Prevention, not repression
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- 7. Don Bosco and pedagogues who contributed to “The Primary School Teacher”
6. The oratory experienceThe basis of Don Bosco’s entire formation as a priest was pastoral priestly ministry and purpose. This purpose reflected the spirit which animated the reform of seminary studies undertaken by Archbishop Colombano Chiaverotti. The seminary studies were directed toward the formation of the priest, who would be spiritually and culturally well equipped to act as a teacher and as a guide of his people, as a shepherd, as a Victim of Charity entirely dedicated to promoting the glory of God and the salvation of souls. He would be a priest entirely dedicated to liturgical worship, preaching, teaching catechism, the administration of the sacraments. This priest, so Aldo Giraudo writes, seems to be the accepted model of the priest who, during the second half of the 19th century become a priest committed to social ministry.520 At the Convitto Ecclesiastico the pastoral qualifications of a priest were to be enriched by other charitable and social dimensions, thanks to his encounter with the poverty of those who lived on the margins of society, a poverty which afflicted especially the young who had come to Turin from the countryside as well as from the mountainside. St Joseph Cafasso in particular had the intention of forming newly ordained priests as men who would seek the salvation of the poor as their ultimate responsibility in life.521 The priest, as shepherd and catechist, was expected to be a person intent on doing good: this is how Cafasso, in his meditations and instructions given to the clergy, had consistently described the priest.522 For Don Bosco this came as second nature. His involvement with the spiritual and material needs of the young, especially those separated from their families, of young people who seemed lost in a city they did not know, 523 was evidently a priority. He did have someone who was, somehow, a trailblazer and a model in this: it was Fr John Cocchi, a curate at the Assumption Church who, in 1840, had founded the Oratory of the Guardian Angels in a suburban area, poor and somewhat notorious, called Moschino, in the Vanchiglia district of Turin.524 From this complex spiritual and cultural formation, as well as from the significant experiences he had with the young and with the clergy, Don Bosco moved on toward his own creation: The Oratory. Don Bosco’s Oratory took various forms: oratory for boarders and day boys, open and comprehensive institutions in missionary enterprises of all kinds, within Italy and abroad. By doing this, Don Bosco was playing the role of one who ideally continued the initiatives connected with the Catholic Reformation of the 16th century and, in particular, with Charles Borromeo and the Sodality of Christian Doctrine. It is evident, however, that the effective experience of Don Bosco predates any kind of evident literary dependence. The Regulations are only an expression of experience and an already formed mind-set. The very same thing can be said for the knowledge of constitutions and rules that preceded him. And, besides, even in cases of an evident dependence, what makes the difference is Don Bosco’s understanding, Don Bosco’s language and style.525
“The primary school teacher” was a magazine with a group of educators and pedagogues as editors. Later the title was changed to The Educator. It was aimed primarily at helping teachers involved in primary and secondary schools.526 Don Bosco was surprisingly in sympathy with this group of teachers, psychologically, mentally and practically. What all of them had in common was a passionate interest in the education of the masses in all its forms: from basic instruction given in evening schools and technical schools, to more sophisticated works associated with popular publications (Readings, Libraries etc.) in an atmosphere of solidarity, affectionate and family-like participation.527 A certain connection at a literary level between Don Bosco and “The Educator” from which Don Bosco draws some intuition or which support some of his intuitions, can be easily documented. The first important books written by Don Bosco, are: Church History (1845), Bible History) (1847). “The Educator” reviews these works quite positively. The first book was reviewed by a Fr Ramello, and defined as “a new and very useful book” written by “a learned and good priest” who was convinced of the need to have, as a great educative principle, the enlightening of the mind in order to make good the heart.528 M.G, a priest (Michael Garelli of Mondovi?) offers a more in-depth review of the second book in an article entitled: “School Teacher’s Letter on Bible History Written for Schools by Don Bosco”. He speaks of:
the experiential origin of the book, its moral objectives, the conversational but clear Italian employed and the spirit which gently moves and leans towards what is good.529 An echo of the review of the first book is clearly heard in Don Bosco’s preface to the Bible History book. Don Bosco quotes almost verbatim the positive expressions used by the reviewer: In every page I had clearly in mind this principle: to enlighten the mind to render the heart good.530 On the same page, Don Bosco draws from the first number of The Primary School Teacher the idea of “popularising knowledge”531 and from a contribution by Vincent Garelli Aporti’s idea of the usefulness of images in teaching Bible History.532 It is hard to define more exactly the connection Don Bosco might have had, in terms of ideals, methods and organization.533 Even though Don Bosco had cordial and friendly relationships with some contemporary theorists in pedagogy like Antonio Rosmini, Gian Antonio Rayneri, Giuseppe Allievo (the last two held the chair of science at the University of Turin during the years 1847-1867 and 1868-1911 respectively), he never had or at least it cannot be proved that he had, an obvious involvement in pedagogical science of the official and academic kind.534
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