Some years earlier, during negotiations on the question of the Bishops’ temporal power, Don Bosco was talking to a government minister, John Lanza, and at the time he stressed his political views more emphatically: "I am writing with confidence and assure you that while I profess to be a Catholic priest and attached to the Head of the Catholic Religion, I am also very fondly attached to the government. I have dedicated all my limited financial means, all my strength and all of my life to the well-being of its subjects. If you think I can serve you in anything advantageous to the government and religion, you have only to tell me how”. 589
2.2. Realism and timeliness
Don Bosco's work among the young was not inspired by ideologies or theoretical considerations, but by his human, priestly sensitivity, faced with clear-cut facts and concrete situations demanding immediate and realistic interventions and solutions more than plans and projects.
Situations were what pressed Don Bosco to act. or instance, the problem of free time available to young people unprepared to use it appropriately: "Some who cared about proper education of the masses saw…, sadly, that many of those who have dedicated themselves early on to the arts and industries in the city squandered their meagre salaries earned during the week, on games and indulgence especially during weekends and holidayss".590
Another instance was the condition of the young immigrants who move from the countryside to the city: "We believe that it is publicly known that Father John Bosco, in order to provide moral benefit to abandoned youth, has done his best to have three oratories for boys opened in three main sections of our city. On weekends and holidays Don Bosco gathers these youths in the greatest possible number, since they are at risk in our capital and many of them have come into the city from the provinces".591 A third instance was the scourge of the Cholera epidemic which, in 1854, had increased the number of orphans and homeless youngsters and created worries - where to put them, the lack of food, the decreased charitable contributions, the increase of moral dangers.592
A further instance was the problem, more general than ever, of youngster both at risk and risky (pericoloso e pericolante): they happened to be in the majority. What Don Bosco wrote in a circular letter on March 13 1854, could easily have been applied to a goodly part of them: "I find myself in a sad situation in telling you that if there has been any time full of danger for youth, well, for sure, this is it! A great number of youths are at an imminent risk of losing their honesty and their religion for a morsel of bread”.593
589 Letter 11 February 1872, E II 195. He would employ identical expressions in a letter on 12 October 1873 to the
Minister for Grace and Justice, Onorato Vigliani: “As a priest I love religion, as a citizen I want to do as much as I can
for the government… since I am in fact outside of politics and public matters, then if your Excellency wishes to make
use of my poor self to do something, there would be no fear of undue publicity” (E II 313). This repeats in briefer form
the “profession of political faith” he had spelled out for the Minister for Internal Affairs, Luigi Carlo Farini, on 12 June
1860, and for the Minister for Public Instruction, Terenzio Mamiani, following a search and school inspection (Em I
407-410).
On the development of Don Bosco’s political thinking, cf. P. Stella, Don Bosco nella storia della religiosità cattolica,
vol. 2, 75-96.
590 Circular letter for a lottery, 20 Dec. 1851, Em I 139. The bishop of Biella, Bishop Losanna, had promised a collection
for the Oratory. Don Bosco responded, thanking him for the “charity” done for “ Turin’s youth” and added: “You may
be gald to know that the collection provides for many youngsters from your diocese, boys who have to spend a good
part of their year in the capital for various reasons of work, and a great number of them come to the Oratory to relax,
learn, and sanctify the days dedicated to the Lord” (Letter 4 May 1852, Em I 155).
591 Lottery appeal, 21 Feb. 1857, Em I 318.
592 Cf. request to the “Mendacità istruita”, 13 Nov. 1854, Em, I 96-97; to the mayor of Turin, 25 January 1855, Em I 243-
244; to the superintendant of finance, 22 March 1855 Em I 252; Circular letter 8 May 1855, Em I 253-254; letter to the
“Mendacità istruita”, 21 Nov. 1855, Em I 270-272.
593 Em I 222.