KEY CONCEPTS II: LIFE AND DISCIPLINE AT THE ORATORY
All Salesians are familiar with the Letter from Rome in 1884. But that is about the extent of the knowledge that most of us have. Fortunately for the English-speaking world, Fr. Arthur Lenti has done some work on other texts from that period, and once we begin to look at these, we begin to see the extent and gravity of the situation. From our particular point of view in this group of Rectors, it also provides an insider’s view, and while we certainly don’t rejoice in the problems Don Bosco was facing at the Oratory, we might feel just a little bit consoled to know that (1) our Father and Founder had some almost intractable problems to solve in the day to day running of his beloved Oratory and (2) that he has had something of our own experience; he was not above all the nastiness and difficulty that individuals face from time to time.
Don Bosco was very unhappy and worried over the situation at the Oratory. His distress was focused around the deteriorating moral and spiritual condition of the Oratory school, and particularly amongst the senior pupils, that is 4th and 5th year Ginnasio – and by its failure to produce vocations. We can easily forget that as far as Don Bosco was concerned, the Oratory school was meant to produce vocations for the clergy generally and especially for the Salesians, other wise it has little purpose of existence.
The problems were twofold: the older boys by 4th and especially 5th year were adopting worldly attitudes which led to abandonment of spiritual life and moral deterioration, and secondly, by taking the comprehensive Public examinations at the end of 5th Year, the boys would then prefer to go on with further studies than to follow a priestly or religious vocation. Don Bosco saw the 5th year as a temptation which lured boys away from the very vocation for which the school had been founded.
Once we turn to the debates recorded in Council minutes, though, we see that there were other and even more fundamental problems: a breakdown in discipline and supervision, a lack of leadership, unity and coordination. The Rector seemed unable to manage the size and complexity of the Institute. Don Bosco adopted the drastic and later regretted solution of dividing the task and appointing two rectors.
THE ORATORY HOUSE AND ITS PROBLEMS
In 1879 the Superior Chapter had already identified the problem:
‘We are faced with a real problem at the Oratory…’
In a subsequent meeting, discussing the proposal made, some headway was made in separating out the competencies of Superior Chapter from the House itself. Fr. Lazzero was appointed rector of the House and its whole operation, communities and departments.
Even after Don Bosco’s death there was still some interaction between Superior Chapter and House, and this inability to disengage was part of the problem. But the real problem seemed more associated with the complex nature of the Oratory itself. The ‘house of the Oratory’ comprised the complex of communities and programmes which developed from the original boarding house (annex) established in 1847.
Conceived as a home for boys who were really the poorest of the poor, it ranked, if not on a par with, certainly as a close second, to the work of the Oratory itself. It was the logical extension of the work of the Oratory, but it also was the laboratory in which the founder broadened his experiment in the education of the young, apprentices and students, and including those who would continue the work of the Salesian Society.
We know that students were part of this House from the start. And to help protect working boys from the dangers of the streets, Don Bosco also began various workshops in the House: shoemakers and tailors, bookbinders, carpenters, printers, blacksmith. In 1855, and for similar reasons (to keep the boys at home) Don Bosco opened a secondary school programme. By 1859-60 he had a complete secondary programme, 5 years. From then on the student community gained greater prominence. From both groups Don Bosco cultivated vocations.
The Oratory was home to other groups as well: festive oratory, evening classes, home for Salesian seminarians, novitiate. There were also diocesan seminarians, hired teachers and craftsteachers living there.
The Oratory House had large numbers of boarders – some 400 plus enrolled in school and a further 200 in workshops. This required a group of 60-70 Salesians to look after them. There were just too many people at the Oratory!
For all practical purposes the students and working boys formed two communities, but they were under one administration, one rector, separate from the Superior Chapter. Unity of direction in any House was one of Don Bosco’s principles, demanded by his concept of authority and chain of command.
JUNE 5 1884
Don Bosco takes the floor at a Superior Chapter meeting: ‘The task which lies before us is to study and work out ways of ensuring good morals amongst our youngsters and of promoting religious vocations’. His solution – curtail the academic programme.
But as can often happen in a community meeting, the members saw the root cause as the condition of the Oratory communities and its effects, with words like ‘ we should rather begin by straightening the discipline, by expelling the corrupt with severity by great vigilance and more careful supervision everywhere.’ There were proposals for reorganising the house, looking at admissions, or being radical and systematic. The rector was asked to comment: he thought the regulations of the Houses should be better enforced, and that there should be unity of direction with no interference – his concern was that some boys there were under the protection of members of the Superior Chapter.
Ideas and opinions were collected and put together – the poor rector seemed to be the focus of most of it: From this we have Fr. Bonetti’s recommendations:
‘The rector of the house should be allowed…’
So the basic problem appears to be leadership , or lack of it.
A month later the Chapter meets again and Don Bosco intervenes by pointing out the duties of a rector…..to command…one sole centre….see that others do their job.
‘Let each one attned to his job and nothing else…’
A NEW DIRECTOR?
After several months a proposal is put forward, under Don Bosco’s chairmanship, that Fr. Lazzero be appointed in charge of all vocational schools in the Congregation. Meanwhile Fr. Cagliero (not Cardinal) counter-proposes two independent rectors, one for students, one for working boys. There was heated debate about this which Don Bosco appears not to have taken part in…but Don Rua was strongly opposed on the basis of the principle of unity thus far always upheld.
Then Don Bosco agrees to a new Rector, Fr. Francesia. The matter seems closed, but during the week that followed, something must have happened because Don Bosco goes over to the idea of two Rectors. Was he got at?
‘I want Fr. Francesia transferred to the Oratory. I want both hima nd Fr. Lazzero to take direction of this house…’.
Don Bosco falls il and is not part of meetings to follow but you can imagine the debates! Rua is opposed to two rectors, so is Francesia. Don Rua wants two vice rectors instead. He tries to appoint Fr. Lazzero to Lanzo, but Don Bosco’s will prevails. He returns to the chair in October. Interestingly, though Lazzero and Francesia are appointed as the two rectors, less than three years later we find the situation has gone back to one.
THE SCHOOL
While leadership was seen as a root cause, there was still the problem of the attitude of the senior boys. At GCII Don Bosco had addressed the issue in terms of vocations:
‘It’s sad to see the change for the worse….
After the Casato School Reform of 1859, Don Bosco commited the Salesians to work via the school for the Christian education of the young. But one very specific reason for Don Bosco’s interest in schools was also the rapid decline in vocations in the country. Don Bosco saw the school as one way of remedying this. And he intended the Oratory school, largely sustained by benefactors, to be a preparatory seminary for the Salesian novitiate.
SO here’s part of the problem: in Don Bosco’s mind this is a charity school, following his rules and aims, but on the other hand, due to school reform, it was forced into an academic mould. In 1879 the authorities closed him down for 18 months on this basis! When it re-opened the school even became competitive. Here was a cheap school producing excellent results – of course everyone and anyone wanted to be there, and therein lay the problem with worldly attitudes and fewer vocations.
In ensuing discussions various options were put forward. Fr. Lazzero wants to close off 5th year. Fr. Rua thinks it is about the quality of teachers – a good teacher will inculcate good attitudes. Don Bosco begins to think in terms of what the French called an ‘apostolic school’. Someone else suggests removing certain key subjects from the curriculum, which will mean the worldly ambitious types will want to go elsewhere and the seminarians can continue on with their studies minus these subjects, maybe making up later.
In a meeting in July 7th Don Bosco lays down guidelines for admission and moral conduct – only those boys admitted who intend to follow a religious and priestly vocation. In the following meeting he goes further on the question of moral conduct.
‘When judging a boy’s moral conduct, we should not be guided by his marks on the monthly conduct sheet, which are usually good…’
Fr. Cagliero proposed a re-application procedure during the holidays – no letter to say your re-application has been accepted, no return. But in the end, Don Bosco’s intention to close down 5th year in his charitable schools is what seems to be the likely decision. ‘These young men are kept at the Oratory either totally or partly free of charge. Now what cause does all this charity serve? Certainly not the cause of vocations or advancement of religion…’. In the end Don Bosco gives in to the argument that they move slowly – at first, supplementary courses that might especially attract the undesirable group will be dropped from the curriculum. The re-enrolment procedure too will be followed. There will not, for the moment be a complete removal of 5th year.
We do not have further information on what happened but as Lenti says, it can be supposed that after a year or so of these measures, Don Bosco still might have his way and drop 5th year.
There are probably many things we could say and might want to ask about these debates, both those referred to in this talk and those of the previous one. I would not be competent to answer most of those questions. What I was interested in, though, and it’s really the reason I chose this material, is to see the first council meetings of the Congregation in action, those with a local House focus as well as issues regarding the Society more generally. We can see an overall freedom on the part of members to make the comments they feel they need to make. There is also a deference towards Don Bosco as Founder, which is to be expected. But the other thing that shows through is the readiness to face up to unpleasant and difficult issues with a view to doing something about them. And for most of us it is probably the first time we have become really aware of what life could be like in the Oratory and in the early days of the Congregation outside the rosy or golden era where Don Bosco was almost single-handedly doing everything.
I trust that it leaves you with a sense of hope, as it did for me.
