austraLasia 1497
Open Source Don Bosco Part 1
(This is NOT an entry in 'towards #1500'. One can hardly claim
one's
own prize! But keep them coming!)
ROME: 21st March 2006 -- That's correct, 'open
source' Don
Bosco. In what sense, you ask? This is the first of two
items that
will use the 'open source' idea to say something about Don Bosco.
The
second will be a genuine reflection on how some of the features of the
'open source' philosophy were very evident in Don Bosco's approach,
without claiming, obviously, that he could have known anything about
the term, which has less than twenty years of existence.
What triggered Part I of Open Source Don Bosco was
the idea being
noised abroad that Pope Benedict XVI, who mentions 'John Bosco' in his
concluding section to Deus Caritas Est (in reference to him amongst
others as a model of charity), is the first Pope to mention
him in an Encyclical. Are we sure about that? The second trigger
was the chance discovery by a confrere in our region (so really, he
could claim this as his 'entry' if he wishes!) of a single reference to
Don Bosco in an Encyclical by Pius XI. I decided to look a little
further.
Now, a definition of 'open source' is that one can
go to the source
code, see it and use it. In this case the 'source code' is the
Papal
Encyclicals. Using a very simple method, open to anybody, I
simply
went to www.vatican.va, opened up the papal
archives in my Open Source
Firefox browser, put the word 'Bosco' in the 'Find in this page' box
under 'edit' and rapidly, and I mean rapidly, opened each encyclical
from Leo XIII onwards. If 'Bosco' wasn't there, he stayed
red. If he
was there, he turned green! The entire exercise took me 30
minutes and
covered 208 encyclicals, of which Leo XIII wrote nearly 90 with nary a
mention! Here are the results:
1929: Pius XI in Mens Nostra, #10 speaking
of the
importance of the Spiritual Exercises' for the priest. Pius XI
there
makes reference to the marvellous example of Joseph Cafasso who passed
on this example and practice to 'Blessed John Bosco whose name is
beyond all praise'.
1935: Pius XI in Ad Catholici Sacerdoti, #77
speaking,
obviously from the title of the encyclical on the importance and value
of the priesthood. He speaks of 'splendid names on the rolls both
of
secular and regular clergy' and the names include 'Don Bosco....We
Ourselves had the consolation of canonizing'.
1937: Pius XI in Divini Redemptoris, #63
this time speaking
of the poor priest. 'A priest who is really poor and disinterested in
the Gospel....a Don Bosco...' (listed along with a Cure d'Ars etc).
1954: Pius XII in Sacra Virginitas, #20, noting that
if certain
people had a wife to look after they couldn't possibly have
accomplished all they did! 'a zealous educator of youth like St. John
Bosco' is amongst such names.
So there you go, not only is Benedict XVI's the
fifth mention of
our Founder in a papal encyclical, but the full gamut of five offers a
fairly complete range of reference: from Blessed to Saint, from 'a Don
Bosco' to 'John Bosco whose name is beyond all praise'.
And thank God for open sources and simple software!
______________________
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