Five archbishops directed the church of Turin during Don Bosco's lifetime:
- Colombanus Chiaveroti, Camoldensian (1818—1831);
- Louis of the Counts Fransoni, from a Genoese noble family, (1832—1862). He was expelled
from the Sardinian Kingdom in 1850 and died in Lyons, France, in 1862;
- Alexander of the Counts Riccardi of Nitro, from a Biellese noble family (1867—1870);
- Lawrence Gastaldi, from Turin (1871—1883) and
- Cardinal Cajetan Alimonda (1883—1891).
The archbishops who would have more of a lasting impact on the Turin Church, because of the historical context but also their temperament, were: Chiavaroti, Fransoni and Gastaldi.
Archbishop Chiavaroti stood out because of his intense pastoral concern in a diocese which had been tested by the revolutionary and Napoleonic periods. He re-opened the Bra seminary for the students of 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 seminary in Turin (1829) for philosophical and theological students. Don Bosco would do his six years of study of philosophy and theology in this adjunct seminary, from 1835 to 1841. It was during this time that the Convitto Ecclesiastico di San Francesco di Sales’ (A residential institution for Clergy) 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 of 'Probabilism' and 'Tutiorism', in moral theology. The Convitto Ecclesiastico was approved by Archbishop Louis Fransoni, on February 23 18219
Archbishop Fransoni’s governance had more of an impact on the Turin Church and the other Italian Churches because of his confrontation with the State. Archbishop Fransoni’s main concern was the clergy and he dedicated himself to their renewal. Statistical data from 1839 offer us this picture: 623 diocesan priests; 325 religious priests; 216 lay religious; 213 sisters. With the so-called ‘Restoration’ initiated by the Kingdom of Sardinia the Church had reclaimed the rights and privileges of the Ancien Regime, thanks to a set of strictly confessional laws with a hint of Church-State openness about them. Ecclesiastical censure was influential and the School system was of a clerical hue, based on the Regolamento (Regulations) of 1822, clearly of Jesuit origin. The prevailing tendencies were conservative and, at times, even reactionary. Liberal-leaning institutions or innovations, Protestantism, revolutionary spirit were looked upon with suspicion: philanthropic undertakings like Il Ricovero di Mendicità (a program to help the poor); kindergartens created by Aporti; courses on methodology (the clash that occurred between Archbishop Fransoni and Charles Albert on the occasion of the course run by Aporti from the end of August to the beginning of Oct. 1844 was typical); evening and Sunday schools; railways, scientific Congresses. The situation grew worse, at the beginning of 1847, when the first reforms took place and Charles Albert fired the reactionary Count Solano della Margherita. The censure system was re-shaped together with the freedom of the press and worship, the abolition of the right of asylum and the ecclesiastical Forum. From this moment on, the religious history of Piedmont and the conflicts which characterised it were intertwined more and more with the history of Italy, and this echoed far and wide.
Important, during this time, was the meeting of all the bishops of the ecclesiastical province of Turin at Villanovetta, from July 25 to July 29, 1849. The bishops were concerned about creating a common front to face the new political and religious situation. Among other matters, the problem of the press was examined. The bishops of Mondovì (Ghilardi and Moreno), had been invited “to draw up an association plan for the press and the diffusion of better-written ecclesiastical books”.
Particular attention should be given to prevailing moral and pastoral orientations. Some elements will be pointed out further on when we deal with the Convitto Ecclesiastico, the moral theology orientation
9 Cf. G. Tunetti, Lorenzo Gastaldi (1815-1871), (Casale Monferrato: edizioni Piemme 1983), 35-37.