The Salesian Cardinals

Don Bosco’s Sons Who Became Cardinals

Bishop John Cagliero (1838-1926)

On Sept. 30, the Salesian rector major, Fr. Angel Fernandez Artime, will become the 20th cardinal from among Don Bosco's Salesians.  ANS has planned a series of articles on some (or all) of his predecessors.

(ANS – Rome – Sept. 12, 2023) – The first of all the Salesian cardinals was Bishop John Cagliero, a fellow countryman of Don Bosco, as he was born, like the Saint of Youth, in Castelnuovo d’Asti (today Castelnuovo Don Bosco). Born into a family of modest peasants on January 11, 1838, he met Don Bosco at the age of 13 and joined him at Valdocco, where he grew up serenely, distinguishing himself for his commitment to study and love of music.

Biographers report a funny conversation Don Bosco had with Cagliero’s mother, Teresa, when he asked her permission to take him with him to Turin; “Do you want to sell your Johnny to me?” he asked jokingly. She replied in her dialect, “Calves are sold; children are given away.” “Better still,” he retorted. “Prepare his clothing, and tomorrow I’ll take him with me.”

At the Oratory there was great poverty, but a lot of love: “Our dormitories, on the ground floor, were narrow and had only paving stones on the floor. In the kitchen there were a few tin bowls with their respective spoons. Forks, knives, napkins we saw many years later. The refectory was a shed. Don Bosco served us at lunch, helped us keep the dormitory tidy, cleaned and patched our clothes, and did all the humblest of services.... We lived together in everything. More than in a boarding school, we felt we were in a family, under the direction of a father who loved us, and who was concerned only for our spiritual and material well-being.”

When Don Bosco decided to give full life to a new congregation, with regular enrollment and vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, young John Cagliero pronounced that famous phrase which has remained in the annals, and which also had a drawing power on others of the young men present: “Monk or no monk, I’m remaining with Don Bosco.”

Cagliero was among the first Salesians to make religious profession. He was ordained on June 14, 1862.

He was the hero for the young people. He had an exuberant temperament, very impulsive, and he communicated to others the joy of living with Don Bosco: working, running, giving himself. Often, the boys, after Don Bosco’s Good Night, would approach Fr. Cagliero and greet him with spontaneous affection.

Meanwhile, John Cagliero perfected his musical talents. Church services, entertainments, and bands made him a precocious and brilliant composer. Two of his operas, Il figlio dell’esule and Lo Spazzacamino, were praised by Giuseppe Verdi for their beautiful and moving music. They also reached the royal court and were sung by the future Queen Margaret. The Requiem Mass for three voices was judged a “jewel of faith and harmony.”

He was also volcanic in this: on June 9, 1868, the Mass for the consecration of the church of Mary Help of Christians was sung in three choirs: a boys choir in two voices on the cornice of the dome, another two choirs in three voices under the dome and in the choir loft.

After ordination Fr. Cagliero worked in Piedmont for 13 years, becoming a phenomenon of activities and projects, and also serving as spiritual director of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. He dedicated himself passionately to the activity of composing sacred music, and wrote pieces rich in melodic vein, which especially in the early years (1860-70) were an important component of the Valdocco environment.

In 1875 Don Bosco entrusted him with the leadership of the first group of Salesians who set off on a mission to Patagonia, Argentina.

Once he landed in Buenos Aires he began the apostolate among the Italian emigrants, who were numerous in that period of great emigration. He opened a parish in the poorest area of the city and founded churches, schools, and other Salesian works; everywhere he spread Salesian ardor and joy.

After nine years in South America, in 1884 John Cagliero was consecrated bishop and vicar apostolic of Patagonia, thus becoming the first Salesian priest to assume the episcopate. He was ordained in Turin, in the church of Mary Help of Christians, and his mother Teresa had the joy of seeing him with his episcopal garb before she died at the age of 88. That day Cagliero also kept his hand with the bishop’s ring hidden between the folds of his cassock until Don Bosco arrived: the first kiss was rightfully his.

In his mission land, Bishop Cagliero began the evangelization of the natives of Patagonia in grand style, he was forced to go on horseback, handled a lasso, climbed mountains, reached remote tribes—always in search of souls.

He hastily returned to Turin as soon as he heard that Don Bosco was dying, and on January 30, 1888, he gave him his last kiss while reciting his last prayers. He returned to Patagonia immediately after the funeral.

After service as apostolic delegate to three Central American countries, in 1915 he was created cardinal by Pope Benedict XV at the age of 77. Thus was recognized the merit of a life spent for the good of others, especially in the mission lands.

Returning to Italy in his old age, he died in Rome on February 28, 1926, at the age of 88. His body was initially buried in Rome, but at the request of the Argentine episcopate has been resting since 1964 in the Mater Misericordiae Cathedral in Viedma, his first episcopal see.