To the King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel II

E I,521

Request for subsidy for the poor clerics at Valdocco

Turin, October 1861

Your Royal Majesty,

The critical year we are going through, the large number of young people who have been abandoned and are at risk, some of whom are housed in the Valdocco Oratory for boys, many of whom attend evening classes or Sunday school at the Oratories of St Francis de Sales in Valdocco, St Aloysius in Porta Nuova and the Holy Guardian Angel in Vanchiglia, have forced me to select a group of young clerics so that the necessary assistance is not lacking and there are enough teachers and catechists in the various categories and in the many classes that need to be formed.

These clerics, ten in number, while continuing their schooling, devote every spare moment to teaching, catechism, and assisting the young people mentioned above. But they are utterly destitute and therefore in dire need of charitable assistance for food, shelter and clothing.

It is for these poor clerics that the undersigned appeals to the proven kindness of Your Royal Majesty, earnestly begging you to take them into your benevolent consideration and grant them, from the coffers of the Finance Office, any charitable subsidy which Your Royal Majesty will deem appropriate, so that they may continue their studies and continue to provide assistance and education to the abandoned and at risk young people who attend the boys’ oratories in this city of Turin.

The conduct of these clerics, both in their studies and in their piety, is good and exemplary, and their zeal in charitable works deserves every favourable consideration.

Awaiting your Majesty’s grace and favour with true gratitude, I profess, also in the name of the above-mentioned clerics, that I am

Your humble petitioner,

Fr John Bosco