THE IDEA OF THE SALESIAN SOCIETY

IN THE "HISTORICAL OUTLINE" BY DON BOSCO OF 1873-74

Critical edition [with Introduction and annotations] by Peter Braido, SDB

Translated with selected annotations by Patrick Laws, SDB

lNTRODUCTION

The "Historical Outline" was written by Don Bosco at the Sanctuary of St Ignatius near Lanzo, at the beginning of August, 1873. It formed part of a complex series of activities actively and passively involving Don Bosco, from the end of 1872, until the early spring of 1874, in connection with the approval of the Constitutions of the Salesian Society. Don Bosco had somewhat naively believed that the approval of the Constitutions would be a foregone conclusion, given the "approval" of his friend and protector, Pius lX. But the 'animadversiones", the objections on the part of the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars, would not go away; indeed, they increased. These objections covered four major points of contention:

* The faculty whereby the Superior could issue dimissorial letters;

* The omission from the text of any canonical provisions that would give the Society too 'monastic' or 'religious' a character before civil authorities;

* The inclusion of "extern Salesians", members without vows;

* Formal exemption from the triennial report to Rome, to avoid being identified by the Government as a "moral entity", subject to inspection.

Further to this was the insistence by Archbishop Laurence Gastaldi of Turin, as a condition of his recommendation, that a proper novitiate be established, "...like that of the Society of Jesus, at least in the main". This was to prove a major sticking-point.

Letters criss-crossed between Don Bosco, the Roman Congregation, and his bishop. It was in this context of struggle, in which each party believed it had right on its side, that the 'Historical Outline' was composed as Don Bosco's apologia for his position, included with a modified constitutional text submitted to Rome in January, 1874. It was meant to establish the essential link between the work of the Oratories and the efforts being made to promote vocations on the one hand, and the Salesian Society on the other. As far as Don Bosco was concerned, the Society 'began' in 1841, so that the experience of the past thirty-odd years must necessarily dictate the shape of the society they gave birth to. These were new times. Don Bosco contended in effect, and they needed new forms of response, even institutional response!

However, Rome spoke, and the matter was concluded. Or was it? Tucked away in a note in his detailed Introduction to the text, Peter Braido remarks that two important questions still await the researcher's attention.

1. The extent to which institutional change, in the matter of novitiates and houses of study, actually took place.

2. The extent to which Don Bosco was driven by "theoretical" considerations in presenting his arguments, as against the practical need to widen to the greatest possible extent the availability of the young recruits to the ever-increasing work.