148 Years of Salesian Missionaries

148 Years of Salesian Missionaries

The 1st Salesian missionaries, 1875.

Don Bosco is handing a copy of the Constitutions

to Fr. John Cagliero. On the other side of Don Bosco

is the Argentine consul to Genoa, who assisted in arrangements.

(ANS – Rome – November 10, 2023) – November 11 is an unforgettable date for all the Salesians around the world: the day the Congregation began its missionary thrust. This journey began 148 years ago, on November 11, 1875, with the First Salesian Missionary Expedition. The Congregation has no intention of stopping this activity. Indeed, the entire Congregation is already looking forward to the 150th anniversary of that date in two years time. After not even a century and a half, almost 10,000 Salesians have been sent to mission lands, and the educational work that came from Don Bosco extends to over 130 countries on six continents. And the Rector Major’s call to send missionaries to places of greatest need continues to be more valid than ever.

On the occasion of the First Vatican Council, several bishops asked Don Bosco to send Salesians to China, the United States, and Egypt. Don Bosco studied for three years to try to understand what the distant country was that he had seen in a dream. One day he was asked to go to Argentina, and this led him to get to know about the indigenous people of Patagonia.

The project of the first expedition was thus formed, and had a threefold objective: it had to dedicate itself to poor and abandoned youth, take up the running of an educational institution, and subsequently expand to other locations in Patagonia.

On November 1, 1875, Pope Pius IX received the members of the expedition and blessed them.

On November 11, the church of Mary Help of Christians in Valdocco then hosted the most significant celebration: the Mass sending out the first 10 Salesian missionaries. Don Bosco offered them a long and developed homily. And each missionary brought with him a sheet with reminders from Don Bosco in which various principles were emphasized, such as: seek souls, not money, honors or dignity; take care of the sick, children, the elderly, and the poor, and you will earn the blessing of God and the benevolence of men; love each other, correct each other, do not envy or resent each other, because the good of one is also the good of all.

Then, three days later, on November 14, the First Salesian Missionary Expedition sent and blessed by Don Bosco left Genoa for Buenos Aires.

This first expedition had only 10 Salesians: 6 priests and 4 brothers. The expedition leader was Fr. John Cagliero, 37 years old. He was accompanied, among others, by Fr. Joseph Fagnano, 31, and Fr. Dominic Tomatis, 26. One of the four brothers, Vicente Gioia, played the role of cook.

After this first missionary expedition to America, Don Bosco sent others before his death: in the expeditions of November 1876, 1877, 1878, 1881, 1883, 1885, 1886, and 1887.

On September 24, 2023, Cardinal Angel Fernandez Artime, 10th successor of Don Bosco, presided over the celebration of the sending of the 154th Salesian Missionary Expedition.

Don Bosco’s last missionary dream took place in Barcelona on April 10, 1886. He dreamed of being on a hill, from the top of which he could see a forest, but cultivated and covered by roads and paths. The Shepherdess stopped next to Don Bosco and said: “Good. Now draw a single line from one end to the other, from Santiago to Beijing, make its center in the middle of Africa, and you will have an exact idea of what the Salesians must do.” “But how to do all this?” exclaimed Don Bosco. “The distances are immense, the places are difficult, and the Salesians are few.” She replied, “Don’t worry. Your children, your children’s children, and their children will do this; but be firm in the observance of the Rules and in the spirit of the Congregation. These centers that you see will become houses of study and novitiates and will give multitudes of missionaries. There’s Hong Kong, there’s Calcutta, there’s Madagascar. These and many others will have houses, studies, and novitiates.” Don Bosco listened, looking and examining, then said: “And where can you find so many people?” “Look,” replied the Shepherdess, “be of good will. There is only one thing to do: recommend that my children constantly cultivate Mary’s virtue.”