bosco de! 1873n4," in Ricerche Storiche Salesiane 6
(1987) 245-331. [Braldo, L'idea]
In this critical edition of the Cenno istorico (a capital document
on the Salesian Society authored by Don Bosco at a crucial point of the
approval process) Father Braido provides an illuminating introduction and
notes on the present phase of the conflict. This document is also published,
together with others, in Pietro Braido, Don Bosco per i giovani:
L<Oratorio>. Una <Congregazione degli Oratori>. Documenti (Piccola
Biblioteca dell'Istituto Storico Salesiano, 9). Roma: LAS, 1988, p. 81-146.
For a reference to relevant material held in the Salesian Archives,
cf. note 1, above.
1. Antecedents
The events of the confrontation between Don Bosco and Archbishop Gastaldi
over the approval of the Salesian Constitutions spanned the years 1872-1874.
However, the issues of the conflict had been forming over the years. A brief
account of this pre-history will be helpful.
The founding, early development and approval of the Salesian Society
went hand in hand with the development and approval of its constitutions.
Although the process was in effect since the early fifties, the formative phases of
both Society and constitutions span the years 1858-1874.
(1) Initial Phases in the Development of the Salesian Constitutions and
the Decretum Laudis
[Constitutional Texts of 1858 and 1860)
The earliest known extant text of the Salesian Constitutions, a manuscript in the
hand of Father Rua in Italian, dates from 1858, and was the result of an
"incubation" period, and of Don Bosco's meetings with Minister Urbano
Rattazzi (1857) and Pope Pius IX (earlier in 1858). The first two of its ten
chapters were a preamble and an historical introduction, which preceded the
chapter, "Purpose of the Society."
The Salesian Society was founded officially on December 18, 1859,
when Don Bosco and eighteen other "Salesians" (a designation adopted in 1854)
met to pronounce their "vows" and to elect officers.
Don Bosco meanwhile had been revising and expanding the
constitutions. In 1860 a text (in Italian) signed by twenty-six Salesians
(including young Paul Albera, still in his secondary studies) was sent to the
exiled Archbishop Luigi Fransoni for comments and approval. The text had four

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The Bosco-Gastaldi Conflict
new chapters, including one (the last) on "External Members." 78 The archbishop
gave his encouragement, but sent the text to Father Marcantonio Durando,
Provincial of the Vincentians in Turin. We do not know what the latter's
comments were on this occasion, but it is assumed that they may have been
similar to the critical remarks he later made in 1867, when, as will be explained
below, he examined a revised text at the request of Archbishop Alessandro
Riccardi.
[Text of 1864, Decretum Laudis, and Thirteen Animadversiones
(Critical Observations)]
There followed a period of laborious revision of the constitutions by Don Bosco,
the outcome of which was the Italian text of 1864, which was submitted to the
Congregation of Bishops and Regulars for the hoped-for approval of the Salesian
Society. It contained new articles (on politics, on the pope), and three new
chapters for a total of seventeen. Don Bosco had collected testimonial letters of
support from several bishops for the purpose, but he had had only a half-hearted
letter of commendation from the vicar of the (vacant) Archdiocese of Turin,
Canon Giuseppe Zappata. These constitutions specifically gave the rector
(superior general) the power to issue dimissorial letters for his priestly
candidates. All he obtained, however, was the Decretum Laudis (Decree of
commendation), which is not even an official approval, though it is an
important preliminary step toward it. He was also given thirteen Critical
Observations by Consultor Angelo Savini, O.C.D. and Secretary Stanislao
Svegliati, with the charge that he modify the text of the constitutions
accordingly. One of these critical observations denied him the power to issue
dimissorial letters; and the last one required that the text of the constitutions be
submitted in Latin, in accordance with canonical procedure.
In a detailed response, Don Bosco readily accepted some of the critical
observations, but on others he demurred. In particular, he tried to salvage the
78 Don Bosco had conceived the work of the oratories, hence all Salesian
apostolate, as a work of collaboration from the start, that is, a work of diverse forces
united on behalf of the young. He wished to give permanency and official status to
this idea in a special chapter of the constitutions, a chapter first introduced in 1860.
These extern members were to be Salesians who neither took vows nor lived in
community. They were nonetheless to be committed to the Salesian apostolate and to
the practice of the constitutions to the extent that it was compatible with their state
in life. This novel idea met with objections when the constitutions were submitted in
1864. Don Bosco, however, at first did not remove the chapter, but merely transferred
it to the end as an appendix. He was finally forced to remove it when the constitutions
were submitted for definitive approval in 1873-74 [cf. p. 78 below]. The idea was
continued and perpetuated with the institution of the Salesian Cooperators.

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power to issue dimissoriaJ letters by presenting an elaborate argument in eight
points. 79
(2) New Move for Approval and Archbishop Riccardi' s Opposition
By 1867 he had ready a printed Latin text modified in accordance with some, but
not aJI, of the thirteen critical observations. He started the process for approval
again, a process which entailed, among other things, collecting more testimonial
letters from the bishops.
Lawrence Gastaldi's response (he was by now Bishop of Saluzzo) was
completely favorable. For, as noted above, between Don Bosco and Lawrence
GastaJdi there had existed over a long period of time, in fact from the beginnings
of Don Bosco's oratory, a mutual esteem, friendship, and factual collaboration.
Moreover, Don Bosco had played a key role in Gastaldi's appointment to
Saluzzo as bishop.
Such show of support came precisely at a time when influential
Piedmontese bishops opposed the approval on grounds, among others, of lack of
proper intellectual fonnation, of religious discipline, and of ecclesiastical spirit
[Archbishop Riccardi's Objections and Demands]
The most trenchant critique came from Archbishop Riccardi, appointed to Turin
from Savona in 1867. so He was apparently unknown to Don Bosco, and Don
Bosco in his mediating role had not mentioned his name for any see.
As noted above, the diocese had been vacant since the death of
Archbishop Fransoni in 1862, and since 1850 had been governed by its exiled
archbishop only "from afar." The Turin seminary had been closed at the time of
the liberal revolution and remained closed until 1863. During this time Don
Bosco's Oratory functioned as a seminary, and while making a significant
contribution to the diocese Don Bosco had enjoyed considerable freedom of
action. Many diocesan seminarians lived at Valdocco together with Don Bosco' s
own clerical students, and there was no clear distinction between the two
categories.81 When the seminary was reestablished, all these young candidates to
79 For all these constitutional developments, cf. Mollo, Cost. SDB, 16ff.,
58ff., and 228-234.
SO Alessandro Ottaviano Riccardi dei Conti di Netro (1808-1870), born at
Biella (Piedmont) and ordained in 1832, was appointed bishop of Savona (Liguria) in
1842. Appointed archbishop of Turin in 1867, his tenure, partly taken up by the First
Vatican Council and marred by illness, was brief. He died in 1870, before he could get
his program of ecclesiastical reform under way.
81 Generally, throughout this paper I refer to young men studying for the
priesthood and not yet ordained as "seminarians" (the Italian term being "chierici").

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The Bosco-Gastaldi Conflict
the priesthood apparently attended only some seminary lectures, or none at all,
receiving supplementary instruction at the Oratory. All of them, moreover, were
occupied full-time in youth work both in the school and in the oratories. 82 In
1866 the capitular vicar and the rector of the seminary had insisted that all of
them, Don Bosco's clerical students included, attend regular seminary lectures.
Don Bosco had countered by submitting a plan for the establishment of a regular
seminary program at Valdocco, but it was rejected. 83 (Don Bosco had already
anticipated such pressures when, in applying for approval in 1864, as related
above, he had also applied for the faculty to grant dimissorial letters for the
ordination of his clerical students, a petition which was denied.) This had been
the situation at the time of Archbishop Riccardi's appointment.
A priority on the new archbishop's agenda was the strengthening of the
seminary program and the formation of the clergy, and in that context he did not
like what was going on at Valdocco. At this time the archbishop received a copy
of the new Salesian constitutions, and could not help but notice some glaring
deficiencies in them, notably the absence of provisions for a regular course of
studies for Salesian priestly candidates and for a regular novitiate. In addition, the
constitutions still accorded to the superior general the power to issue
dimissorials. The Vincentian Father Marcantonio Durando was asked to examine
the constitutions, and his observations are recorded. Among many deficiencies,
he noted the provision for the establishment of junior seminaries without
specification of the ordinary's role; the mixture of clerical students and boys
without separate guidance and formation; the lack of a proper novitiate and of a
program of studies. 84
In September 1867, the archbishop notified Don Bosco that he would
"no longer let diocesan seminarians teach or supervise boys in any boarding
However, in this account of the debate between Don Bosco and the diocesan
authorities over priestly studies and formation, I refer to Don Bosco's candidates as
"clerical students" to distinguish them from the diocesan seminarians. There was no
proper theological seminary established at Valdocco.
82 Don Bosco wrote somewhat unadvisedly to Canon Alessandro Vogliotti,
rector of the seminary: "The seminarians living here and at Lanzo are about fifty in
number. They are fully occupied [impiegano tutta la loro vita] in the assistance and
religious instruction of poor children, of those in particular who attend the boys'
oratories in this city" [Letter of June 26, 1866, in Ceria-Ep I, 405].
83 For the plan (listing Canon Gastaldi as prospective professor of
theology), cf. letter of Don Bosco to Canon Giuseppe Zappala (Capitular Vicar),
August 26, 1966, [Ceria-Ep I, 424-426). For the "flat refusal," cf. letter of Don Bosco
to Canon Alessandro Vogliotti (rector of the seminary), September 6, 1866 [Ceria-Ep
I, 427]. Ceria notes that a second petition to establish a philosophical course at the
Oratory was granted.
84 Motto, Cost SDB, 235.

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school;" and that he would henceforth "confer sacred orders only on candidates
residing at the seminary." He added soothingly: "this directive may prove
somewhat burdensome to you, but it will benefit the Church and your
community as well." 85 Don Bosco suggested that the matter be submitted for
arbitration to Rome (where Don Bosco had the patronage of Pope Pius IX and of
the Secretary of State, Cardinal Giovanni Antonelli), a suggestion which the
archbishop rejected.
Don Bosco (and the biographers) clearly viewed the archbishop's
demands as unwarranted harassment. The reasons he gave for his objections are
revealing. He wrote to Cardinal Filippo De Angelis:
If I allow my clerical students to reside in the seminary, what will
become of the spirit and discipline of our Society? Where will I find the
one hundred and more instructors to take their place in as many
catechism classes? Then, after spending five years in the seminary, will
any of them ever wish to come back and shut himself in at the Oratory?
[...] Can I, then, in good conscience send my clerical students to the
diocesan seminary? I think not."
He added a revealing comment: "Fortunately, I have for some time anticipated
this move; and [fortunately] all my clerical students who wish to join the
Society, except a few, are from other dioceses." 86
Thus it was that when Don Bosco began to solicit testimonial letters from
bishops in support of his petition for the official approval of the Society,
Archbishop Riccardi followed his short letter of commendation with a longer one
addressed to Cardinal Angelo Quaglia, Prefect of the Congregation of Bishops
and Regulars, in which he set forth his objections. Archbishop Riccardi stated
that his testimonial letter was written in support of the Society's original work,
not of the Congregation as described in the present constitutions, which would
surely be drastically emended by Rome. He made the following points, among
others: the Society should not be involved in the formation of seminarians; the
constitutions make no mention of a course of studies whether for priestly
candidates or laymen; seminarians not belonging to the Society should be under
the bishop's authority; the constitutions contain no provision for a novitiate.
And he added:
85 Letter of September 11, 1867 [EBM VIIl, 406).
86 Letter of September 9, 1868 [Ceria-Ep. I, 373).

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What can a congregation achieve when it is composed of such disparate
elements lacking unity of purpose? The Salesian school in Turin [the
Oratory] is already a chaotic mixture of apprentices, students, laymen,
seminarians, and priests. The chaos will only increase as the
Congregation extends its sphere of action. 87
Bishop Lawrence Renaldi of Pinerolo likewise gave a contrary opinion and
withheld his letter of commendation. He had reservations about the formation of
priestly candidates outside of the bishop's control. The eloquent silence from,
among others, Bishop Louis Moreno of lvrea expressed a similar opposition.
(Later, the subalpine episcopal conference, meeting in November 1868 under the
presidency of Archbishop Riccardi, summarily dismissed Don Bosco's request for
a joint letter of commendation.) 88
[Vatican Representative Tortone's Negative Report]
Impressed and concerned, the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars asked the
representative of the Holy See in Turin, Mgr. Gaetano Tortone, to conduct an
independent investigation. His report to Secretary Svegliati was negative indeed.
He wrote: "The primary aim of Don Bosco's institution [the education of young
people] has had admirable and encouraging success. It appears, however, that the
same cannot be said of the intellectual and ecclesiastical formation of the young
clerical students who belong to his institute." After commenting on their poor
performance in studies, he continued: "Such mediocre intellectual achievement is
not surprising when one bears in mind that Don Bosco entrusts these same
clerical students with responsibilities, such as teaching and supervising the boys,
that take up the time which they should be devoting to their studies." As for
their priestly formation, he saw nothing but "obstacles in the way of their
acquiring that ecclesiastical spirit and that good breeding which are so important
a prerequisite for the priestly life." He commented on the odd mixture of people
living together at the Oratory without any order or discipline, and with reference
87 Letter of March 14, 1868 [IBM IX, 96-100 (abridged in EBM IX, 53-55);
Motto, Cost. SDB, 236f.].
88 EBM IX, 121-124; IBM IX, 419-424 (briefly in EBM IX, 192f.); Ceria-
Ep I, 56lf., 590-593.
In his petition to the conference, Don Bosco stated that, contrary to what
"someone" had reported to the Roman Congregation, clerical students belonging to
the Salesian Society had been successful in their studies, but that he meant to correct
any deficiency.
Bishop Moreno's opposition to Don Bosco, and after him to the Salesians,
stemmed also from the struggle (1862-1867) over the ownership of the Catholic
Readings. The two remained permanently estranged [cf. Pietro Stella, Don Bosco
nella storia economica e sociale (Roma: LAS, 1980), 347-368, esp. 366-368].

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47
to Salesian seminarians he concluded: "Our good Don Bosco [...] has liule
interest in forming them to a genuine ecclesiastical spirit and to a consciousness
of the dignity of the life they wish to embrace." 89
[Petition Denied]
The Congregation of Bishops and Regulars met in formal session to consider
Don Bosco's petition, (1) "for the approval of the Institute and its
constitutions"; (2) "for the faculty to issue dimissorials for the ordination of
candidates, also by reason of community life [titulo mensae communis] in the
case of candidates for major orders; (3) and finally for the faculty to dispense
from triennial vows[...]." The seven-point report by Consultor Savini, dated
September 22, 1868, found the constitutions defective and recommended a longer
waiting period.90 Don Bosco's petition was turned down. In a sensitive personal
letter notifying Don Bosco of the decision, Secretary Svegliati pointed out "two
principal articles" needing attention: the one pertaining to the issuing of
dimissorial letters (to be removed); the other pertaining to a regular course of
studies in the seminary (to be added), as demanded by the ordinary. 9!
(3) Approval of the Society Not of the Constitutions
After a short period of doubt, Don Bosco decided to make another attempt and
left for Rome in early January 1869. In the meantime letters of commendation
had been received in Rome, which did much to offset the bad reports. Bishop
Gastaldi of Saluzzo, clearly and without any reservation expressed his support of
the Salesian Congregation. He wrote to Cardinal Quaglia:
[...] From the very start Don Bosco began to train his own clerical
students and priests, imbuing them with his own spirit. With their help
he successfully ran his institutions. Now these same students and
priests are giving shape to a Society which will perpetuate a work
already so well established. The undersigned [Gastaldi] has witnessed the
birth and growth of this Society, has known and knows each individual
member, and cannot but praise it and express his desire that it be
established on a permanent basis. To this end the official approval of
the Holy See, without which it could never attain stability, is urgently
needed. Father John Bosco has already submitted the rules of his nascent
Society to the Holy See, together with a petition for the favors and
89 Letter of August 6, 1868 [EBM IX, 170-173).
90 Motto, Cost. SDB, 237f.; EBM IX, 170. 174.
91 Letter of October 2, 1868 [Motto, Cost. SDB, 239).

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exemptions that are necessary to all religious societies. [...] As in the
past, this Society will without a doubt continue to promote the
Christian education of youth, a most urgent need in our times. 92
This time, perhaps even to Don Bosco's surprise, the Society was approved by
decree of March 1, 1869.
But the decree, after referring to the founder's "insistent petitions"
(enixe postulavit), stated that the Holy Father had approved the Society, but not
its constitutions. "These must first be emended in such a way that all of the
[thirteen Savini-Svegliati] critical observations given earlier [in 1864] are
complied with-with the exception of the fourth," which dealt with the faculty
to issue dimissorial letters. With regard to this matter, "His Holiness, graciously
responding (benigne annuens) to Father John Bosco's entreaties
(supplicationibus), gives him as Superior General of the said Salesian
Congregation, the faculty of issuing dimissorials for the tonsure and for the
ordination of [Salesian] candidates." But the decree clearly stated, "this faculty is
valid for ten years only, and concerns only those candidates who prior to their
fourteenth year of age were admitted, or will be admitted, to any house of the
aforementioned Congregation, and who have joined, or will in due time join, the
same[...]." 93
The language and style of the decree lead one to suspect that the Congregation of
Bishops and Regulars wished to distance itself from such a concession which
was contrary to Roman practice and which was attributable only to Pius IX's
wish to accede to Don Bosco's persistent requests. By this concession, Don
Bosco, as far as his own seminarians were concerned, was evading the discipline
established by the archbishop. By recourse to privilege Don Bosco foiled
Archbishop Riccardi's policy (as he would later foil Archbishop Gastaldi' s) in a
matter to which both had given high priority- the training and ordination of
priests. They had to put a good face on a disagreeable situation, but neither of
them ever accepted the idea of special privileges. Gastaldi in particular would do
all in his power to obstruct their exercise or to limit their application. Don
Bosco then would counter by seeking more favors in Rome, a characteristic
modus operandi. He was so thoroughly convinced of the goodness and rightness
of his objectives that, when faced with opposition from his ordinary, he tried to
circumvent it by appealing directly to Rome (to Pope Pius IX particularly), or to
some other bishop. 94
92 Letter of January 8, 1869 [EBM IX, 220].
93 Motto, Cost. SDB, 239f.; EBM IX, 257.
94 Tuninetti, Castaldi II, 261f.

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Shortly after the decree of approval of 1869, Don Bosco sought and
obtained directly from Pius IX the additional privilege of issuing dimissorials for
eleven Salesians that had entered after the age of fourteen. 95 Archbishop
Riccardi's reaction, as far as is known, has not been recorded; but in relating the
"Albera episode" from this period, Lemoyne reports the Archbishop's bitter
words: "Don Bosco is a proud man. He refuses obedience to his bishop." 96
More serious, and potentially disastrous, was the incident of Joseph
Cagliero's "illicit" ordination. Certainly, it greatly aggravated an already strained
relationship. In early November 1869, Deacon Cagliero applied for, but was
denied, ordination by the archbishop when he refused, according to the
Biographical Memoirs, "to sign a promise to leave the Oratory." The point is
also made that he had not yet taken vows, though he apparently intended to do
so. Rebuffed, he quickly made his religious profession, got assigned to the house
of Mirabello in the diocese of Casale and, on November 14, was ordained by
Bishop Pietro Maria Ferre. By letter of November 26, the archbishop notified
Don Bosco of his displeasure, as well as of the canonical penalties incurred by
all who had a part in that "totally illicit ordination." Don Bosco's reply can only
be described as a feeble groping for a semblance of justification; but it was a
humble and apologetic letter, which must have mollified the archbishop
somewhat. In a second letter, dated December 8, the latter rejected all of Don
Bosco's explanations, but did not take any action against him. By that time he
was already in Rome for the opening of the First Vatican Council, and was
involved in other concerns. 97
2. Lawrence Gastaldi Archbishop-Initial Estrangement
At this point momentous events followed one hard upon the other: the First
Vatican Council and the debates on its controversial schemata; the definition of
papal infallibility; the occupation of Rome by the Italian army in September
1870; the Council's indefinite adjournment.
Archbishop Riccardi had been forced to leave Rome and the Council in
April because of illness, and died not much later on October 16 of the same year.
Now again, as in 1867, at Pope Pius IX's request, Don Bosco drew up his list of
candidates for vacant episcopal sees. Thus he found himself in a position to
further the nomination to the See of Turin (which obviously he had most at
heart) of a longtime friend, benefactor and supporter, Bishop Gastaldi of
95 Ceria-Ep II, 25f.
96 Doc umenti XI, 302 in ASC 110: Cronachette, Lemoyne-Doc, FDBM
1,014 07, edited in EBM IX, 297f. Cf. Desramaut, Etudes V, 46. 59.
97 EBM IX, 356-364; Ceria-Ep II, 62f. Cf. Desramaut, Etudes V, 46-48.

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The Bosco-Gastaldi Conflict
Saluzzo. 98 The nomination came through in September. On November 26, the
archbishop made his disputed and difficult official entrance into his diocese, and
Don Bosco shared the anxiety and excitement of that moment. 99
Don Bosco must have looked on the entrance of Archbishop Gastaldi as
the sure guarantee of patronage where he needed it most; he must have
confidently entertained the hope that ecclesiastical policy in Turin would
permanently change in his favor. He was to be bitterly disappointed, and he
would live to regret the not quite high-minded proposal he had made to Pius IX.
How explain such a sudden change of heart in Lawrence Gastaldi? Initially, we
should rather speak of "distancing" rather than a change of heart as from friend to
foe. The reasons are complex.
To begin with, the incessant battering and vicious abetting by the
anticlerical press had something to do with it. 100 These newspapers habitually
presented Don Bosco and Gastaldi in tandem, speaking of the latter as a creature
of the former. Shortly after Gastaldi's entrance, the most popular "serious" daily
in Turin, la Gazzetta del Popolo [The People's Gazette], had this to say:
It matters little whether the name of the archbishop of Turin be Don
Bosco or Don Margotti, and that their lackey's name be Gastaldi. What
do we care? [...] Gastaldi indeed relies on Don Bosco for his supply of
wood, out of which priestly puppets are manufactured. Don Bosco's
seminarians and tonsured boys may troop up and down Turin's streets
looking like Lenten ghosts and smelling like rotten truffles, but
educated people are amused[...]. 101
98 EBM X, 200f. For details and documentation, cf. Motto, L' azione, p.
307-315.
99 EBM X, 123-125. Cf. note 34 and related text, above.
I 00 Archbishop Riccardi had largely been spared by the anticlerical press
because of his position at the Vatican Council and for his conciliating policy; but, as
new appointments were in the offing, a vicious campaign was mounted against all
likely candidates, especially against rumored nominees for the see of Turin. When
Gastaldi's appointment became known he became the target of the most personal and
vile attacks, and the populace was suborned to interfere with his entrance [cf. Motto,
L'azione, 313, n. 173].
10 1 La Gazzetta de/ Popo/o, November 2, 1872, n. 306, p. 2, cited by
Giuseppe Tuninetti, "L'immagine di don Bosco nella stampa torinese (e italiana) del
suo tempo," in Don Bosco nella storia del/a cultura popolare (ed. Francesco Traniello.
Torino: Societa Editrice Internazionale, 1987, [209-251]), 219. [Herafter,
Tunlnettl, L'immagine]
Father Giacomo Margotti was the powerful editor of the arch-conservative
Catholic newspaper, L' Unita Cattolica.

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And the weekly satirical sheet, fl Fischietto [The Whistle], under the heading,
"Bishop Gastaldi's Biography," wrote:
Don Bosco, the famous holy bigot, knew that Gastaldi was merchandise
for sale, that he could use him to further his own schemes. He
submitted his name to God's Vicar, the then-non-yet-infallible Pius IX,
for nomination as bishop of Saluzzo, and it was done. [...] But in the
recent reshuffling of bishops, Don Bosco transferred him from the
Church of Saluzzo, where no tears were shed at his departure, to the
Church of Turin. 102
One, then, can readily understand Gastaldi's need to distance himself from Don
Bosco. Perhaps, Don Bosco's very familiarity made such distancing advisable.
Gastaldi was conscious enough of his own merit, for he had "served the Church
well," not only by upholding papal infallibility at the First Vatican Council, but
because of his record as an outstanding bishop. In his inaugural discourse he
emphasized the fact that he was now archbishop of Turin not by the will of men,
but by the action of the Holy Spirit. 103 He obviously must have recognized the
debt he owed Don Bosco; but he probably resented being reminded of it. Don
Bosco, however, had immediately put himself forward. With the Pope's
permission he was the first to notify the archbishop-elect of his promotion by
telegram.104 He did not hesitate to offer him advice; and in an informally written
note he even made the suggestion that Father Giovanni Bauista Bertagna, "a
pious, learned, practical, and well-to-do person" be appointed pro-vicar general of
the archdiocese. l05 Perhaps the new circumstances in which Archbishop
Gastaldi found himself, his new role, demanded that their relationship be placed
on a different footing. Furthermore, advancing from the relatively unimportant
post of suffragan bishop in a provincial town to the archdiocesan see of St.
Maximus, he was taking on responsibilities so demanding as to make everything
else, even friendship, appear secondary. True, even under such circumstances the
"Relies on Don Bosco for his supply of wood." This play on words (Bosco-
wood) refers to the fact that throughout the period when the diocesan seminary was
closed (1848-1863), and even thereafter, the Oratory functioned as a seminary which
"manufactured priestly puppets."
102 Jl Fischietto, September 14, 1872, n. 111, in TunineLti, l' immag ine ,
225.
103 EBM X, 124f.
104 EBM X, 200f.
105 Letter of October 1871. [EBM X, 123; cf. Ceria-Ep IT, 185).

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expression of friendship is always possible, but only insofar as it is compatible
with the new relationships that have come into being.
Finally, there was (I believe) a more cogent reason. It appears that in
his new role Gastaldi found his identity as the refonner-pastor bishop he had
always felt called to be. And, most importantly, he was inheriting an
ecclesiastical policy relating to the training and fonnation of clergy, secular and
regular, which, though not of his own making, responded to his deepest
conviction and was consonant with canonical tradition.
[Year 1872]
Don Bosco and the Salesians became aware of a change in attitude on the part of
the archbishop, of the way he seemed to be distancing himself from them, as
early as the beginning of 1872. On February 17, the archbishop attended the
service held at the Oratory in thanksgiving for Don Bosco' s recovery from the
Varazze illness; but he ignored the invitation to stay for the reception that
followed. This drew from Don Bosco a remark that expressed not only his
disappointment but his perception of the change: " What can we do? The
archbishop wants to be the head of our Congregation. That is too much.
However, we shall see." 106
In March or April (1872), the troublesome question of ordinations came
up again and it dragged on through the following months, as will be seen
below.107 And yet, right at this time (by letter of April 23), Archbishop Gastaldi
asked Don Bosco to take the school at Valsalice which was running the risk of
closure. After considerable hesitation, Don Bosco accepted. The offer would tend
to show that Gastaldi's regard for Don Bosco and his work had not changed, even
though, by accepting, Don Bosco would be doing the archbishop a favor.
Moreover, one is struck by the fact that the correspondence betrays no animus
on either side; and even shows a willingness on the archbishop's part to accept
Don Bosco's terms. I08
l06 EBM X, 155. For this episode the biographer quotes a report by Canon
Giovanni Battista Anfossi, who was present. It should be noted that Anfossi, a
diocesan priest and an alumnus of the Oratory, a few years later would be playing a
role in the conflict against the archbishop.
107 IBM XVI, 82f. This information is contained in comments on the
conflict made by Ceria after recording Gastaldi's death [Ibid., 82-102).
108 For the story, cf. EBM X, 168-170. and two letters in Ceria-Ep II, 214.
In June 1872 Don Bosco accepted to operate the school officially. He leased the
premises from the Christian Brothers for five years, up to 1877. In 1879 he bought
the property. In 1887 he decided to tum Valsalice into a Seminary for the Foreign
Missions, in reality a minor seminary for the Salesian Society. For a full account, cf.
E. Pederzani and R. Roccia, Don Bosco a Valsalice. Un contributo per il centenario.
Torino, 1987.

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3. Hardening of Gastaldi's Position
(1) Process for the Definitive Approval of the Constitutions Begun
In August (1872) Cardinal Giuseppe Berardi, undersecretary of state, speaking for
the Holy Father, advised Don Bosco to pursue the matter of the definitive
approval of the Society and its constitutions. l09 Don Bosco again began to
solicit letters of commendation from bishops, and again turned his attention to
the text of the constitutions. This effort resulted in the revised Latin text of
1873, to be discussed below, and the assembling of the documents for the new
Positio or docket to be presented in Rome. 110
(2) Gastaldi' s "Declaration ofIntent"
But, while the process of approval of the Salesian Constitutions was moving
forward, Archbishop Gastaldi's position was hardening, and his letter of October
24, 1872 to Don Bosco amounted to a "declaration of intent." The letter began
with an elaborate reference to his past benefactions and support for Don Bosco
and the Salesian Society. Then, (1) referring to the privilege authorizing Don
Bosco "to issue dimissorial letters to those youths (only) who had entered the
Oratory prior to their fourteenth year," he demanded that documentary proof of
the fact be submitted in each case; (2) he directed that all Salesians who sought
ordination should present themselves to him at least forty days in advance with
affidavits as to personal data, formation, studies, and religious profession status;
(3) he likewise directed that Salesian candidates seeking ordination should take
examinations each time in two appropriate theological treatises at the chancery;
(4) he added that he might also have demanded that Salesian clerical students
attend classes in the diocesan seminary (as an instruction of the Congregation of
Bishops and Regulars of March 3, 1869, prescribed), but he hoped that the
outcome of such examinations would render this further measure unnecessary.
For these demands he appealed both to the Council of Trent and to the
109 Letter of August 27, 1972, [IBM X, 673 (omitted in EBM X, 303)] .
110 By the Latin term Positio was meant the docket or file containing the
official documents that together made up the proposal for approval. This was
presented to the cardinals who constituted the Special Congregation charged with
deciding on the approval. On the basis of these official documents, a lawyer of the
Congregation of Bishops and Regulars drafted a summary statement, designated as
"Consultation for a Special Congregation," which gave the pros and cons, and framed
a motion on which the members of the Special Congregation cast their votes.

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Pontificale Romanum, which prescribed that "religious should not be ordained
without the bishop's diligent scrutiny." 111
The immediate effect of the letter of October 24 was to aggravate the
conflictual situation which the matter of dimissorials for ordination had already
created. Gastaldi, as we have seen, was not the first to object to this privilege.
But this was not all. His demands must have been perceived as unwarranted, in
fact, as overt harassment. Later the letter would be branded by Don Bosco as the
first in a long series of abusive acts of power by the archbishop against the
Salesian Society. 112
Don Bosco's reply is not on file. But from Gastaldi's next letter of
November 9, we learn that Don Bosco was "so grieved as to be unable to find
rest or relief." After admonishing him to seek to do the will of God and not be
perturbed, the archbishop restated his position, stressing what he considered his
right and his duty:
While acknowledging that religious orders should rightly be exempt
from episcopal authority to the extent required for their preservation and
successful growth, I am nevertheless averse to unnecessary exemptions,
particularly when they are harmful. Such in my opinion is the
exemption that would prevent bishops from carefully examining
candidates for ordination, while the Council of Trent and the Pontificale
Romanum expressly order bishops to do so. Unfortunately little by
little abuses gained a foothold in this matter, which now claim the
status of privileges. [...] It is high time that we adhere scrupulously to
the prescriptions of the wise fathers of the Council of Trent.
He likewise pointed out what he regarded as yet another failure, namely, the
defective religious formation among Salesians due to the lack of a proper
novitiate; he made this requirement a prerequisite for his support.
111 EBM X, 304ff.
Some time earlier, beginning with the issue of June 24 (1872), the scandal
sheet, fl Ficcanaso (The Meddler), had begun to run installments of a scurrilous
"novel" entitled "Don Broschi." It described a seminary wherein disorder and ribaldry
reigned supreme, and wherein pupils and teachers, their leader (Don Broschi) in
particular, were crooked-minded hypocrites one and all [IBM X, 460 (omitted in EBM
X, 211)). The archbishop's letter would not have been prompted by such a trashy
publicationi but even such grossly false allegations would increase his concern.
1 2 Cf. Esposizione de/ sacerdote Giovanni Bosco agli eminentissimi
cardinali de/la Sacra Congregazione de/ Concilio. Sampierdarena, 1881, p. 8, OE
XXXII (Roma: LAS, 1977), p. 56. [Hereafter, Bosco, Esposizione 1881)

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If there is no such novitiate, or if it does not resemble, at least to a
great extent, that of the Society of Jesus, your Congregation will lack
stability. [...] All too often complaints are made that [Salesians] lack
virtue, especially humility. [...] This could be remedied by a good
novitiate, which I do not think the Congregation of St. Francis de Sales
has as yet. I shall therefore be unable to support the Holy See's
approval ofthis Congregation, except on the basis ofa clear, prior, and
mutual understanding that such a novitiate will be established.
With assurances of genuine interest, and with exhortations to patience and
humility, the archbishop signed off, "Affectionately in Jesus Christ." 113
Clearly, in the light of the foregoing discussion, Archbishop Gastaldi 's
demands should be understood as expressing a genuine concern for the proper
preparation of candidates for ordination, as well as his strongly felt responsibility
in the matter. His statement with regard to exemption of religious should be
noted: he was not against limited necessary exemption of religious; but he was
against unnecessary and harmful privileges, among them (in his view) the
privilege of issuing dimissorials. 114
Don Bosco, on his part, believed he was in the right. He set forth his
reasons to the archbishop by letter dated November 23 (1872). He wrote that,
prior to the Society's approval in 1869, he had explained Salesian formation
practices to Pius IX's complete satisfaction. True, the Salesian Society's official
documents (because of the suppression laws!) did not provide for a formal
novitiate, but there had always been a novitiate in actual practice. He also
disputed the archbishop's claim that Salesians did not possess the necessary
religious virtues. If that was so, how should one explain the fact that the
archbishop had until recently spoken of the Oratory as a house of piety and
virtue? 115
(3) Positions and Understandings ofthe Parties
By these letters, the position of the parties, and the substantive issues in the
confrontation over the Society's definitive approval, were laid bare: religious
formation and novitiate; priestly formation and ordinations.
113 EBM X, p. 305f. Italics mine.
114 Tuninetti [Castaldi II, p. 261f.] notes that Archbishop Gastaldi seems to
have been opposed not only to the granting of specific special privileges to
religious, but also to the established practice of total exemption. On the other hand,
as has been pointed out above, he was strongly in favor of religious life as such, and
was very apfreciative of the work o_f religious congregations.
1 EBM X, 307f.; cf. Cena-Ep II, 239f.

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With respect to the first point, the disagreement rested on different
conceptions of the Salesian Congregation, and therefore of its novitiate. In the
seventies Gastaldi could not regard the Society as anything but a traditional
Tridentine religious congregation (and essentially such it was), the novitiate of
which (in his view) should reduplicate that of the Jesuits. Don Bosco, on the
other hand, had only gradually accepted that model, and in the seventies he was
still struggling to salvage some ideas he had come by with a different model in
mind. At first (so it seems) he had wanted not a traditional congregation, but one
that would be more pliable and suitable to youth apostolate. Its novitiate would
naturally have to be compatible with this model. As Pietro Stella remarks:
The Salesian Society had initially been conceived as a generic
association partaking both of the nature of a religious congregation
with simple vows and the nature of a pious union. It was envisioned as
a moral person with civil rights. Instead, under pressure from diocesan
authorities in Turin and from the canonical system then in force in
Rome, it was pushed in the direction of the classical Tridentine
congregations, with the three simple vows of poverty, chastity and
obedience, and the obligation to lead the common life. It then gradually
found its place within the ecclesiastical organization as a clerical,
exempt congregation. 116
Seeking now definitive approval of the constitutions of a basically Tridentine
Society, Don Bosco was still fighting to salvage earlier forms, such as civil
rights, power over the vows, a less formal system of formation. Such clinging
to elements of the earlier model would place Don Bosco in a serious dilemma.
On the one hand the novel character of the institute would tend to make him
more dependent on the local bishops, and consequently independence would have
to be secured through obtaining privileges from Rome; but, on the other hand,
privileges would be available only to a traditional religious congregation.
With respect to the second, related point (priestly formation and
ordination of candidates), the opposition was between the standards adopted by a
reformer-pastor bishop on the strength of the canonical tradition and the freedom
of action needed by a group of youth workers in the field. From a different point
of view, the disagreement was accentuated by the claims of episcopal authority
on the one hand, over against recourse to Rome for exemption privileges on the
other. There were different ecclesiologies at work here also. Recourse to Rome
(and to the Pope personally) for privileges and concessions appeared not only
necessary, but "natural" to Don Bosco. It went hand in hand with a thoroughly
116 Pietro Stella, Don Bosco: Life and Work (2nd rev. ed., tr. by John Drury.
New Rochelle, NY: Don Bosco Publications, 1985), l 70f.; cf. also 154f.

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utramontanist ecclesiology, in which the centrality of the Pope loomed so large
that the local ordinary's role paled by comparison.
As Christmas 1972 drew near, another cause of conflict arose on the very point
of a papal concession. In his Christmas pastoral letter, the archbishop had
forbidden the celebration of three consecutive Masses on Christmas night, a
practice obtaining in a number of religious communities. 117 Don Bosco,
however, had obtained the privilege of three midnight Masses for his houses in
perpetuity from Pius IX, and so notified the archbishop. 118 The latter replied
("courteously but curtly") that he meant to correct an abuse and to emphasize the
established liturgical celebrations at midnight, at dawn and during day.
Obviously Gastaldi looked upon such concessions with disfavor; but, after an
exchange of letters, he allowed Don Bosco the private celebration (janu.is clausis)
of three midnight Masses. Don Bosco immediately notified "confreres
benefactors and friends." l l9 Later, reviewing the archbishop's hostile behavior
over the years, Don Bosco would speak of this action as vexatious; and the
comment he makes is revealing: 'The archbishop thinks he is more Catholic
than the pope." .120
4. Clash over the Approval of the Constitutions (1873-1874) 121
[Year 1873)
(1) Gastaldi' s Conditions for His Support
As the year 1872 came to an end, Don Bosco was in the process of gathering the
documents to submit to Rome with his petition for the approval of the
constitutions. He therefore took steps to obtain the necessary letter of
commendation from Archbishop Gastaldi. With a cover letter of December 23,
1872, Don Bosco submitted to the archbishop the galley proofs of a pamphlet
117 Letter in ASC 123: Gastaldi, Lettere pastorali, 30-11-72, FDBM 616
A7-B3.
118 EBM X, 309f.
ll9 EBM X, 310.
120 "Sembra all'Arcivescovo che egli conosca meglio lo spmto della
Chiesa che non ii Papa" [Bosco, Esposizione 1881, 9, in OE XXXII, 37] .
121 For a survey of this complicated history, cf. IBM X, 661-1006, with
abundant documentation, and EBM X, 298-417, with much of the documentation
omitted. The documentation is reliably transcribed from Lemoyne's Documenti, and
ultimately from archival sources . It is obvious that the Salesian biographical
tradition is totally partisan and makes nary an attempt to understand Gastaldi's point
of view.

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The Bosco-Gastaldi Conflict
entitled, Brief Historical Notice on the Salesian Society with Some Decrees
Pertaining Thereto. 122 This historical sketch was intended for distribution and
presentation in Rome. In the letter, Don Bosco referred to the new draft of the
constitutions (which the archbishop was supposed to have seen), and then went
on to ask blithely if it were not opportune also to present in print, as part of the
Brief Historical Notice, the archbishop's letter of commendation, so that each
member of the Roman Congregation would have access to it(!). 123 The Brief
Historical Notice itself consisted of the usual historical survey, presenting the
Society as existing well before its approval in 1859 and as endued, at certain
points of its historical journey, with various ecclesiastical " decrees." But its
closing paragraph must have taken the archbishop by surprise. For, after
mentioning commendations and support from twenty-four bishops and three
cardinals, Don Bosco added:
Lastly, our most gracious archbishop, eager to add yet another token of
his favor to the many and ample ones heretofore granted, has
commended the Salesian Society in the most lavish terms [.. .]. And
now our archbishop, the bishops of the ecclesiastical province of Turin,
and other bishops as well, jointly appeal for the definitive approval of
the Salesian Society. 124
122 De Societate S. Francisci Salesii Brevis notitia et nonnulla decreta ad
eandem spectantia, in OE XXV, p. 103-121, and partially in IBM X , 890-893
(omitted in EBM, except for a short quote, X, 311).
This is the last but one of a long list of historical summaries of the origins
and development of his work which Don Bosco produced over the years, chiefly for
the purpose of obtaining commendations or approval from Church authorities. Here
is the list: Presentation to Canon Zappata of 1863; Brief Notice (Breve notizia) of
1864; Society of St. Francis de Sales for Archbishop Riccardi, 1867; Historica l
Summary (Cenno storico) for Bishop Ferre of Casale, 1868; Brief Notice and Decrees
(Notizia brevis [...] et nonnulla decreta) of 1868; My Purpose (Nella persuasione [. ..])
to the bishops of the ecclesias tical Province of Turin, 1869; State of the Society
(Stato religioso-materiale [...]) of 1870; Pious Society of St. Francis de Sales of
1873; the present Brief Historical Notice of 1873; Historical Summary (Cen no
istorico) of 1874; Summary (R iassunto [ ...]) of 1874-the last three specifically
prepared for the definitive approval. For details and references, cf. Braido, L ' idea, p.
255f. In these remarkable documents, Don Bosco gives varying descriptions of the
beginnings of hi s work (the usual point of reference being 1841 ) and its
development, and then presents the current state of the Society with an "effective"
mixture of lruth and fiction.
123 Ce-Ep II, 244f. If Gastaldi had seen a draft of the constitutions at this
time, it was not the text of 1873 to be presented in Rome for approval.
124 EBM X, 311; cf. OE XXV, p. 121.

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One wonders what Don Bosco, aware as he was of Gastaldi's views, hoped to
accomplish by confronting the archbishop with a fait accompli. As Desramaut
remarks, unless Don Bosco (inappropriately and in bad taste, to be sure) just
meant to humor the archbishop, he had deliberately styled both the letter and the
BriefHistorical Notice so as to force Gastaldi's and his suffragan bishops' hand.
Gastaldi, however, was not to be trifled with. He had already set his course, a
course which he would consistently follow to the end. 125 He would indeed write
the required letter of commendation, but only on certain definite conditions.
He immediately set about enlisting the support of other bishops
through a circular letter dated January 1, 1873, in which he clearly stated his
conditions. It was from Bishop Pietro Giuseppe De Gaudenzi of Vigevano, a
good friend, that Don Bosco learned of the archbishop's letter and of his
demands. 126 Subsequently, when on February 17 he visited the archbishop
before leaving for Rome, the latter personally notified him of his commendation
and attached conditions. In summary, Archbishop Gastaldi demanded (1) that
Salesian candidates be perpetually professed before being admitted to ordination;
(2) that a more serious novitiate be established on the Jesuit model; (3) that
Salesian candidates for ordination submit to an examination by the bishop in
accordance with the prescriptions of the Council of Trent and the Pontificate; (4)
that the bishop have the right of inspecting Salesian churches and oratories, to
ascertain compliance with church laws.
Archbishop Salvatore Magnasco of Genoa, who was otherwise
supportive, had similar reservations. 127 On the other hand, Don Bosco had the
full support of Bishops Pietro Maria Ferre of Casale, Giovanni Battista Cerruti
of Savona, Pietro Giuseppe De Gaudenzi of Vigevano, Pietro Anacleto Siboni of
Albenga, and (most emphatically) Emiliano Manacorda of Fossano. The latter's
recommendation countered Gastaldi's objections at every point.
(2) Gasta/di' s BriefPresented in Rome: Objections and Demands
This first volley was followed by a veritable barrage of letters and memorandums
in which the Archbishop made his objections to the Salesian Constitutions
known in Rome. The documents may be listed as follows:
[i] Memorandum Quum admodum addressed to the Congregation of
Bishops and Regulars (February 10, 1873). After lavish encomiums, Gastaldi
made the following demands: (1) That the Salesian Constitutions be submitted
125 Desramaut, Etudes V, p. 191-193.
l26 EBM X, 312f. This is the letter (dated January 11, 1873) which Gastaldi
wrote to De Gaudenzi. Presumably similar letters were written to the other bishops.
127 Cf. EBM X, 318, and OE XXV, 362f.; IBM X, 933f., Appendix V, No.
12 (omitted in EBM).

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The Bosco-Gastaldi Conflict
to the ordinary; (2) that the Salesian Congregation institute a novitiate modeled
on that of the Jesuits; (3) that perpetual profession be made a requirement for
ordination for all Salesian candidates; (4) that Salesian candidates submit to an
examination by the bishop before ordination; (5) that the ordinary have the right
to inspect the churches and oratories of the Salesian Congregation; (6) that
exemption from the ordinary's jurisdiction be kept at a minimum. 128
[ii] Letter to Cardinal Prospero Caterini, Prefect of the Congregation of
the Council (February 19, 1873). Here Gastaldi stressed the following points: (1)
necessity of a proper novitiate; (2) necessity of a regular course of studies; (3)
necessity of perpetual vows before ordination. 129
[iii] First letter to Cardinal Giuseppe Andrea Bizzarri, Prefect of the
Congregation of Bishops and Regulars (April 20, 1873). Gastaldi's criticism of
Don Bosco was extensive, more explicit, and certainly more damaging. He
contended that the lack of a novitiate affected adversely the formation of Salesian
seminarians; that the failure to take perpetual vows before ordination made it
easier for those who had joined for financial reasons to leave the Society; that
Don Bosco accepted seminarians dismissed from the diocesan seminary and sent
them to teach in schools located in other dioceses; that Salesian clerical students
lacked a philosophical formation because they were engaged full time in teaching
and assistance; that Don Bosco had obtained dispensation for his clerical students
from attending classes at the diocesan seminary, an obligation which the Holy
See itself had imposed-and more. Hence in order to guarantee the permanence of
the Salesian Congregation even after Don Bosco's death, the Archbishop made
the following suggestions: (1) that the constitutions be submitted for approval
to the archbishop of Turin and to the bishops in whose territory Salesian houses
had been established; (2) that Don Bosco not be permitted to present for
ordination candidates who had joined after their sixteenth year of age; (3) that
perpetual profession be required of Salesian candidates before ordination to the
subdiaconate; (4) that Salesian clerical students be required to attend classes in
the seminary of their diocese for at least four years; (5) that Salesian candidates
before ordination submit to a "careful examination" by the bishop, after
submitting proof of compliance with the above requirements. 130
128 /BM X, 927f.; cf. EBM X, 3 14f.
129 EBM X, 315f.
130 EBM X, 323-328.
Some of Gastaldi's demands were clearly reasonable, even though Don
Bosco probably thought that none at all were. Others, however, were not. They were
an attempt by the archbishop to bring the Salesian Society under his control, though
one cannot conclude from this that he wanted to make it a diocesan congregation.
After all the Salesian Society had been approved by Rome in 1869; and he knew his
canon law. But, on the one hand, at this time the Society had neither achieved the
status of a clerical congregation nor that of an exempt congregation; and on the

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Don Bosco learned of this, the most damaging of Archbishop Gastaldi's
briefs, on his return to Rome the following year, in March 1874. It was then
that in a memorandum addressed to the four cardinals of the Special
Congregation (March 29 and 30), he tried to refute Gastaldi's allegations and
objections. For instance, he rejected Gastaldi's demand for a formal novitiate for
three reasons:
This was possible in other days, but not in our country at this time,
because it would destroy the Salesian Congregation. Were the civil
authorities to know of the existence of a novitiate, they would abolish
it immediately and disperse the novices. Secondly, this kind of a
novitiate would not be consonant to the Salesian Constitutions; for
these are crafted to suit the active life of the members and prescribe only
those practices which are essential for forming and maintaining the
spirit of a good priest. Moreover, such a novitiate would not be suitable
for us because the novices would not be able to practice the
constitutions in a manner consistent with the purpose of our
Congregation. 131
(4) Second letter to Cardinal Bizzarri (July 27, 1873). Gastaldi wanted
to know whether the Salesian Society was exempt from episcopal jurisdiction.
He repeated the question for emphasis: "Is it, or is it not?" Then he went on to
explain his objections to privileges, or special concessions. 132
The reply of the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars came on
August 8 (after Don Bosco's first petition for definitive approval had been
rejected) in these terms: A congregation with simple vows is not exempt from
the ordinary 's jurisdiction, except to the extent defined in approved constitutions
and by privileges specifically granted. The Salesian Constitutions are just now
under consideration. Then the cardinal added: "Nevertheless one cannot conceal
the fact that the Rev. Bosco has obtained from His Holiness more than one
personal privilege regarding dimissorial letters [...]." 133 Such special privileges
obtained by Don Bosco from Pius IX personally were precisely what Archbishop
other, Gastaldi was speaking and acting out of a very special concept of an ordinary's
authority and responsibility.
131 EBM X, 364-366, cf. Ceria-Ep II, 373-376. For the "second trial" (he
generally avoided the term "novitiate") Don Bosco regarded one year spent in a
Salesian house, with involvement in the works of the Society, as appropriate and
sufficient for the Salesian's formation [cf. Motto, Cost. SDB, p. 196, 192f.; also p.
72 f. below~
13 IBM X, 729 (briefly in EBM X, 336).
133 IBM X, 730; cf. EBM X, 336 (inaccurate translation).

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The Bosco-Gastaldi Conflict
Gastaldi found unacceptable. And it is likely that the Roman Congregation,
having competence in matters which concerned diocesan ordinaries and religious,
and their interrelationships, found such a situation embarrassing.
(5) Third letter to Cardinal Bizzarri (January 9, 1874). Knowing that the
Salesian Constitutions were being examined in Rome, Gastaldi, " out of a sense
of responsibility," wished again to express his concern about the poor quality of
religious and intellectual fonnation among Salesians. He complained about a
number of deplorable cases of poorly fonned Salesian seminarians, and cited the
lack of a proper novitiate as the cause. He wrote:
I deem it my solemn duty to acquaint [the Congregation of Bishops and
Regulars] with the need that a novitiate of two years' duration be made
mandatory in the Congregation of St. Francis de Sales. Young
[Salesian] seminarians should be trained not to command (as it is all
too frequently the case through their being appointed teachers in the
schools of the Congregation), but to obey, as in the traditional
novitiates of other religious congregations, especially of the Society of
Jesus. The Rev. Don Bosco has a special gift for training young lay
people, but he does not seem to possess the same talent in training
young seminarians. 134
Archbishop Salvatore Nobili Vitelleschi, secretary of the Congregation of
Bishops and Regulars, showed this letter to Don Bosco in Rome in February
1874, after the latter's second petition for definitive approval. For a rebuttal of
the allegations, Don Bosco had recourse to a stratagem. He composed a letter and
arranged for it to be sent to him in Rome anonymously (in the handwriting of
Father Giovanni Anfossi!). He showed it to his friend and patron, Cardinal
Berardi, who was only too glad to make use of it. 135
134 EBM X, 348-350.
135 EBM X, 759f. For Anfossi, cf. note 106, above.
Knowing as we do that it was written by Don Bosco himself, we find this
document somewhat disconcerting. The "anonymous writer" accused Gastaldi of
"seeking to destroy the Society's good name with infamous allegations" ("studia
coprirla tutta di nera infamia''), and of "treating the members of the Congregation of
Bishops and Regulars as so many ignorant children" (" supponendo che [...] siano
altreltanti bambini e che sappiano nemmeno un po' di Latino"). He added: "It was Don
Bosco who raised him [Gastaldi] from the dust, gave him a job and a name, printed his
books, and worked hard to get him the position he now holds. [...] He fears that Don
Bosco 's priests might outdo those of his diocese, all the more so since his own
seminarians want to leave and join Don Bosco [at the Oratory], where they are better
treated (dove si sta meglio)." For diocesan seminarians wishing to "transfer" to the
Oratory, cf. note 55 and related text, above.

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5. Trials and Tribulations of the Approval: The First Unsuc-
cessful Presentation
Don Bosco went to Rome to present his petition for the definitive approval of
the constitutions twice, in early 1873 and early 1874-the first Lime without
success.
Accompanied by his new scrupulous and humorless secretary, the
twenty-four-year old Father Gioacchino Berto, he arrived in Rome on February
19, 1873. Of all the letters received in Rome from various bishops to be
included in the Positio , a number of which expressed reservations, Gastaldi's
represented the chief obstacle, and Gastaldi, therefore, appeared as the principal
adversary. It seems that Archbishop Magnasco's reservations, and those of other
bishops, real as they were, l 36 represented less of a menace. In any case, Don
Bosco quickly found that his ordinary's complaints had already been registered in
Rome, and had in fact already made their mark.
(1) Petition for Definitive Approval
Undaunted, however, he pressed forward, and the Positio or docket was
assembled. Besides the Brief Historical Notice and the letters of commendation,
this file contained two important documents: the new text of the constitutions
and the Declaratio. In this last document Don Bosco attempted to explain his
acceptance or non-acceptance of the Savini-Svegliati Critical Observations of
1864 and other specific features of the Salesian Constitutions. 137 The new text
(the printed Latin text of 1873) had been painstakingly revised; but, in defiance
of the warning given with the approval of the Society in 1869, not been brought
into complete accordance with the Critical Observations of 1864. l38 In spite of
this, on March 1, he petitioned the Holy Father for approval and presented the
Positio. In the cover letter Don Bosco wrote: "Two things above all are now
needed to complete the work: the definitive approval of the constitutions and the
full authorization to issue dimissorial letters." l39
Don Bosco was detained in Rome for over a month, involved in
feverish activity relating not only to the approval but also to the urgent matter
of the Exequaturs, or bishops' revenues. On the subject of these complicated and
136 Cf. Cardinal Giuseppe Berardi's letter to Don Bosco, August 8, 1873, in
EBM X, 336.
137 De Regulis Societatis Salesianae aliqua declaratio, IBM X, 894f.
(omitted in EBM), critically edited in Motto, Cost. SDB, 248.
138 For the critical text of these constitutions cf. Motto, Cost. SDB, 18f.
and 59ff. The work of revision is described in IBM X, 674-682 (omitted in EBM X,
303). For the 1864 observations, cf. note 79 and related text, above.
139 EBM X, 317.

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delicate negotiations, he had several exchanges with Archbishop Gastaldi, who,
like many others was still deprived of the benefices, but who was meanwhile
acting in a more private capacity in the matter. 140 Don Bosco could finally
leave the city on March 22, and on March 30, he was back in Turin awaiting the
verdict, so to speak.
(2) Further Incidents in a Deteriorating Situation
Meanwhile, even while the Salesian Constitutions were being examined in
Rome, the archbishop expected Don Bosco to meet his demands in practice for
all that regarded an ordinary's power over priestly candidates and ordinations. Don
Rosco's failure to take any steps in that direction was an on-going cause of
friction. Incidents occurred to sharpen the very issues that were already in
contention.
The first group of incidents related to the ordination of Salesian
candidates. As reported, on one occasion when Father (later Bishop) John
Cagliero, who was in charge of Salesian ordinands, presented a list of candidates,
the archbishop angrily threw it on the floor. 141 This occurred some time in
March. The Biographical Memoirs give no reason for such an outburst, but one
suspects that they were the very same that prompted the archbishop to press his
demands a little later. Deacons Luigi Lasagna and Giovanni Baccino (future
missionaries) were to be urgently ordained (outside the diocese), and the
archbishop, as he had made abundantly clear before, demanded statements
regarding the time of their entrance into the Society, their religious profession,
and their examinations taken at the chancery. The two Salesians did take their
examinations for orders at the chancery, and the archbishop's secretary notified
Don Bosco of their promotion. 142 A similar incident occurred on August 22,
1873, when the archbishop demanded proof of subdeacon (and future missionary)
Domenico Milanesio's perpetual profession before ordaining him titulo mensae
communis. 143
A second situation of conflict was created by Don Bosco's acceptance of
"ostracized" diocesan clerics into Salesian houses. Some time in March the
archbishop had suspended a divinis a canon of the Duomo of Chieri. Don Bosco
140 Cf. note 39 and related text, above.
14 1 EBM X, 320.
142 EBM X, 321-323. The archbishop had set these conditions for
ordination earlier [cf. Note 111 and related text, above] . At this point the
Biographical Mefl'U)irs comment on the archbishop's vexatious demands.
143 EBM X, 340. Perpetual profession would also be set as a requirement by
Rome for ordination titulo mensae communis when the Salesian Constitutions came
up for the definitive approval.

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defended him and then received him into the Salesian house of Alassio. 144 Much
more serious was the Borelli-Rocca affair in early May. These two seminarians,
Borelli (or Borel) and Angelo Rocca, had been received by Don Bosco into
Salesian houses (Varazze and Lanzo, respectively) after their leaving, or being
dismissed from, the seminary. The archbishop, through his secretary, Canon
Tommaso Chiuso, asked for an explanation. Whatever the reply, it did not
satisfy him, for he immediately notified Don Bosco that he would not ordain any
Salesian candidate so long as those two remained in a Salesian house. 145
Don Bosco's reply to the archbishop, dated May 14, from Borgo San
Martino, after "a three-day spiritual retreat," was such as to strain further his
relationship with the archbishop. Believing himself in the right, he apparently
did not realize that he was dealing with a prelate who ruled by synod and decree, a
reformer bishop who did not hesitate to use the a divinis suspension as a
disciplinary measure, and who, above all, regarded all matters pertaining to
clerical formation and ordination as non-negotiable. In this rather disconcerting
document, certainly not free of resentment, Don Bosco defended his admittance of
the two ex-seminarians on humanitarian grounds, adding that permission
repeatedly asked in similar cases had been rejected. He also disputed the
archbishop's right to refuse ordination to Salesian candidates if they were not
unworthy. He stressed the Salesian Society's meritorious service to the
archdiocese (to which " since 1848 it has supplied no less than two-thirds of its
clergy"!). Finally, he recalled his meritorious service to the archbishop
personally-recently, by preventing the publication of derogatory articles against
him; earlier, by submitting, and supporting against not a few objections, his
nomination as bishop and then as archbishop. The manner in which he
introduced this last and very sensitive point is quite remarkable:
Certain documents pilfered from government files, who knows by
whom, are circulating in Turin. From these papers one may learn that
Canon Gastaldi owes his appointment as bishop of Saluzzo to Don
Bosco's mediation; and likewise that it was through Don Bosco's
mediation that he was made archbishop of Turin. These papers also
recall the difficulties that had to be overcome in the matter, and give the
reasons why I championed your cause[...]. 146
Archbishop Gastaldi regarded such a "lecture" from one of " his priests" as
inexcusable insolence, as he himself had occasion to tell the Pope some two
years later. Writing to Pius IX on April 12, 1875 he complained:
144 EBM X, 320f.
145 EBM X, 328.
146 EBM X, 329-331; Cf. Ceria-Ep II, 277-279.

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Recently [...] the same Don Bosco on returning from Rome wrote me a
long letter in which he claims to have been reprimanded for submitting
my name for nomination as bishop of Saluzzo, and later as archbishop
of Turin; and that I am pursuing a ruinous course. He adds that he is
writing this letter on orders from higher authority. I cannot regard such
a letter from one of my own priests, as anything but an insolent
affront. Therefore, I sent one of my seminary professors to plead with
him [...] . His reply was in the form of another letter in which he
expressed the same sentiments." 147
Gastaldi, however, relented-on condition that in the future diocesan seminarians
would not be accepted in Salesian houses, except by written consent from the
chancery. Don Bosco did indeed write a declaration promising to do what was
demanded, but attached a proviso that rendered it unacceptable: "(...] This
statement is made with the reservations and within the limits prescribed by the
sacred canons to safeguard the freedom of religious vocations." 148
A gauche attempt to mediate a reconciliation with the archbishop was
made in Don Bosco's name by Bishop Giuseppe De Gaudenzi of Vigevano in
early August. He was notoriously partial to the Salesians and of ambiguous
sentiments toward the archbishop. The latter's harsh reply to De Gaudenzi's
letter was a dour put-down of the good-hearted bishop, and a bitter denunciation
of Don Bosco's actions; it even called into question Don Bosco's reputed
saintliness: "Saints never ran their superiors down, and never stirred up scandals
to compromise them." When Don Bosco was shown the letter, he took the ill-
advised step of replying. His opening remark shows, as Desramaut points out, a
failure to appreciate how much the archbishop's position had changed since their
Saluzzo days: "If the letter had not been written to a bishop, I would have said
that it had been written in jest." And after reviewing the archbishop's grievances
of recent months and declaring that he had always done his best to comply with
the archbishop's wishes, he added: "For the past sixteen months I have pleaded
147 Vatican Archives, quoted in Tuninetti, Gastaldi II, 267, note 37. Still
later, in a letter to the archbishop, October 28, 1875, Don Bosco wrote: "With all
respect [...], I can assure you, and you know perfectly well, that if you were named
bishop of Saluzzo, and then archbishop of Turin [...], it was all due to poor Don
Bosco's proposals and efforts" [Ceria-Ep II, 514]. Thus it appears that the letter of
May 14, 1873 was not the only instance of Don Bosco vaunting his good offices on
the archbishop's behalf. It was not his one and only "fatal mistake" from which
sprang all of Gastaldi 's ire, as some biographers seem to think [cf. e.g., Teresio
Bosco, Don Bosco. Una biografia nuova (Leumann, Torino: Editrice Elle Di Ci,
1979), p. 39lf.].
148 EBM X, 331.

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with you to tell me what you hold against poor Don Bosco, and so far I have
heard nothing but a few vague inferences."[!] Again Desramaut remarks:
"Apparently Don Bosco could not see into his ordinary's mind so easily as he
could peer into his boys' consciences." 149 Needless to say, by this time the
relationship had become a dialogue of the deaf, both parties being utterly
convinced, rightly or wrongly, of the justness of their cause. The long series of
clashes over ordinations and faculties to hear confessions that were to follow was
the inevitable result of the confrontation between two people that regarded
themselves as armored with just cause. 150
Gastaldi's vexation found an echo even in the constitutions of the Diocesan
Synod of June 25-27, 1873, in Titles XIV (Holy Orders) and XXIV (Religious).
Such undisguised allusions to Don Bosco and the Salesian Society must have
had a telling repercussion among the clergy. 151 Understandably, too, Don
Bosco's dissatisfaction spread to the Salesians around him, for he was heard to
complain about the archbishop's way of acting and to blame himself for the
archbishop's appointment, for which he received nothing but ingratitude. After
receiving Gastaldi 's letters of October 24 and November 9, 1872, 152 he
remarked to his secretary, Father Berto: "Just think! It was I who had him
appointed bishop of Saluzzo and then archbishop of Turin. I did all I could with
the Holy See, and especially with the Italian government which in no way
wanted to accept him. And now see how he treats me!" Don Bosco then went on
to quote Psalm 55:12f.[!]. On June 9, 1873, Father Berto recorded similar words
of Don Bosco, who, perhaps in connection with the Borelli-Rocca controversy,
complained about Archbishop Gastaldi's actions, and quoted God's lament in
Isaiah 1:2f. l 53
149 Desramaut, Etudes V, p. 202. For the exchange, cf. EBM X, 337-339 and
more full)' IBM X, 730-733.
150 EBM X, 298-417, and cf. Bosco, Esposizione 1881, in OE XXXII, 49-
124, where Don Bosco later listed in detail instances of harassment through the
years, touching all areas of Salesian activity.
151 For the synod's of 1873 and its constitutions, cf. note 51 and related
text, above~ also: Desramaut, Etudes V, p. 205-208; Tuninetti, Castaldi II, p. 268.
1 2 Cf. note 112 and 113 and related text, above.
l53 EBM X, 309 and 332f. Father Gioacchino Berto, Don Bosco's secretary
since 1872, kept a kind of journal (especially as Don Bosco's traveling companion)
in which he recorded these and other utterances [cf. ASC 110: Cronachette, Berto,
Appunti [...] 1873 and 1873-74, FDBM 907 D8-91 1 A8].

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The Bosco-Gastaldi Conflict
3) The Bianchi-Vitelleschi Thirty-Eight I Twenty-Eight Animad-
versiones (Critical Observations) on the Text of1873
While Don Bosco and the archbishop were drifting farther and farther
apart in Turin, in Rome the new text of the constitutions was being subjected to
meticulous scrutiny by Father Raimondo Bianchi, 0.P., designated consultor of
the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars. On May 9 he submitted his
evaluation to the Secretary of the Congregation, Archbishop Vitelleschi. It was
an awesome thorough-going thirty-eight-point critique, going far beyond the
thirteen Critical Observations of 1864. Shortly thereafter (in a kindly worded
letter dated May 19) Secretary Vitelleschi notified Don Bosco that the
constitutions had not passed the test. He advised him not to come to Rome, but
to wait patiently for further instructions. 154 These later came from the secretary
in the Holy Father's name, on July 26, in the form of a twenty-eight-point
summary of Father Bianchi's report. A sensitive cover letter accompanied the
twenty-eight Critical Observations and gave Don Bosco friendly advice as to how
to proceed, for Archbishop Vitelleschi held Don Bosco in high esteem and was
aware of the Holy Father's desire to see the Salesian Constitutions approved.
However, he emphasized the necessity of compliance. 155 Specifically, what
were Rome's demands?
[Consultor Bianchi's Action]
As noted above, Consultor Bianchi listed thirty-eight critical observations. 156
He prefaced them with a reference to objections and proposals received in Rome:
those advanced "for example, by the archbishop of Genoa and especially by the
archbishop of Turin, ordinary of the mother house." He then expressed "his
surprise [...] that most of the thirteen critical observations officially handed down
by the Holy See [in 1864] [...] had not been complied with, or had been evaded
under more or less specious pretexts, as may be seen from the superior general's
[Don Bosco's] Declaration on the Rules submitted together with his petition for
approval."
The consultor first listed eight points (from 1864) not complied with,
of which the foUowing are perhaps the most significant: (1) the 3rd, denying the
power to dispense from vows; (2) the 4th, denying the faculty to issue
154 Letter in IBM X, 726 (omitted in EBM X, 335). The events are related in
context in IBM X, 726-728 (briefly referred to in EBM X, 335f.).
155 Letter in IBM X, 728 (omitted in EBM X, 335).
156 The thirty-eight Bianchi observations are given in IBM X, 934-940,
Appendix. V, No. 13 (omitted in EBM), critically edited in Motto, Cost. SDB, 241-
244.

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dimissorials; (3) the 9th, demanding the removal of the chapter on extern
Salesians. 157
He then proceeded to add thirty more critical observations. In the thirty-
eighth and last he suggested
that before being submitted for approval by the Holy See, these
constitutions be diligently emended in accordance with the former
critical observations, and in accordance with any of the present ones that
His Holiness may see fit to hand down; that it would also seem
desirable that before approval the constitutions be submitted to a trial
period, especially for what regards the novitiate and the program of
studies.
[Secretary Vitelleschi's Action]
In the above mentioned letter (July 26), the Secretary urged Don Bosco to accept
the critical observations and revise the constitutions accordingly. He added:
In the main, these critical observations reflect the guidelines established
by Rome for the approval of new religious institutes. I notice that you
would wish to modify or eliminate what is established with regard to
novitiate, studies and ordinations. But these are precisely the matters
which have always been of greatest concern to ordinaries and which the
Holy See has always held as firm and unassailable. [...] Men come and
go [...] The Holy See must guarantee the existence and the continuance
of your institute. [...]
The new critical observations 158 were prefaced with the statement: "It is our
absolute will that [the earlier critical observations] should be taken into account.
The fear of reprisal from the [civil] authorities [...] cannot be regarded as
sufficient justification." It then went on to specify the following important
points, among others:
1. Since it is contrary to the Holy See's practice to approve a
preamble and a historical summary commending the Institute, these two
opening chapters should be removed from the constitutions.
157 Cf. note 78 and related text, above.
158 The twenty-eight Vitelleschi observations are given in IBM X, 941-
943, Appendix V, No. 14 (omitted in EBM), critically edited in Motto, Cost. SDB,
244f.

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The Bosco-Gastaldi Conflict
3. The repeated mention in the constitutions of lay civil rights
and of the duty to abide by civil laws should be deleted.
7. Obligatory manifestation of conscience as laid down in the
constitutions is not admissible. Voluntary manifestation might be
acceptable, but it should in any case be limited to external observance
of the constitutions and progress in virtue.
16. The constitutions lack any provision with regard to the
novitiate. The novitiate should be set up in accordance with Clement
VIII's Constitution Regularis disciplinae and with the other
prescriptions of canon law. Of special importance are the prescriptions
regarding gathering of novices together in a house of novitiate, their
total separation from the professed, and their being engaged solely in
spiritual exercises and not in any of the works of the institute.
17. Likewise the constitutions lack any provision with regard
to studies. All candidates for the priesthood should spend four years in
the study of theology, whether in a special studentate of the institute or
in a seminary; and should not be engaged during that period in the
works of the institute.
28. What is said in the constitutions with reference to
ordinations, "that is, in accordance with the privileges granted to those
congregations that are regarded as regular orders" (videlicet ex privilegiis
Congregationum quae tamquam Ordines regulares habentur) would
imply that the superior general has the power of issuing dimissorials-
which has already been denied. Such concession would be objected to by
ordinaries, and would in any case be an exception to the general law.
Occasional exceptions granted by the Holy See may not be invoked as a
precedent, especially if objected to by ordinaries. Furthermore, the lack
of a regular novitiate and of a regular course of studies would discourage
the granting of such concessions.
The last three points show that Archbishop Gastaldi's brief had been heard.
[Year 1874]
4) Don Bosco' s Response to the Animadversiones (Critical
Observations)
With Secretary Vitelleschi's critical observations before him, Don Bosco
undertook a revision of the constitutions and compiled a Response to accompany
the presentation of the new text. The Congregation of Bishops and Regulars had
demanded "absolute compliance." Don Bosco (so he stated in the Response) had
"accepted most of the twenty-eight critical observations handed down to him.

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However, "in the case of a number of them" he had "made some
accommodations;" and on "some articles" he had stood firm "solely to safeguard
his institute from shipwreck in the fierce storm of civil law," and had done so
relying on "advice recently received."
Here the salient points of Don Bosco's Response may be noted.
(1) Observation 1 called for the removal of the first two
chapters of the constitutions, the Preamble (Prooemium) and the
Historical Summary (De ejusdem Societatis primordiis).
Don Bosco removed these chapters from the text itself, but
kept them in italics as a kind of double preface. He considered both
texts important, for they constituted the basis on which the sparing
article I of the chapter on Purpose could be understood.
(2) Observation 3 called for the removal of clauses mentioning
the member's civil rights as citizens and their abiding by the civil law.
Don Bosco accepted this observation only in part He softened,
but did not eliminate, the clauses on civil rights and civil law. For
example, in article 2 of the chapter, "Form of the Society," he devised a
simpler formula: "No one on entering the society, even after making
vows, forfeits his civil rights. Hence he can validly and licitly acquire
and sell property, as well as make out his last will and testament and
receive an inheritance. However, as long as he remains in the Society
[...]."On the one hand, he felt that the formula satisfied the Church's
demand regarding the canonical vow of poverty, even though it
expressed the essence of religious poverty in terms of renunciation of
the administration of goods, rather than in terms of radical dominion.
On the other hand, the mention of civil rights and their exercise
constituted a sufficient safeguard before the civil law.
(3) Observation 4 called for clearer constitutional provisions
regarding the observance of the vow of poverty, in accordance with the
directives of Collectanea S.C. Episcoporum et regu/arium, N. 859. l59
Instead of transcribing the article referred to, Don Bosco
maintained what he had written in the chapters on the 'Form of the
Society' and on the 'Vow of Poverty' (in effect that the members
retained private ownership and the Society owned nothing), in the
l59 Article N. 859 of the Collection of the Sacred Congregation of Bishops
and Regulars read: "Professed religious with simple vows may retain the radical
dominion (as it is called) of their goods; but they may neither administer them, nor
use or dispose of the income therefrom. Hence, before their profession they must give
over both administration of goods, and the income and use thereof, for the whole
period of their vows, to whomever they choose--even to their Congregation, if that
is what they wish to do" [IBM X, 748, note 1 (omitted in EBM)].

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The Bosco-Gastaldi Conflict
conviction that this solution offered the best guarantee against reprisals
by the government. He merely added a footnote stating that the two
chapters in question had been taken almost literally from the
Constitutions of the Congregation of the Schools of Charity (Cavanis
of Venice) approved by Pope Gregory XVI.
(4) Observation 16 noted the total absence of a constitution
regarding the novitiate and called for such a constitution in accordance
with Pope Clement VIII's Constitution, Regularis disciplinae (Of the
Discipline of Religious Orders), and with other canonical rules-
especially, that the novices should reside in a special house of novitiate,
be separated from the professed, be totally engaged in their spiritual
exercises, and not be engaged in the work of the Society.
Don Bosco greatly expanded the chapter, "The Master of
Novices and Their Direction," in twelve articles. But these articles
revealed an idea of the Salesian novitiate which did not comply with the
observation. Here are the salient points:
[1] Every candidate, before being definitively admitted
to the Society, must undergo three trials. The first trial
precedes the novitiate and is called the "aspirantate" ; the
second is the novitiate itself; and the third is the period of
triennial vows.
[3] As a rule for the first trial it is sufficient for the
candidate to have spent a few years in a house of the Society,
or to have attended one of the schools of the Congregation, and
to have given proof of virtue and intelligence.
[6] Once the first trial is over and the candidate has
been received into the Congregation, the master of novices
shall at once take him under his care, and shall leave nothing
undone that may help him in the observance of the
constitutions and regulations.
[7] Hence the master of novices shall make every
effort (a) to show himself amiable, mild and full of gentle
goodness, so that the novices will open their hearts to him
regarding anything that may help them in their striving for
perfection; (b) to provide his charges with guidance and
instruction in all the rules generally, but especially in those
that pertain to the practice of the vows of chastity, poverty and
obedience; (c) to get everyone to observe with exemplary
regularity all that is prescribed regarding the practices of piety
of our institute; (d) to regularly hold a weekly conference on a
moral topic; (e) to invite each novice with great gentleness to
make his spiritual manifestation at least once a month.

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[8] It is the purpose of our congregation to give
young people, especially poorer ones, a secular and religious
education [...]. Hence during the second trial each novice shall
be seriously engaged in study, as well as in teaching day and
evening school, in teaching catechism to children, and even in
assisting the ones that are in grave need [nei casi piil gravi]. If
the candidate shall have shown in all these exercises that he
can work for the greater glory of God and the good of the
Congregation, and if he has been exemplary in the observance
of the practices of piety and in the practical exercise of charity,
then the second trial shall be regarded as completed. If not, the
trial may be prolonged for an additional few months or even
for one additional year.
(11] Through these trials, the novice master shall
recommend and gently inculcate the practice of mortification of
the external senses, in a particular manner the virtue of
sobriety. But much prudence should be exercised in the matter
of mortification, and care should be taken that physical health
is not impaired to the point that the member is unable to
perform the work proper of our institute.
(5) Observation 17 likewise noted the absence of a constitution
regarding a regular program of study, and called for such a constitution.
This was to include the explicit provision that all candidates for the
priesthood should spend four years in the study of theology in a house
of the Society set aside for that purpose, or in a diocesan seminary, and
not be engaged for that period of time in the works of the institute.
Don Bosco pointed out that for the moment he could not
establish a special separate house for this purpose, and that in any case
it would have to be submitted for approval to the Ministry of Public
Education in accordance with the laws of the state. He also noted that
teaching catechism and assisting pupils need not be incompatible with a
proper course of studies, and that by doing so his seminarians would
show their ability and willingness to take on the work of the institute.
Don Bosco, however, declared himself in agreement with a four year
program of theological studies, and drafted and inserted a short chapter
on "Studies" as follows:
[1] Priests and all candidates to the priesthood in the
Society shall seriously apply themselves to ecclesiastical
studies.
[2] They shall apply themselves with serious
attention first and principally to the study of the Bible, of

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Church history, and of dogmatic, systematic and moral
theology. In addition they shall apply themselves to the study
of those authors and treatises that deal specifically with the
education of young people in the faith.
[3] Our masters shall be St. Thomas and those
authors who have achieved recognition for their work in
catechetics and in Catholic religious education.
[4] Each member, besides attending daily lectures,
shall prepare a course of meditations and instructions, suitable
in the first place for young people, and then adaptable also for
the faithful at large.
(6) Observation 28 was the most serious of all. It concerned the coveted
power to issue dimissorial letters for ordination.
Article 4 of the chapter, "Religious Government of the
Society," in speaking of the ordination of Salesian candidates to the
priesthood by the local ordinary, provided that this be done "in
accordance with the custom approved for congregations that have a
communion of houses and in accordance with privileges granted to
congregations that are regarded as regular orders." (In a note appended to
this article Don Bosco stated that it had been taken almost literally from
the Constitutions of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary [Lanteri], Part 2,
paragraph 1.) 160
Observation 28 rejected this claim as unavailing, and cited the
fact that the superior general [Don Bosco] had already asked for, and had
already been denied the power of granting dimissorial letters.
Don Bosco later countered by claiming that the denial had been
due to the fact that in 1869 only the Society, not its constitutions, was
being considered for approval. He added that he had nevertheless
obtained that faculty for ten years, applicable to those candidates who
had entered a Salesian house at an age of fourteen or younger. He had
also obtained that faculty by special privilege for others who had entered
after their fourteenth year. In any case, by the constitution in question
he was not asking a blanket privilege, but was only requesting the
160 "Communion of houses" meant houses in various dioceses, but centrally
united under one rule and one superior, as would be the case with a religious
congregation that had extended beyond the diocese of origin. "privileges granted to
congregations that are regarded as regular orders," might have meant "privileges
granted to exempt clerical congregations in accordance with established custom."
What Don Bosco was asking for with regard to ordinations was the authorization to
issue dimissorial letters, which is one of the privileges which comes with
"exemption."

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restricted power to issue dimissorials to a local ordinary, since the
article spoke of ordination by the bishop of the diocese, in accordance
with Clement VIIl's Decree of March 3, 1596.
Don Bosco's plea was unavailing, and article 4 was eventually
removed.
(7) No new observation had been made with regard to the
chapter, "Extern Salesians." 161 Don Bosco kept it as an appendix, after
the "Fonnula for Profession."
By this response Don Bosco fairly indicated the kind of Society he had in mind.
This is even more evident in a letter to Archbishop Vitelleschi, dated August 5,
apparently written after he had already sketched out the Response and the
Historical Summary of 1874.
Your Excellency: At first sight the critical observations relating to our
rules did not appear to be impossible to implement. But when I set
myself to the task, I experienced all kinds of difficulties. If these critical
observations were accepted, I should have to remove [from the
constitutions] a number of provisions which have generally been
approved in the case of other religious orders or congregations. For in
the matter of principles I have faithfully been guided by constitutions
already approved, such as those of the Jesuits, Redemptorists, Oblates,
and Rosminians. I would, moreover, have to deviate from the
foundations set for me by the Holy Father, to which all Salesian rules
are conformed. 162 [...] Bearing this in mind, I have complied with the
demands to the extent that it was possible without reducing our Society
to a diocesan congregation. For otherwise our Society would cease to
exist as intended. Having houses in various dioceses, our Society
should be subject to the ordinaries only in matters that pertain to the
external exercise of religion. Furthennore, my concern has been not to
change or destroy what has already been established by the decrees of
1864 and 1869. And in order that these matters be understood in their
proper context, I have written an Historical Summary (Cenno istorico).
I would ask your Excellency to read the Historical Summary
and my response to the critical observations ; then, I pray you, be so
good as to tell me if, after the modifications I made, I might again
161 Cf. note 78 and related text, above.
162 The twin foundations, of which Don Bosco so often speaks, are that the
Society should be on the one hand a fully recognized religious congregation with
vows before the Church, and on the other a union of private citizens before the state
[Cf. Don Bosco's first audience with Pope Pius IX in EBM V, 561).

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present the constitutions to the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars
with any chance of success. If all the critical observations must needs
be complied with, then I would rather desist from submitting another
petition, for an approval won on that condition would place the
Salesian Society in a much worse situation than it is in now. I am also
writing to Cardinal Berardi [...]. How is one to explain the fact that,
whereas the consultors of 1869 made no objection, now everything
must be done all over again? 163
(5) Don Bosco' s Second Petition, Further Revisions, and Definitive
Approval
With the two above-mentioned documents completed or near completion (the
revised text of the constitutions, and the Response), and likewise, according to
the letter, with a draft of the Historical Summary (Cenno istorico), Don Bosco
left for Rome on December 29, 1873, with his faithful secretary, Father Berto,
in tow. He was to remain in the city until the decree of approval was obtained on
March 13, 1874. Throughout those two-and-a-half months he would be engaged
in ceaseless rounds of consultations and interviews, and in feverish activity
relating to the approval of the constitutions (as well as to the matter of the
Exequaturs, in which he ultimately failed). The Response and the new text (First
Text of 1874) were finalized and printed some time in January at the Propaganda
Fide Press. l 64
163 Not found in Ceria-Ep, this letter is published in part in Motto, Cost.
SDB, p. 19, note 41 , and in its entirety in Braido, L'idea, p. 252f. Motto speculates
that it may have been addressed to Cardinal Bizzarri, not to Secretary Vitelleschi, as
Braido believes.
It should be noted that the "consultors of 1869" had clearly indicated that
the observation of 1864 had to be complied with "absolutely." No further
observations were made at that time, because the constitutions were not up for
definitive approval, as was the case in 1873, with Gastaldi clamoring for a hearing,
to boot.
164 Don Bosco's Response is described in IBM X, 746-755 (omitted in EBM
X, 346), critically edited in Motto, Cost. SDB, 245-247. The First Text of 1874 is
given as Regulae Societatis S. Francisci Salesii (Romae: Typis S. C. de Propaganda
Fide, MDCCLIV) in OE XXV, p.235-292; transcribed in IBM X, 896-915, Appendix
IV (omitted in EBM). The Historical Summary, Cenno istorico sulla Congregazione di
S. Francesco di Sales e relativi schiarimenJi is critically edited in Braido, L'idea, 276-
331; also in OE XXV, p. 231-250 and in IBM X, 949-954, Appendix VI (omitted in
EBM)].

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[First, Second and Third Printed Latin Texts of 1874)
The First Constitutional Text of 1874 reflected the position of the Response,
and was far from the total compliance demanded by the Congregation of Bishops
and Regulars. For instance, it retained the Preamble and the Historical Summary
as prefaces; it merely rephrased the concepts of civil rights, especially in the
chapter on Form of the Society, where it had appeared most objectionable; it
merely retouched the constitutions on Poverty; it introduced chapters on
novitiates and on studies, but not according to the form demanded; it stood firm
on the power to issue dimissorial letters; it retained the constitutions on Extern
Salesians as an appendix.
No sooner did he arrive in Rome, than Don Bosco began to pay visits
and to seek support in the matter of the approval. In January, he visited (among
others) Archbishop Vitelleschi and Cardinal Berardi (both of whom, after Pius
IX, were to be the principal champions of his cause in the days ahead); Cardinal
Vicar Costantino Patrizi (a prospective member of the Special Congregation);
Father Sallua, O.P. (a member of the Holy Office and a confrere of Consultor
Bianchi); Cardinal Bizzarri (Prefect of the Congregation of Bishops and
Regulars). He had audiences with Pope Pius IX, as well. 165
At the beginning of February, Secretary Vitelleschi notified Don Bosco
that the Special Congregation had been designated. It consisted of the Cardinals
Patrizi, Antonino De Luca, Bizzarri, and Tommaso Martinelli. On February 17,
Vitelleschi introduced Don Bosco to Attorney Father Carlo Menghini, a lawyer
of the Congregation. He would represent the Salesian part in the process of
approval. Don Bosco submitted to him the galley proofs of a revised Historical
Summary with separate comments on the novitiate, studies, and dimissorials.
Menghini was impressed with the Historical Summary, but he thought that it
was too extensive for the purpose. Don Bosco then set to work and produced a
shorter version (Riassunto, Summary). 166
On March 4, Don Bosco had a new text of the constitutions (modified, but not
significantly in terms of the demands) printed at Propaganda Fide. This was the
Second Constitutional Text of 1874. And on March 7, the Positio or docket,
containing all relevant protocols, was re-assembled and printed. l 6? The text of
165 EBM X, 341 -347.
166 RiassunJo della Pia Sociela di S. Francesco di Sales nel Febbraio 1874,
in OE XXV 377-384.
167The Positio is given in IBM X, 916-948, Appendix V (omitted in EBM),
and as the Summarium fo r the Special Congregation in OE XXV, p. 335-385. It
contained: (1) Don Bosco's petition; [2] the Deere/um Laudis of 1864; (3) the thirteen
Savini-Svegliati Observations of 1864; [4] the decree of approval of the

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the constitutions was to be presented as a separate document. Don Bosco was
still in the process of retouching it; and a little later in March he had it reprinted
(the Third Constitutional Text of 1874). The Appendix on Extern Salesians, to
which Consultor Bianchi objected, was removed; but Don Bosco stood firm on
the other capital points. This is the text which he submitted together with the
Positio to the four cardinals of the Special Congregation.
Now Don Bosco went into action, to the point of importunity, to win a
hearing with the Roman authorities. In February he had circulated the
"anonymous" letter created to offset Gastaldi's own of January 9 to Cardinal
Bizzarri. l 68 Now, that the Positio was being presented, he wrote and circulated a
leaflet entitled, Considerations That Prompt Father John Bosco[...]. l69 He paid
ad hoc visits to the cardinals of the Special Congregation and to others interested
in the matter.
[Action of the Special Congregation]
The Special Congregation held two sessions, in which the discussion bore on
Gastaldi's objections and proposals, on Don Bosco's failure to comply with
what was demanded, and consequently on the peculiar provisions embodied in the
constitutional text at hand.
Congregation of 1869; [5] Gastaldi's Quum admodum memorandum of February 10,
1873; [6] Gastaldi's letter of April 20, 1873 [cf. notes 128 and 130 and related text,
above]. [7-12] letters of commendation from the bishops of Casale, Savona,
Vigevano, Albenga, Fossano, and from the archbishop of Genoa. [13] Consultor
Bianchi's thirty-eight Critical Observations of 1873; [14] Secretary Vitelleschi's
twenty-eight Critical Observations handed down to Don Bosco; [15] Don Bosco's
report on the moral and material state of the Society, which is the shorter version
(Riassunto) of the Historical Summary made at Attorney Menghini's suggestion [cf.
note 166 and related text, above; and EBM X, 352f., where a short excerpt is quoted].
Some of Don Bosco's statements in the report are noteworthy: "This Pious
Society has been in existence for 33 years," referring to the year 1841[!]; "It has a
membership of three hundred and thirty priests, seminarians, and laymen;" "Forty-
four bishops were asked and wrote letters of commendation expressing their highest
approval. The one exception is the present archbishop of Turin [...];" "Some three-
fourth of the priests presently active in Turin and of the professors in the seminaries
of the archdiocese were our pupils; and the same may be said of other dioceses;" etc.
168 Cf. note 135 and related text, above.
169 Alcuni pensieri che muovono il Sac. Giov. Bosco a supplicare
umilmente per la Definitiva Approvazione delle Costituzioni della Societa Salesiana,
in EBM X, 359f., cf. Ceria-Ep II, 371f. In this nine-point presentation, Don Bosco
repeated some of the publicity statements of the report already mentioned [cf. note
167, above]. For example, he spoke of the constitutions as having been tested for the
past thirty-three years, the point of reference again being 1841[!]; of the imminent
establishment of the Salesian work in America, Africa, and China.

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The first session was held on March 24, 1874, and the discussion was
inconclusive.
It was at this point in time, that is, shortly after the first session, that
Secretary Vitelleschi showed Gastaldi's letter of April 20, 1873 (addressed to
Cardinal Bizzarri) to Don Bosco. Don Bosco's memorandum in reply was dated
March 29 (1874). 170 In it he rebutted Gastaldi's objections point by point: the
lack of approval of the Society by the ordinary; a two-year novitiate on the
Jesuit model; insufficient formation of Salesian seminarians; the Society's
troubles with ordinaries; troubles caused by Salesian seminarians leaving after
triennial vows. Don Bosco immediately forwarded his defense to the cardinals.
Meanwhile, the same cardinals were at work emending the text of the
constitutions. They were determined, if these were to be approved, to correct
their (much lamented!) deficiencies and to bring them into compliance with the
pre-established Tridentine canonical mold in every other respect. The Preamble
and the Historical Introduction were removed, so that the sixteen chapters
appeared as follows: Purpose, Form, Obedience, Poverty, Chastity, Religious
Government, Internal Government, Rector Major, Other Superiors, Particular
Houses, Admission, Studies, Practices of Piety, Novitiate, Habit, Profession
Form. The text itself suffered drastic revisions, especially with regard to the
following subjects: in the matter of the civil rights clauses (Form of the
Society) and of the practice of poverty (Vow of Poverty); the chapters on Studies
and Novitiate were practically re-written; the chapter on Practices of Piety was
considerably enlarged. The power to issue dimissorial letters (provided for in the
chapter on Religious Government, article 5, note 1) was denied, and the text
suppressed. It was instead suggested, if the Holy Father should wish to grant it,
that the power to issue dimissorial be given for ten years (for a candidate to be
ordained in the diocese of residence) by way of privilege. 171
The second session of the Special Congregation was held on March 31,
and the drastically revised text was finally approved, though not without "a
fight."
Father Berto diligently made a calligraphic copy of the new revised text
of the constitutions. Don Bosco presented the manuscript to Pope Pius IX for
approval and for filing with the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars. A second
calligraphic copy was made by Father Berto for the Salesian archives. The
approval was given on April 3, 1874, and the Decree, handed down on April
13_172
170 Cf. note 130 and related text, above.
171 For a description of the changes and emendations introduced, cf. IBM X,
809-819; and for what regards the novitiate only, EBM X, 377-380.
172 The approved text is in ASC 022 (18), FDBM 1,912 E2ff., critically
edited as text Q in Motto, Cost. SDB, 73ff. This is not a printed text, for protocol

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The Bosco-Gastaldi Conflict
Thus it was that despite his diplomatic efforts for the Exequaturs and
the prestige he had thereby acquired in Roman circles; despite the steady
outpouring of memorandums in his own defense and his frenzied activity to
further his cause; despite his friendship with Pius IX, with Cardinal Antonelli,
with Cardinal Berardi, and with Secretary Vitelleschi, Don Bosco did not prevail.
The cardinals of the Special Congregation had worked within the fixed traditional
juridical principles, which were axiomatic in the matter of the approval of a
religious congregation: ecclesiastical centralization, total binding force of vows,
even though simple, independence from the State's juridical order, experimental
gradualism, freedom of conscience for the members, etc. Proximately, their work
was guided by the Critical Observations of 1864 (1869) and those of 1873, and
they were certainly put on the alert by Gastaldi's double-barreled salvos.
Consequently Don Bosco's novel concepts, which made the Society new and
special (flexibility in structures, freedom of action, relating to new political
realities, etc.) were either erased or greatly reduced in force. Likewise all
references to times and places, representing historical experiences that he
considered charismatic and normative were expunged, with the removal of the
first two chapters and of references in the rest of the text. The constitutions on
extern Salesians, an unheard of idea, had had to be previously removed.
He did receive the power to issue dimissorial letters, but separately by
rescript, limited to ten years, and applicable only to members with perpetual
vows. 173
Even in defeat, however, Don Bosco claimed victory. The short letter
with which, on the very day of the Decree, April 13, 1874, he notified
Archbishop Gastaldi had a ring of triumph and a touch of mischievous glee
about it: "I have just received the decree of the definitive approval of our
constitutions. It bears today's date. Since your Grace has at all times spoken in
our favor [raccomandatl], I wish that you be the first to know." 174
Conclusion
With respect to the Roman authorities, the issue was between what, in Don
Bosco's view, the times required (a different kind of congregation for a new
historical situation) and the established canonical tradition. Whereas the
required that the text submitted and filed be in manuscript form. For the decree cf.
EBM X, 372f. and Motto, Cost. SDB, 253.
173 Cf. separate Rescript in EBM X, 373.
174 EBM X. 376; cf. Ceria-Ep II, 378. Note Amadei's comments in this
connection with the notification of the approval [p, 376f.].

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established tradition required ecclesiastical control and centralization, Don Bosco
wanted a free hand, that is, independence from local ordinaries and in many ways
also from Rome. Whereas the established tradition regarded vows, even simple
vows, as totally binding, and subject only to papal control, Don Bosco had a
more flexible idea of the vows, and wanted power to dispense from vows when
necessary. 175 Whereas in established tradition religious congregations were
subject to the Church's juridical order, and independent from the state's, Don
Bosco wanted his congregation to be recognized as such by the Church and yet to
be in line with the juridical principles of the liberal state-that is, an association
of free citizens retaining their civil rights, and not a religious corporation.
Whereas established tradition was for granting recognition and privilege only by
degrees (experimental gradualism), Don Bosco wanted everything at once.
Whereas established tradition safeguarded the member's freedom of conscience,
Don Bosco wanted manifestation of conscience from the members, in view not
only of spiritual direction, but of the apostolate.
As indicated, the cardinals of the Special Commission did not accept
any of his proposals on these points. And yet Don Bosco was substantially
pleased with the outcome; and in some respects it surpassed his expectations.
The Society and its constitutions had indeed lost much of the suppleness and
versatility he had endowed them with; but they nonetheless remained, in his
view, a sufficiently apt and viable tool for the Salesian apostolate.
Thus on March 4, the day following the approval by the Special
Congregation he wrote exultantly to Father Rua:
Our constitutions have been definitively approved, with the power to
issue dimissorial letters without restrictions. When you learn the
details, you'll know that it all came about because of your prayers. The
concession was granted by the Holy Father yesterday at seven in the
evening. But keep it "under wraps". 176
Clearly the concession referred to here is that of issuing dimissorials given by
rescript of April 3. It was obviously not without restrictions, though it no
longer set an entrance age requirement for a candidate (fourteen years). But Don
Bosco, in a private audience with Pius IX on April 8, obtained what was perhaps
an even more significant concession. For in their definitive form, the
constitutions did indeed embody the substance of Gastaldi's demands regarding
novitiate and studies. But Pope Pius IX made concessions by way of privilege in
175 This is how Don Bosco interpreted Pius !X's statement, which he cited:
"This Society must have vows [...], but these vows should be simple and such as to be
easily dissolved" [Breve notizia, 1864, in IBM VII, 892, (omitted in EBM)].
176 Ceria-Ep II, 376.

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The Bosco-Gastaldi Conflict
matters that the cardinals had refused to grant in the constitutional text itself.
Not only, as mentioned, was Don Bosco given the restricted faculty of issuing
dimissorials, but in the audience of April 8 he also obtained from Pius IX vivae
vocis oraculo (by an unwritten papal pronouncement) a concession to
implement a type of novitiate different from that demanded by Gastaldi and
approved in the constitutions. 177
And these are the constitutions he gave to his Salesians in the "official"
Latin and Italian editions of 1874 and and 1875- not the text approved by the
Roman Congregation and filed in the Vatican and Salesian Archives, but a text
modified at strategic spots in accordance with the concessions he had obtained
directly from Pius IX vivae vocis oraculo, and emended in other ways
throughout. 178
In practice, therefore, the concessions amounted to a resounding defeat
of the archbishop. The variance existing between the prescriptions of the text of
the constitutions and the concessions made to Don Bosco reflected a rift between
the position taken by the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars, attentive to
Gastaldi's objections, and that taken by Pius IX, favoring Don Bosco and
allowing him to prevail in practice through privileges granted. Gastaldi was fully
aware of the Pope's favor, and the ambiguity of the solution made his defeat
even more humiliating. But he fought on. The clashes that followed for some
time thereafter were the result of this tension. Thus with the approval of the
constitutions the climate between the two worsened, and the attitude of the
archbishop and of his chancery toward the Salesians became significantly more
hostile. In other words, recourse to privilege by Don Bosco set off an
increasingly more severe inquisitorial reaction on Gastaldi's part. 179
Perhaps because he had received neither an official notification from
Rome nor an authentic copy of the constitutions and of the Decree, Gastaldi
persisted in demanding of the Roman Congregation a clear statement regarding
the approval of the Salesian Society. 180 His thinking in the months that
177 EBM X, 368. 370.
178 Texts T and V in Motto, Cost. SDB, p. 73ff. For a comparison between
the approved Latin text and the first Latin edition, side by side, cf. IBM X, 956-993.
(omitted in EBM) and the study by Germano Proverbio, "La prima edizione latina
ufficiale delie costituzioni salesiane dopo I' approvazione pontificia," R icerche
Storiche Salesiane 3 (1984) 93-109.
179 Details are given in EBM X, 380-417.
180 Letter of September 3, 1874 in EBM X, 393f.
In his Report ad limina of December 31, 1874, cited in Tuninettti, Castaldi
II, 270, note 49, Gastaldi complained: "[The Salesian Congregation] now claims to
have the definitive approval of the Holy See. But the Pontifical Decree granting this
kind of approval is still to be shown to me" [from the Archives of the Turin
Archdiocese] According to Tuninetti [Ibid.], he made the same point in his letter to

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followed upon the approval of the Salesian Constitutions is most clearly
expressed in his letter to Pius IX of October 4, 1874, !8! as well as in the cited
Report ad limina. In both documents he assembled all his standard complaints
about Don Bosco and the Salesians. But in the second he dared express the hope
that when the Vatican Council should be reconvened, and the matter of novitiate
and of formation of religious should be taken up, the competence of the ordinary
to judge the suitability of candidates for the religious life be recognized, and the
ordinary's right diligently to examine religious previous to their being admitted
to sacred orders be likewise maintained. 182
He apparently intended to fight on. The manner in which he annotated
Don Bosco's letter bearing the news of the approval was an omen of more strife
to come. As reported by the biographer, he wrote and underscored the words:
"April 13, 1874 - Don Bosco - Notification of the definitive approval of his
institute, which , however, is not definitive." 183
Coming in the next issue of the Journal of Salesian Studies:
The Bosco-Gastaldi Conflict (1872-1882), Part
Two, on the conflict after the approval of the Salesian
Constitutions (1874).
the Prefect of the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars of January 24, 1875 [from
the Archives of the Congregation of Religious and Secular Institutes].
18 1 EBM X, 396-402.
182 Tuninetti, Castaldi II, 270, note 49[from the Archives of the Turin
Archdiocesel.
l83' EBM X, 376.