Joseph Cafasso

Joseph Cafasso (born January 15, 1811 in Castelnuovo d'Asti , † June 23, 1860 in Turin ) was a Roman Catholic clergyman and social reformer. He was canonized in 1947 .

Life

The son of a wealthy farmer went to the seminary in Chieri and was ordained a priest in 1833. He entered the ecclesiastical Konvikt Institute of St. Francis invited the theologian Luigi Guala to deepen his knowledge. In 1836 he himself became a teacher of moral theology in this convict, later also spiritual and from 1846 to 1860 rector. One of his students was Johannes Bosco , who, like many other Turin Salesian and diocesan priests, also elected him to be confessor. In 1848 he was also pastor of the parish of Saint François, which is connected to the Konvikt . He is considered a great admirer and imitator of St. Francis de Sales . He was particularly involved in the pastoral care of prisoners in five Turin prisons, possibly - occupied by 68 prisoners - up to execution, which earned him the nickname gallows priest .

He is therefore - alongside Don Bosco, Josef Benedikt Cottolengo , Johannes Bosco, Sister Maria Domenica Mazzarello and Leonhard Murialdo and others - one of the so-called Turin social saints of the 19th century. On May 3, 1925, he was, with great support from his nephews to the Blessed Giuseppe Allamano , by Pope Pius XI. blessed, on June 22, 1947 by Pope Pius XII. canonized. His feast day is June 23. He is considered the patron saint of chaplains, prisoners and prison chaplains .

A monument was erected in Turin in his memory at the intersection of Regina Margherita, Principe Eugenio and Valdocco streets, called Rondò della Forca . He is the patron saint of the Church of San Giorgio in Kemonia in Palermo.

Works

• Opere complete, Torino, Istituto-Collegio internazionale della Consolata per le missioni estere,
  • 1. Sacre missioni al popolo, Turin 1923;
  • 2. Sacre missioni al popolo, Turin 1925;
  • 3. Meditazioni per esercizi spirituali al clero, Turin 1925;
  • 4. Istruzioni per esercizi spirituali al clero, Turin 1925;
• Edizione nazionale delle opere di san Giuseppe Cafasso,
  • 1. Esercizi spirituali al clero. Meditazioni, a cura di Lucio Casto, Cantalupa 2003;
  • not released yet
  • 3. Missioni al popolo. Meditazioni, a cura di Pier Angelo Gramaglia, Cantalupa 2002;
  • 4. Predicazione varia al popolo. Istruzionie discorsi, a cura di Renzo Savarino, Cantalupa 2005;
  • 5. Epistolario e testamento, introduzione, testi e note a cura di Giuseppe Tuninetti, Cantalupa 2004.

literature

• D. Werner Mut (di Werner Dunkel): The blessed Joseph Cafasso, confessor and soul guide of the venerable Don Bosco. (large and small edition), 1925.
• Armando Gualandi: Saint Giuseppe Cafasso, father of the condemned. Transferred from Armin Locher, Lugano 1948.
• Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz :  Cafasso, Giuseppe. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1 , Sp. 845.

Web links

Commons : Giuseppe Cafasso  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints