Carlo Braga

Carlo Braga SDB (born May 23, 1889 in Tirano , Sondrio , † January 3, 1971 in Makati ( Metro Manila ), Philippines ) was an Italian religious priest and Roman Catholic missionary .

Life

After his mother died at an early age, his upbringing was entrusted to the Salesians of Don Bosco of Sondrio. He decided to join the religious community and become a priest. During the First World War he was drafted for three years. After the end of the war, he applied to be sent to the Far East as a missionary. For this he was trained by Don Dimatti . In Shiuchow (Shaoguan) in the south of the Republic of China arrived, he met Don Versiglia know the profound impact on him. Soon he was appointed director of the Ho Sai Mission School.

In 1930 he became provincial of the Chinese Salesian Province and headed it until 1952. During this time, the orphanage in Macau and five large centers in Hong Kong were opened, with a total of about 10,000 students. During the Second World War, the entire student body, whose building had just been built, was moved from Hong Kong to Shanghai .

After the war he founded the first Salesian school in Beijing in 1946 , which fulfilled a dream of Don Bosco . However, further expansion was prevented by communism, and all education, charity and evangelism activities were stopped. Braga then turned his attention to the Philippines and Indochina , where he reopened a school. In 1955 he became provincial for this area.

Via Don Carlo Braga in Tirano is named after him.

Beatification process

The process of beatification for little Don Bosco of China has already been opened in response to the petition of the Philippine Northern Province of the Salesians of Don Bosco in the diocese of Manila , but the “nihil obstat” of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints is still pending.

literature

• V. Tassinari: Don Braga. L'uomo che ebbe tre patrie. GESP, Bologna 1990.

Web links

• Biography of Carlo Braga ( memento of April 8, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) on colledonbosco.it (Italian)