Father Dominic Emmanuel

You are probably aware that in one of the largest branches of Christian denominations, the Catholic church has a tradition of venerating saints. Only three years ago a nun from Kerala, Sr Alphonsa, was declared saint by Pope Benedict XVI.

The process for Mother Teresa as well as the former Pope John Paul II, amongst hundreds of others, is ongoing. Not all the saints though are equally popular among believers and there are patron saints for specific needs which are primarily based on the life of the saints.
One of the popular saints in the church, especially among the youth, is St John Bosco, popularly known as Don Bosco. Currently his relic (right hand encased in a steel box and placed in a wax replica of the saint) is being honoured in India and is on world tour since 2009. The journey will end in 2015 to coincide with the saint’s 200th birth anniversary.
Like many other great saints, John Bosco, too, was born in a poor family in Italy into a time of great shortage and famine. In 1825, when he was nine, he had the first of a series of dreams which led him to the specific task he undertook as a priest. Bosco saw a man who appeared nobly attired with an imposing bearing, and street boys exchanging blows in the background. Bosco was told: “You will have to win these friends of yours not with blows, but with gentleness and kindness. So begin right now to show them that sin is ugly and virtue beautiful.”
Poverty prevented Bosco from any serious attempt at schooling, though the idea to become a priest came to his mind in early childhood. As he was from the family of a farmer, pursuing studies, leave alone becoming a priest, was almost unthinkable. Bosco’s mother, Margaret, fully supported him and he finally left home at the age of 12.
As a young priest, Don Bosco got involved in several activities like visiting prisoners, teaching catechism and then he began a study centre for boys who had no regular school. Since he was dealing with street children and “ruffians”, no one would give him a place to house the boys. Soon rumours started circulating that the meetings conducted by him with such boys were dangerous; their recreation could be turned into a revolution against the government. Traditionalist clergy accused him of stealing young and old people away from their own parishes. The behaviour of the boys from the streets did not help matters. But Bosco remained undeterred. Next, he worked with Mary Mazzarello and a group of girls and founded a group of religious sisters to do for girls what he was doing for boys.
In 1846, he rented a shed which served as the oratory’s home. A year later his mother, a great support for him, moved in to help him and together they began taking in orphans. He also got the help of several friends and well-wishers. One friend was the justice minister who despite being anticlerical nevertheless saw value in his work. Around that time Bosco organised his helpers into a loose congregation which he named after St Francis de Sales. He also started training selected boys for priesthood.
Bosco’s capability to attract numerous boys and adult helpers was connected to his Preventive System of Education. He believed education to be a “matter of the heart” and said that the boys must not only be loved, but know that they are loved. He also pointed to three components of the Preventive System of Education: reason, religion and kindness. Music and games also went into the mix. In this “love”-based education system Bosco faced grave challenges too. Once when he had brought the street boys to his oratory and provided them with blankets and hot food to keep them warm, no sooner had the boys retired to bed than all of them ran away with whatever they could get hold of from the oratory. His mother, terribly discouraged after the incident, decided to close down the centre. Bosco, however, made her stand before Christ crucified and told, “His sufferings and pain for our sins was much greater.” He was convinced that such boys could be won over by love alone. About his interaction with the boys, it is said, “When he looked into their eyes, he saw great potential and when they looked into his eyes, they saw great hope for themselves.”
The youth today undoubtedly possess great potential to weed out many problems in our society and build a beautiful world for tomorrow. Bosco can certainly be their icon and a patron saint. The church has rightly given him the title Father and Teacher of Youth.

— Father Dominic Emmanuel, a founder-member of Parliament of Religions, is currently the director of communication of the Delhi Catholic Church. He was awarded the National Communal Harmony Award 2008 by the Government of India. He can be contacted at frdominic@gmail.com