Pope grateful to Salesians for
formation received as boy
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| A photo of Don Bosco (R) with young people |
On Sunday, the feast of Mary Help of Christians, Pope
Francis recalled his childhood as a sixth-grader in a Salesian school in Buenos
Aires, Argentina.
By Robin Gomes
Perhaps it wouldn't be wrong to say that the Jesuit Pope
also has Salesian roots. Pope Francis hinted at this on Sunday, May 24, the
feast of Mary Help of Christians, which is an important Salesian
feast.
“Today, on the day of Mary Help of Christians, I address an
affectionate and cordial greeting to the Salesians,” he said, following the
midday Regina Coeli prayer at the Vatican’s Apostolic Library.
“I recall with gratitude the spiritual formation I received from the sons and
daughters of Don Bosco,” he said.
The Pope did not mention it directly, but he was referring
to 1949 when he and his younger brother, Oscar, were enrolled as boarders
at Colegio Wilfrid Barón de los Santos Ángeles run by the
Salesians at Ramos Mejía.
Pope in Salesian school
The Virgin Mary, under the title Mary Help of Christians, is
the principal patroness of the Salesians of Don Bosco, the religious
congregation that Don Bosco founded in 1859 in the northern Italian city of
Turin, to serve the young people.
The city’s Basilica of Mary Help of Christians, which was
commissioned by Don Bosco himself, remains the heart of the Salesians of Don
Bosco.
The Argentine Pope’s remarks on Sunday is not the first time
that he has spoken about the influence of the Salesians of Don Bosco in his
childhood.
Turin, June 22, 2015
Pope Francis visited Turin, June 21-22, 2015, during which
he joined the Salesians in celebrating the 200th birth centenary of Don Bosco,
who was born on August 16, 1815, and died on January 31, 1888.
During his visit, the Pope met the Salesians, including the
Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, known as the Salesian sisters, which Don
Bosco co-founded with Saint Mary Mazzarello.
While commending Don Bosco's ministry for young people, the
Pope recounted fond childhood memories of his family’s closeness to the
Salesians and how, when his mother was ill, he was taken out of public school
to spend one year studying with the Salesians.
The Holy Father spoke of how he grew very attached to the
Salesian community in the year he spent with them and that one priest, in
particular, followed him from Baptism to the realization of his vocation,
accompanying him ultimately on his journey to the Jesuit Order.
Salesian priests Fathers Enrico Pozzoli and Cayetano Bruno
are particularly remembered by the Pope.
“Evangelii gaudium with St John Bosco”
Again, in January 2019, Pope Francis wrote a preface to the
book, "Evangelii gaudium con don Bosco" (Evangelii gaudium
with St John Bosco), a collection of reflections by 25 members of the Salesian
family.
Commending the spirit of joy of Don Bosco, despite the
thousands of “difficulties that besieged him every day”, the Pope recalled his
association with the Salesians as a boy in Argentina.
While studying in a Salesian school, he wrote in the
preface, he found that same “climate of joy and family.” The Salesians, he
said, trained him to appreciate beauty, work, and cheerfulness – and this, he
said told the Salesians, “is your vocation.”
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