4628(II)_The best witness about Don Bosco holiness are his sons and daughters

4628(II)_The best witness about Don Bosco holiness are his sons and daughters

Salesian Postulator General gives an inspiring report

February 1, 2018

By Fr. Pier Luigi Cameroni
Postulator General

RMG, 31 January 2018 -- “Holiness is the incarnation of the charism and helps to live the Salesian spirit in a realistic way, overcoming the temptation and danger of ideologies and false justifications, by offering good practices which is the result of the incarnation of authentic charism. Indeed holiness reveals the beauty and truth of the Gospel of Christ and of the Salesian charism by Gospel life attraction and not by words and documents.

All Saints, Blessed, Venerables and Servants of God in the Salesian Family reveal a charismatic richness that deserve greater consideration and appreciation. It is like contemplating a diamond with many facets, some more visible and attractive, other less immediate and pleasant, but nevertheless real and decisive. Knowing and making known these extraordinary figures of believers provoke a progressive involvement in their own way, a keen interest to their story, a joyful sharing of plans and hopes that animated their journey.

For example we are called to explore the following ‘categories’ of Salesian holiness

  • We have young Saints, starting with a model of St. Dominic Savio and continues with a long list of Salesian Youth holiness like Laura Vicuña, Ceferino Namuncurá and many others. This a call to review the acting grace within the Preventive System of Don Bosco, a hidden energy without our pedagogy.

  • We have many missionary Saints, actually half of the SF ‘non-martyr’ Saints are missionaries or fruits of the missionary activity since 1875.

  • We have another sacrificial model of Saints, giving their life for others, with the first model of Venerable Andrea Beltrami

  • We have models of holiness with the background of ‘dysfunctional or broken’ family, like Blessed Laura Vicuna, Servant of God Charles Braga or

  • We have models of shining Salesian consecrated vocation in Blessed Salesian Brother - martyr Steven Sandor and Blessed Salesian Priest - martyr Titus Zeman.

  • We have many role models of Salesian fatherliness like Blessed Philip Rinaldi, Joseph Calasanz, Vincent Cimatti, Charles Braga and many others.

The list OF THE SALESIAN HOLINESS – updated on 1st January 2018

We are concerned about 169 Saints, Blessed, Venerables and servants of God, but only 51 of them are directly followed by the General Postulation SDB.

Saints (9)

  • John Bosco, priest (1 April 1934) – (Italy)

  • Joseph Cafasso, priest (22 June 1947) – (Italy)

  • Maria D. Mazzarello, virgin (24 June 1951) – (Italy)

  • Dominic Savio, adolescent (12 June 1954) – (Italy)

  • Leonardo Murialdo, priest (3 May 1970) – (Italy)

  • Luigi Versiglia, Bishop, martyr (1 October 2000) – (Italy-China)

  • Callistus Caravario, priest, martyr (1 October 2000) – (Italy-China)

  • Luigi Orione, priest (16 May 2004) – (Italy)

  • Luigi Guanella, priest (23 October 2011) – (Italy)

Blesseds (118)

  • Michale Rua, priest (29 October 1972) – (Italy)

  • Laura Vicuňa, adolescent (3 September 1988) – (Chile – Argentina)

  • Philip Rinaldi, priest (29 April 1990) – (Italy)

  • Maddalena Morano, virgin (5 November 1994) – (Italy)

  • Joseph Kowalski, priest, martyr (13 June 1999) – (Poland)

  • Francis Kęsy, lay, and 4 companions martyrs (13 June 1999) – (Poland)

  • Pius IX, Pope (3 September 2000) – (Italy)

  • Joseph Calasanz, priest, and 31 companions martyrs (11 March 2001) – (Spain)

  • Luis Variara, priest (14 April 2002) – (Italy - Colombia)

  • Artemide Zatti, religious (14 April 2002) – (Italy - Argentina)

  • Maria Romero Meneses, virgin (14 April 2002) – (Nicaragua - Costa Rica)

  • Augusto Czartoryski, priest (25 April 2004) – (France - Poland)

  • Eusebia Palomino, virgin (25 April 2004) – (Spain)

  • Alexandrina M. Da Costa, lay (25 April 2004) – (Portugal)

  • Albertus Marvelli, lay (5 September 2004) – (Italy)

  • Bronislaus Markiewicz, priest (19 June 2005) – (Poland)

  • Enrico Saiz Aparicio, priest and 62 companions martyrs (28 October 2007) – (Spain)

  • Zephirin Namuncurà, lay (11 November 2007) – (Argentina)

  • Maria Troncatti, virgin (24 November 2012) – (Italy - Ecuador)

  • Stephen Sándor, religious, martyr (19 October 2013) – (Hungary)

  • Titus Zeman, priest, martyr (30 September 2017) - (Slovakia).

Venerables (16)

  • Andrew Beltrami, Priest, (Decree super virtutibus: 15 December 1966) – (Italy)

  • Teresa Valsè Pantellini, Virgin (12 July 1982) – (Italy)

  • Dorotea Chopitea, Lay (9 June 1983) – (Spain)

  • Vincent Cimatti, Priest (21 December 1991) – (Italy - Japan)

  • Simon Srugi, Religious (2 April 1993) – (Palestine)

  • Rodolfo Komorek, Priest (6 April 1995) – (Poland - Brazil)

  • Luis Olivares, Bishop (20 December 2004) – (Italy)

  • Margaret Occhiena, Laity (23 October 2006) – (Italy)

  • Joseph Quadrio, Priest (19 December 2009) – (Italy)

  • Laura Meozzi, Virgin (27 June 2011) - (Italy - Poland)

  • Attilio Giordani, Laity (9 October 2013) – (Italy - Brazil)

  • Joseph Augustus Arribat, Priest (8 July 2014) – (France)

  • Stephen Ferrando, Bishop (3 March 2016) – (Italy - India)

  • Francesco Convertini, Priest (20 January 2017) - (Italy - India)

  • Giuseppe Vandor, Priest (20 January 2017) - (Hungary - Cuba)

  • Ottavio Ortiz Arrieta, Bishop (27 February 2017) - (Perù)

Servants of God (26)

    The ‘Positio’ is already presented

  • Elia Comini, Priest (Italy): Positio presented on 28 May 2009, Special Congress of theologians: 4 April 2017, Ordinary session of Cardinals and Bishops: 17 April 2018

  • Augustus Hlond, Cardinal (Poland): Positio presented on 22 October 2008, Special Congress of theologians: 9 March 2017, Ordinary session of Cardinals and Bishops: May 15, 2018

    • In the process of drafting of the Positio

  • Ignac Stuchly, priest (Czech Republic): Decree of validity of the diocesan inquiry: 29 November 2002

  • Giuseppe Guarino, Cardinal (Italy): Decree of validity of the diocesan inquiry: 13 June 1998

  • Antonio De Almeida Lustosa, Bishop (Brazil): Decree of validity of the diocesan inquiry: 2 May 2003

  • Carlo Crespi Croci, Priest (Italy - Ecuador): Decree of validity of the diocesan inquiry: 15 February 2010

  • Costantino Vendrame, Priest (Italy - India): Decree of validity of the diocesan inquiry: 1 February 2013

  • Giovanni Świerc, Priest and 8 companions, martyrs (Poland): Decree of validity of the diocesan inquiry: 10 May 2013

  • Oreste Marengo, Bishop (Italy - India): Decree of validity of the diocesan inquiry: 6 December 2013

  • Carlo Della Torre, priest (Italy - Thailand): Decree of validity of the diocesan inquiry: 1 April 2016

    • Expecting the validity of the decree of the diocesan inquiry

  • Anna Maria Lozano, virgin (Colombia): Closing of diocesan inquiry: June 19, 2014

    • In the process of diocesan inquiry

  • Matilde Salem, lay (Syria): Launching of diocesan inquiry: October 20, 1995

  • Andrea Majcen, priest (Slovenia): Launching of diocesan inquiry: September 24, 2010

  • Carlo Braga, priest (Italy – China - Philippines): Launching of diocesan inquiry: January 30, 2014

  • Antonino Baglieri, lay (Italy): Launching of diocesan inquiry: March 2, 2014

  • Antonietta Bohm, Virgin (Germany – Mexico): Opening of diocesan inquiry: May 7, 2017

  • Rodolfo Lunkenbein, Priest (Germany – Brazil)

  • Simão Bororo, Lay Martyrs (Brazil): Nulla osta - 7 September 2017, Opening diocesan Inquiry: January 31, 2018

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