Even within life revolving around religion and faith one could quite clearly note the transition from a tim e when the covenant betw een ‘throne and the a lta r’ was stressed to one o f grow ing separation o f the two. This was partly brought about by political m easures considered as harassm ent, largely brought on by the inability to respect the necessary distinctions between the religious and political spheres, at least in practical terms, and the final self-inflicted blow, the Papal decree Non Expedit, the consequence o f which was to sideline the Church in political terms.
7 The law o f 13 May 1871 by which the Italian State intended to legitim ise the occupation o f Rome on 20 September 1870, the annexation to the Kingdom o f Italy o f the former Papal States, and the regularising o f relationships with the Vatican. The Holy See never recognised this.
How ever the presence o f the Church and Catholics within religious and social fields was remarkable.
2.1 The situation in the Catholic Church
C hristian reconquest o f society was due to Papal leadership. The Popes had gained new prestige by withstanding persecution and revolution (Pius VI), including N ap o leo n ’s efforts (Pius VII). The nam es o f these Popes are:
Pius VII (1800-1823), elected in Venice after Pope Pius VI who died at Valence, France;
- Leo XII (1823-1829); Pius VIII (1829-1830);
Gregory XVI (1831-1846);
- Pius IX (1846-1878), and - Leo XIII(1878-1903).
Undoubtedly, from a worldwide perspective the Catholic Church was showing evident signs o f rebirth. Its structures found new strength and better appreciation, as did its evangelical and pastoral activity. The setting up o f Concordats m eant new, broader relationships w ith States. There was a keen revival o f m issionary activity.
D octrinal positions o f varying theological im port and result were adopted: Pope G regory’s encyclical Mirari Vos w hich dealt w ith C atholic Liberalism (1832); the definition o f the D ogm a o f the Imm aculate Conception (1854); Pius IX ’s encyclical Quanta Cura and the Syllabus, which were published in 1864 in order “to dismantle the errors o f the century” ; Vatican Council I (1869 -1870) which prom ulgated the Constitution De Fide Catholica, and the D ogm a o f Papal Infallibility. There was a rem arkable wave o f conversions linked with orientation to Rome and the ‘Oxford m ovem ent’. The Oxford m ovem ent began in 1833 and was m ade fam ous by the conversion o f J. H. N ew m an (1801 -1890) to the Catholic Church in 1845, and H.E.
M anning’s conversion in 1852.
The restoration o f university studies began w ith Leo XII in 1824. The event marked the starting point o f an upward m ovem ent o f culture, and a more appropriate form ation program m e for the clergy w hich reached its peak with Leo X III.
Catholic social involvement found its first official manifesto in Leo XIII’ s Letter Rerum novarum in 1891, adding to the faithful’s commitment to charitable undertakings during the course o f the century, particularly in Germ any and Belgium . All this was preceded by a more explicit organisational restructuring o f the apostolate o f the laity.
Finally, another feature which characterised the 19th century was the proliferation o f religious congregations for m en and wom en directed to charitable deeds, social welfare, education and missionary activities.
The encounter with the new world seem ed fundam entally positive w hen the Church was governed by Pope Pius VII, assisted by Cardinal Consalvi (1757-1824).
This relationship faltered under Leo XII and Pope Gregory XVI. Initially, it looked like an enthusiastic encounter, but then, under Pope Pius IX and Cardinal A ntonelli, it became am biguous and finally turned into a politico-religious conflict. The amnesty granted by Pope Pius IX a m onth after his election (1846) was responsible for an exaggerated enthusiasm which grew with subsequent papal decisions: the resolution to build railways (the N ovem ber 7 manifesto); the edict on the press, M arch 15,1847;
the setting up o f a consultative body, April 19 and O ctober 14; the creation o f the Cabinet o f M inisters, June 12; the form ation o f a civil guard, July 5; the setting up o f the Municipal Council o f Rome, October 3; the cautious introduction o f lay people into the Cabinet, D ecem ber 29.
All o f these events were followed by an address delivered February 10,1848:
O Great God, bless Italy! and by the granting o f the Constitution, M arch 14,1848.
Because o f all this popular demonstrations by people manifesting their consent multiplied and the acclamation “Long Live Pius EX” was widely heard along with growing pressure from democratic circles.8
Pope Pius IX delivered an address April 29,1848, view ing the cause ofltalian national unity with clear delight but unequivocally declaring the impossibility o f direct intervention against Austria. This created deeper ambiguities and misunderstandings.
A fatal clash w as inevitable: the President o f the Cabinet, Pellegrino R ossi, was assassinated; the Rom an revolution began (N ovem ber 15-16,1848) and died away with the creation o f a provisional governm ent after Pope Pius IX left for Gaeta (November 24) and with the proclamation o f the Rom an Republic (February 5,1849).
Pope Pius IX returned to Rom e (1850), which had been recaptured by French troops the previous year. With the help o f Cardinal Giacomo Antonelli he followed an intransigent political programme which excluded all possible negotiations with the Italian governm ent regarding a Papal Rom e and a Papal State.
In reference to the various and keener layers o f Catholic life there is justifiable reason for speaking o f Catholics facing a real ‘case o f conscience’: it w as already difficult to reconcile the fact o f being C atholic and a citizen o f a secular state. And now another conflict had come to the fore: how to reconcile the passion for the national unity o f Italy and the fidelity owed to the Pope, who was both the spiritual leader and the governing authority o f a state, the existence o f which was incompatible with such a national unity.
8 During a visit to Rom e in 1846 Count Solaro della Margherita “observed that no one was shouting out ‘Viva il Papa’ but only ‘Viva Pius IX’ . . P. Pirri, ‘Visita del Solaro della Margherita a P io I X n e l 1846’, in: «La C iviltà C attolica» 1928,111,509 (letter to the King Sept. 5 ,1 8 4 6 ).
2.2 The situation o f the Church in Turin
Piedmont was naturally no stranger to the complex religious problems affecting Catholics in Italy. On the contrary, because o f its political position, its cultural and economic status (the region had the highest percentage o f illiterates) and the abundance o f charitable undertakings, Piedm ont was often a paradigm.
Five archbishops directed the church ofTurin during Don B osco’s lifetime:
Colomban Chiaveroti, Camaldolese (1818-1831);
Louis o f the Counts Fransoni, from a Genoese noble family, (1832-1862).
He was expelled from the Kingdom o f Sardinia in 1850 and died in Lyons, France, in 1862;
A lexander o f the Counts Riccardi o f N itro, from a Biellese noble family (1867-1870);
Lawrence Gastaldi, from Turin (1871-1883) and Cardinal Cajetan A1 imonda (1883 -1891).
The archbishops who would have more o f a lasting impact on the Turin Church, because o f the historical context but also their temperament, were Chiavaroti, Fransoni and Gastaldi.
A rchbishop Chiavaroti stood out because o f his intense pastoral concern in a diocese w hich had been tested by the revolutionary and N apoleonic periods. He re
opened the Bra seminary for the students o f philosophy, gave a definite ecclesiastical orientation to the seminary at Giaveno and in the house of the Filippini in Chieri entrusted to him by the Holy See, and opened an adjunct to the sem inary in Turin (1829) for philosophical and theological students. Don Bosco would do his six years o f study o f philosophy and theology in this adjunct seminary, from 1835 to 1841. It was during this time that the Convitto Ecclesiastico diSan Francesco di Sales (a residential institution for clergy which w e can call the Pastoral Institute, in English) opened up in the sub- alpine Capital. The one who started it, in 1817, was theology professor Father Guala.
This was the time when confrontational disputes had arisen between the defenders o f
‘p robabilism ’ and ‘tu tio rism ’, in m oral theology. The Convitto Ecclesiastico w as approved by the Archbishop on February 23,1821.9
Archbishop Fransoni’s governance had more o f an impact on the Turin Church and the other Italian churches because o f his confrontation with the State. Archbishop F ransoni’s m ain concern was the clergy and he dedicated him self to their renewal.
Statistical data from 1839 offer us this picture: 623 diocesan priests, 325 religious
9 Cf. G. Tuninetti, Lorenzo G asta ld i (1815-1871), (Casale Monferrato, Edizioni Piemme 1983), 35-37.
priests, 216 lay religious, 213 sisters. With the so-called ‘Restoration’ initiated by the Kingdom o f Sardinia, the Church had reclaimed the rights and privileges o f the ancien régime, thanks to a set o f strictly confessional laws w ith a hint o f Church-State openness about them . Ecclesiastical censure was influential and the school system was tinged with clericalism, based on the Regolamento(.Regulations) o f 1822, clearly o f Jesuit origin. The prevailing tendencies w ere conservative and, at tim es, even reactionary. Liberal-leaning institutions or innovations, Protestantism, revolutionary spirit were looked upon with suspicion: philanthropic undertakings like II Ricovero di Mendicità fa program to help the poor); kindergartens created by Aporti; courses on methodology (the clash that occurred between Archbishop Fransoni and Charles A lbert on the occasion o f the course run by Aporti from the end of August to the beginning o f O ctober 1844 w as typical); evening and Sunday schools; railw ays, scientific Congresses. The situation grew worse, at the beginning o f 1847, when the first reforms took place and Charles A lbert fired the reactionary Count Solano della M argherita.
The censure system was re-shaped together with the freedom of the press and worship, the abolition o f the right o f asylum and the ecclesiastical Forum. From this m oment on, the religious history o f Piedm ont and the conflicts which characterised it were intertwined more and more with the history o f Italy, and this echoed far and wide.
Important during this period was the meeting o f all the bishops o f the ecclesiastical province o f Turin at Villanovetta, from July 25 to July 29, 1849. The bishops were concerned about creating a com m on front to face the new political and religious situation. Am ong other matters, the problem o f the press was examined. The bishops o f Mondovi (Ghilardi and M oreno), had been invited “to draw up an association plan for the press and the diffusion o f better-written ecclesiastical books” .
Particular attention should be given to prevailing moral and pastoral orientations.
Som e elem ents will be pointed out further on w hen we deal with the Convitto Ecclesiastico, the moral theology orientation offered by St Alphonsus Liguori, and with youth spirituality, developed particularly by the reborn Society o f Jesus.10
10 Cf. P. Stella, Don B osco n ella sto ria della relig io sità cattolica, 2, (Rom e, LAS 1979/
1981); and Don B osco nella sto ria econom ica e so cia le ( 1815-1870), (Rom e, LAS 1980). The follow in g brief note is a guide: “ We should not be surprised if both at the Shrine at Lanzo and at the C on vitto E cclesiastico the Jesuit spirit prevailed and its characteristics marked those spiritual gatherings directed by Guala: Ignatian asceticism , a d ecisive struggle against Jansenism and R egalism , a sincere and tender devotion to the Sacred Heart, to the Madonna, to the Pope, frequency with the sacraments, moral theology according to the spirit o f St A lphonsus” : F. Bauducco SJ, “San Giuseppe Cafasso e la Compagnia di G esù”, in La Scuola C attolica 88(1960): 289.