To the municipal authorities in Turin

E I, 165

He presents the activities carried out in the three oratories in Turin – requests a grant

Turin, 3 August 1853

Dear Sirs,

With sincere gratitude for the subsidy that you kindly granted me last year for the benefit of the oratories established in this city for abandoned youth, I dare to appeal to you once again, finding myself in greater need than ever.

First of all, I must give you a brief overview of the progress made by these three oratories, which have gone ahead this year with much greater success, given the larger number of young people who took part. In the Valdocco oratory alone there were sometimes more than two thousand, all young people who spent their Sundays fulfilling their religious duties combined with moral and civil education such as reading, writing, arithmetic, the metric system, drawing, singing and playing certain instruments. In the midst of all this, there were some elementary gymnastic exercises such as: vaulting horses, swings, bocce, tiles, running and jumping, and this was to attract those who would not otherwise come.

This year's evening classes did not produce the results I had hoped for, and this was due to a lack of resources, for being all poor children they often had to leave school because they did not have what they needed. However, the number of pupils often rose to three hundred.

In addition to the costs of renting and maintaining the church and paved area at the Oratory in Vanchiglia and Porta Nuova, which amount to no less than two thousand two hundred francs, there is the considerable expense incurred in the construction of a church in Valdocco, as well as the construction or rather restoration of a building intended for classes and to provide shelter for those who are absolutely poor and abandoned.

The plethora of expenses has exhausted the charity of the usual benefactors, to the extent that I am still in debt for the entire year's rent for the Porta Nuova oratory; therefore, if the municipality does not come to my aid in this particular need, I find myself in the dire necessity of having to close some of these oratories, which would mean the end of education for a considerable number of poor and abandoned young people.

For this reason, I am turning to Your Excellencies, pleading with you to kindly consider the above and grant me the charitable assistance which, due to the seriousness of my current need, means your generosity will be well received.

I ask nothing for myself, nor for my colleagues; for we are all happy to devote our efforts to the poor children of the people. I ask only for assistance in paying certain debts incurred in the aforementioned construction work, and to cover the costs of rent and maintenance of the respective premises.

Full of confidence in the proven kindness of the Turin City Council, and expressing my heartfelt gratitude, I am

Your Excellencies’

humble petitioner

Fr John Bosco