Marco Bay, sdb
Francesco Motto, sdb
The Society of Saint Francis of Sales has had a continuous development since its foundation in 1859 to 1967, the year of the maximum presence of members (21,614 professed and 1,196 novices), but not of houses, provinces and countries of presence that instead continued to grow in the following years. In the context of this conference we refer to the time span 1888-1955. Only quantitative information and data relating to six specific years 1888, 1895, 1910, 1925, 1940, 1955 are taken into consideration, viewed under the triple profile of the evolution of personnel, works and activities. The tables offered here are a very small part of the entire work, which includes many other summarized and disjoint graphs and tables.
The reliability of the data is based above all on the counts carried out starting from the General Lists of the Society of Saint Francis of Sales (EG) and from the other published sources consulted [1] or unpublished archive [2] which have mostly confirmed with small error tolerances the data of the EG itself. When there was some suspicion of unreliability, analytical details were neglected to communicate adequate information to a more comprehensive, but still plausible and objective level.
Alongside the overall data of the Salesian society, data on Italy alone have sometimes been added in a column of their own, as they allow a useful comparison between the two different realities and the "weight" of the founder's country of origin with respect to expansion international [3] .
It should immediately be pointed out that the mosaic of data that follows should be interpreted analytically, which however cannot be done here, in which we will instead confine ourselves to underlining some of the most significant statistics.
The strong increases or decreases of members and works, the development or decline of some traditional Salesian activities are due to factors both external and internal to the Salesian society. We remember some of the major ones; others will be recalled by subsequent interventions.
From 1888 to 1955 the increase in members and attendance in the world is an easy-to-read statement (tab. N. 1). The increase in members has more than doubled in the initial 22 years of peace and in the 15 years between the two world wars; it has increased by about one and a half times in the two periods of war. In turn the pace of growth of the works generates an abundant doubling in the two initial periods of peace, with a regularity just below double in the intermediate fifteen years between the two wars, and in the two periods of world conflicts continues but with an expansion which is around half a time.
Table n. 1 - Prospectus of shareholders and works (1888-1955)
Year |
Eternal |
TEMPOR. |
deacon |
CHIERICI |
COADJUTORS |
PRIESTS |
ASKED |
TOTAL |
WORKS |
|||||||
MN |
IT |
MN |
IT |
MN |
IT |
MN |
IT |
MN |
IT |
MN |
IT |
MN |
IT |
|||
1888 |
678 |
95 |
24 |
19 |
245 |
170 |
182 |
117 |
306 |
184 |
276 |
228 |
773 |
490 |
60 |
24 |
1895 |
1.462 |
273 |
36 |
22 |
672 |
362 |
416 |
211 |
587 |
290 |
702 |
530 |
1,735 |
885 |
148 |
54 |
1910 |
2,872 |
1.129 |
104 |
51 |
1118 |
544 |
970 |
413 |
1,684 |
689 |
476 |
213 |
4.001 |
1,697 |
320 |
101 |
1925 |
3,968 |
1,643 |
63 |
48 |
1659 |
565 |
1456 |
489 |
2.571 |
902 |
643 |
194 |
5,611 |
2.004 |
492 |
137 |
1940 |
8.116 |
3.939 |
247 |
97 |
4122 |
1.312 |
2744 |
923 |
4,661 |
1,359 |
877 |
328 |
12,055 |
3,691 |
846 |
184 |
1955 |
12,262 |
4.899 |
291 |
94 |
5241 |
1.086 |
3550 |
1.230 |
8.149 |
2.506 |
1.079 |
299 |
17,161 |
4,916 |
1,278 |
219 |
(abbreviations: tempor .: temporary; MN: in the world; IT: in Italy)
The ratio between the total number of members present in Italy and the total of all the members (tab. 2) develops a progressive and constant decrease from 63% in 1888 to 29% in 1955. The same is true for the works: it passes from 40% of houses concentrated in Italy in 1888 to a total of 17% in 1955. They are both positive indicators of expansion and change of distribution and presence of members from Italy to the rest of the world with a certain progressiveness.
Table n. 2 - Members and works (1888-1955)% of works in Italy compared to the rest of the world
Year |
SDB * |
% SDB* IT su MN |
WORKS |
% OPERATION IT su MN |
||
MN |
IT |
|
MN |
IT |
|
|
1888 |
773 |
490 |
63 |
60 |
24 |
40 |
1895 |
1,735 |
885 |
51 |
148 |
54 |
36 |
1910 |
4.001 |
1,697 |
42 |
320 |
101 |
32 |
1925 |
5,611 |
2.004 |
36 |
492 |
137 |
28 |
1940 |
12,055 |
3,691 |
31 |
846 |
184 |
22 |
1955 |
17,161 |
4,916 |
29 |
1,278 |
219 |
17 |
* (without registration)
The relationship between temporary professed and total-professed (Table 3) is an indicator of relative growth. Until 1940 there was a constant increase in the number of members, perpetuals and temporary and the ratio between temporary and total, and then decreased in 1955. In 1910 the number of members was lower than in 1895, but then continued to grow until to 1955. The overall trend is growth.
Table n. 3 - Prospectus of shareholders (1888-1955)
Year |
Eternal |
TEMPORARY |
PRIESTS |
ASKED |
TOTAL |
RELATIONSHIP |
R. IN % |
1888 |
678 |
95 |
306 |
276 |
773 |
95/773 = 0.12 |
12 |
1895 |
1.462 |
273 |
587 |
702 |
1,735 |
273 / 1.735 = 0.16 |
16 |
1910 |
2,872 |
1.129 |
1,684 |
476 |
4.001 |
1.129 / 4.001 = 0.28 |
28 |
1925 |
3,968 |
1,643 |
2.571 |
643 |
5,611 |
1,643 / 5,611 = 0.29 |
29 |
1940 |
8.116 |
3.939 |
4,661 |
877 |
12,055 |
3,939 / 12,055 = 0.33 |
33 |
1955 |
12,262 |
4.899 |
8.149 |
1.079 |
17,161 |
4.899 / 17.161 = 0.29 |
29 |
Table n. 4 - Society of St. Franc. di Sales compared with the main male religious institutes (1955)
N |
Name |
Initials |
Number of Professed |
Annual Increase 1946-56 |
Expressed in% |
Foundation year |
one |
Jesuits |
SJ |
31,356 |
435 |
1,3 |
1540 |
two |
adheres Minori |
OFM |
26,061 |
3. 4 |
0.1 |
1209 |
3 |
Salesians |
SDB |
18,728 |
424 |
2.8 |
1859 |
4 |
Brothers of Christian schools |
FSC |
15,254 |
86 |
0.5 |
1680 |
5 |
Cappuccini |
OFMC |
14,225 |
130 |
0.9 |
1525 |
6 |
Benedictine |
OSB |
11,500 |
30 |
0.2 |
529 |
7 |
Dominicans |
ON |
9,000 |
100 |
1.1 |
1200 |
8 |
Little Brothers of Mary |
PFM |
8.646 |
110 |
1,3 |
1817 |
9 |
Redentoristi |
CSSR |
8.038 |
130 |
1.6 |
1749 |
(Source: Pontifical Yearbook 1956)
In 1895 the American houses compared to 1888 (tab. No. 5) tripled (3.1 times) while the European ones more than doubled (2.4 times); in 1910 the American houses compared to 1895 increased more than double (by 2.3 times) while the increase for the Europeans was less than double (1.8); instead, homes in Asia are tripling. In 1925 while the works in Asia have multiplied considerably (from 9 to 31), for American houses and for Europeans, growth has been around one and a half times. In 1940 there was a triplication of Asian houses (from 31 to 90), a continuity in the growth of European houses, rather similar to those in America (about 1.5 times). In 1955the increase of one and a half times is for American works, for European houses, as well as for Asian ones (which go from 90 to 145).
Table n. 5 - Houses for continents over time
1888 |
1895 |
1910 |
1925 |
1940 |
1955 |
|||||||
AFRICA |
0 |
3 |
3 |
10 |
3. 4 |
39 |
||||||
AMERICA |
19 |
59 |
137 |
209 |
274 |
420 |
||||||
ASIA |
0 |
3 |
9 |
31 |
90 |
145 |
||||||
EUROPE |
37 |
91 |
169 |
256 |
405 |
657 |
||||||
(Italy)* |
(24) |
65% |
(54) |
59% |
(101) |
60% |
(137) |
54% |
(184) |
Four. Five% |
(219) |
33% |
OCEANIA |
0 |
0 |
0 |
two |
one |
6 |
||||||
Total |
56 |
156 |
318 |
508 |
804 |
1267 |
(Italy) *: in brackets the n. of houses over European ones; number of houses in Italy in% compared to the total in Europe
In the overall period of 67 years considered, the progress of the company was twenty times as much with a decline in Europe, compensated however by the spread in Asia, Africa and Australia (non-existent in 1878 and notably significant in 1955).
Over the years, Salesian society has established particular juridical circumscriptions which group together Salesian presences in areas of the world due to cultural affinity (language, traditions, styles, ecclesial lines ...), to respond more effectively to the immediate and concrete needs of Salesians and recipients. local level, for pontifical appointments etc. They could embrace the houses of a part of a country, of all and only one country, of several countries, even of different continents. The tab. n. 6 summarizes their evolution with some approximations.
Table n. 6 - Jurisdictions and houses
1888 |
1895 |
1910 |
1925 |
1940 |
1955 |
|
jurisdictions |
9 |
fifteen |
33 |
39 |
fifty |
58 |
Case 1 |
56 |
148 |
314 |
492 |
843 |
1155 |
Case 2 |
61 |
156 |
319 |
509 |
846 |
1277 |
( 1,2 ) The difference between the two values takes into account in the aggregation in an approximate way those houses which are to be understood as particular missions or temporarily closed due to various reasons (political, economic, warlike or because they are not canonically erected, or in restructuring and / or maintenance)
The number of houses is constantly growing for each province. In 1888 there were three provinces in Italy, one respectively in France, Argentina, Uruguay-Brazil, in addition to a Vicariate and a Prefecture in Patagonia and houses directly dependent on the Superior Chapter. In 1895 to these nine were added the Sicilian, Spanish, Argentine, Chilean, Colombia-Mexico-Venezuela provinces and a foreign province. In 1910 the provinces had doubled thanks also to their canonical reorganization of 1902 and to the important General Chapter of 1904. In 1 925 the provinces were numerically increased by only six units but with first presences in 10 new countries. In 1 955 the increase consisted of ten provinces, with first appearances in 19 new countries.
Below are the overall data on deaths, distinguishing in the tab. n. 7 the number of deceased members in a time interval, while in the tab. n. 7bis the dead are found in the corresponding year.
Table n. 7 |
Tabella n. 7 bis |
||||
From the |
To the |
SDB deceased over the years |
Year |
SDB deceased in the year |
|
1888 |
1895 |
134 |
1888 |
9 |
|
1896 |
1910 |
480 |
1895 |
24 |
|
1911 |
1925 |
751 |
1910 |
41 |
|
1926 |
1940 |
1239 |
1925 |
57 |
|
1941 |
1955 |
1826 |
1940 |
113 |
|
1955 |
108 |
Note the growing trend : on average, 19 Salesians per year died in the first seven years, 32 in the second fifteen years, 50 in the fifteen years of the First World War, 82 between the two wars and 121 in the second post-war period.
The phenomenon of the confreres who for various reasons abandon the Society is indicated in the tab. n. 8 which shows only the last four of the six vintages taken into consideration: 1910, 1925, 1940 and 1955. The data available from the abandonments in 1888 and 1895 are not reliable.
Table n. 8 - Abandonments
Years |
Professed present |
Professed out |
% Percentage |
An inquiry% |
Temporary% |
1888 |
773 |
||||
1895 |
1,735 |
||||
1910 |
4.001 |
165 |
4.12 |
24.23 |
75.77 |
1925 |
5,611 |
106 |
1,89 |
12.26 |
87.74 |
1940 |
12,051 |
271 |
2.25 |
35.52 |
64.58 |
1955 |
17,161 |
410 |
2.39 |
27.56 |
72.44 |
The peak of outputs in the fifteen years of the First World War is striking compared to the much less significant increase in expenses in the fifteen years of the second. The proportion between the abandonment of members with perpetual vows and those with temporary vows is between about half in 1940, around a third in 1955 and 1910, and a seventh in 1925. The First World War, which he enrolled in Italy alone over 1,000 Salesians, did their part with the abandonment of many very young soldiers, often of temporary vows only.
The indications found "house by house" by the EGs show a multiplicity of activities carried out within them. The information contained therein is progressively developed and enriched and the types of activity descriptors-indicators increase for better specifications between an EG and the other. It was necessary to aggregate these activities: a complex work due to the diversity and also ambiguity of the meanings attributed to educational and pastoral institutions and above all to pastoral, educational, training, welfare, charitable exercises and so on. This aggregation was attempted with the tab. n. 9, which indicates a dozen macro activities, divided into forty more specific types. However, it must immediately be said that the increase over the years (and therefore over time) of the activities that are noticed in the counts are data to be interpreted with prudence. In fact, it is not possible to equate each year chosen with the next one precisely because of the operational, political, national or local cultural evolutions. Moreover, these are indicative counts extracted from lists that undergo improvements and enrichments along the different editorial offices, but are however orders of magnitude useful.
Table n. 9 - Main activities (source: EG)
ACTIVITY |
1888 |
1895 |
1910 |
1925 |
1940 |
1955 |
||||||
world |
Italy |
world |
Italy |
world |
Italy |
world |
Italy |
world |
Italy |
world |
Italy |
|
ASSOCIATIONS |
||||||||||||
Various parish associations |
0 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
10 |
|
74 |
3 |
121 |
13 |
Various associations (eg. Action Catt.) And religious companies |
0 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
8 |
two |
136 |
95 |
252 |
116 |
Various clubs, after work, military meeting place, railwaymen |
0 |
|
one |
|
one |
|
14 |
9 |
5 |
one |
109 |
one |
Union of family fathers |
0 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
5 |
3 |
39 |
6 |
SANTUARI BASILICHE |
||||||||||||
Basilica Cathedral Sanctuary Temple |
0 |
one |
two |
two |
4 |
4 |
10 |
two |
24 |
5 |
36 |
5 |
TRAINING HOUSES |
||||||||||||
Aspirantati |
0 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
43 |
eleven |
95 |
25 |
125 |
2. 3 |
Novitiates |
3 |
3 |
6 |
4 |
22 |
7 |
29 |
6 |
Four. Five |
9 |
52 |
8 |
Seminars (and minor seminars) |
two |
two |
5 |
4 |
two |
two |
4 |
two |
8 |
|
18 |
|
Studentates (philosophical, theological ...) |
one |
one |
one |
one |
7 |
3 |
31 |
5 |
71 |
eleven |
72 |
8 |
INSTITUTES HOUSES |
||||||||||||
Houses occupied or temporarily closed or suspended |
0 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
6 |
|
43 |
|
Special or specific houses and special centers |
3 |
two |
10 |
3 |
17 |
5 |
12 |
one |
46 |
6 |
65 |
10 |
institutions |
0 |
|
9 |
|
48 |
|
two |
|
4 |
|
4 |
|
CATECHESIS PUBLISHERS LIBRARIES |
||||||||||||
Catechesis (dom., Priv., Public schools, center, ...) |
0 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
3 |
one |
7 |
|
152 |
one |
publishers |
0 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
4 |
|
Bookstores |
0 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
19 |
5 |
CHURCHES CAPPELLANIE |
||||||||||||
chaplaincy |
0 |
|
3 |
|
two |
|
58 |
14 |
282 |
78 |
386 |
84 |
Various chaplaincies (filial., Rail., Pubbl., Semip., ...) and for nuns |
0 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
Four. Five |
5 |
81 |
twenty |
149 |
3. 4 |
Churches (pubbl., Semip., Succurs., Filial., Vicaria parr., ...) |
two |
one |
two |
|
5 |
|
106 |
3. 4 |
243 |
60 |
331 |
54 |
EXCELLENT COOPERATIVES |
||||||||||||
cooperator |
0 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
7 |
|
Unione exallievi |
0 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
42 |
17 |
266 |
95 |
560 |
149 |
MISSIONS |
||||||||||||
Missions (home, center, residence, station ...) |
4 |
|
9 |
|
10 |
|
55 |
|
104 |
|
112 |
|
ASSISTANCE WORKS |
||||||||||||
Assistance of various types (migrant, immigrant, prig., Carcer., ...) |
one |
|
4 |
|
7 |
|
24 |
|
63 |
two |
85 |
8 |
Boarding schools |
22 |
8 |
77 |
twenty |
143 |
35 |
115 |
25 |
228 |
71 |
185 |
53 |
Dispensary |
0 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
6 |
|
12 |
|
Afterschool |
0 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
eleven |
9 |
61 |
2. 3 |
68 |
24 |
External (and Semiconvitti) |
0 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
29 |
4 |
33 |
5 |
80 |
18 |
Orphanages |
5 |
|
10 |
|
eleven |
|
8 |
5 |
twenty |
4 |
48 |
19 |
Hospices |
5 |
3 |
5 |
4 |
8 |
4 |
62 |
19 |
104 |
twenty |
102 |
16 |
Retirees |
0 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
25 |
twenty |
44 |
25 |
48 |
19 |
Institutes (generic) |
|
5 |
25 |
|
|
|
||||||
SPEAKERS |
||||||||||||
Speakers |
7 |
4 |
27 |
14 |
41 |
2. 3 |
13 |
0 |
32 |
5 |
33 |
10 |
Festive speakers |
0 |
|
two |
one |
7 |
6 |
266 |
97 |
355 |
87 |
442 |
58 |
Daily speakers |
0 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
6 |
two |
153 |
Four. Five |
251 |
106 |
PARISHES |
||||||||||||
Parishes |
9 |
one |
22 |
4 |
40 |
7 |
132 |
18 |
250 |
38 |
476 |
67 |
SCHOOLS |
||||||||||||
University faculties, University |
0 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
6 |
two |
Schools |
3 |
two |
10 |
5 |
27 |
8 |
248 |
75 |
454 |
94 |
659 |
165 |
PROFESSIONAL AND AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS |
||||||||||||
Agricultural colony |
one |
one |
3 |
one |
7 |
two |
one |
one |
4 |
two |
3 |
0 |
Agricultural schools |
0 |
|
0 |
|
one |
one |
27 |
4 |
13 |
|
16 |
|
Professional development schools and sc. evening |
0 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
10 |
4 |
twenty |
two |
59 |
19 |
Vocational schools |
one |
|
two |
|
22 |
3 |
110 |
24 |
145 |
25 |
241 |
47 |
The final report of this intervention, full of additional tables, will allow a more detailed analysis of the single activities grouped above and also of the relationship between those present in Italy and the overall ones of the Salesian society.
According to the statistical data Atlas of 1925, young people in SDB institutes in Europe and in Salesian America would have been 217.330 (girls in FMA 256.183 institutes), students in missionary works (America, Asia, Africa and Australia) 124.327; that year, 597,840 pupils gravitated to Salesian works that year. Such data with probable propagandistic and administrative purposes, not yet studied for the dispersion of many materials, seem remarkably superior to those of the Salesian Bulletin of 1906 (p. 258) which, limited to young students in works managed by SDBs alone, estimated this category of young people in about 50,000.
According to P. Stella [RSS 1 (1982), pp. 45-47], according to the total data of 1925, the largest number was made up of the young people of the festive oratories of the big cities, especially in the Latin countries of Europe and America. The shares of young people in both classical and arts and crafts (then professional) schools were reasonably minor. The development of schools and the proportionally greater use of educators in the colleges, rather than in the speakers, seems to have been the fruit of a greater request in this sense by the civil and ecclesial society. The first fifteen years of the second post-war period was the period of maximum development of vocational schools. Generally it would seem that compared to classical schools,
For Italy alone we have the following comparison.
Table n. 10 - Students of houses in Italy (Source: Salesians of Don Bosco in Italy ...)
Year |
1888 |
1915 |
1940 |
1970 |
Boarding school students |
2.650 |
9.734 |
14,838 |
13.915 |
Oratoriani |
4.000 |
18,561 |
30,317 |
49,401 |
Professional Schools |
1,249 |
1,575 |
3.168 |
8.763 |
Hospices, orphanages |
1,145 |
- |
||
Retired-residences |
150 |
1,678 |
538 |
3,492 |
Semiconvitti |
450 |
304 |
1,145 |
5.239 |
Outdoors |
1,750 |
3,903 |
5,253 |
13,544 |
[1] Partial statistics can be found in S. Sarti, Evolution and typology of the Salesian Works (1880-1922) , in F. Motto (edited by), The Salesian Work from 1880 to 1920 . Rome, LAS 2001, pp. 108-118 . More detailed tables in JM Prellezo, Salesian Professional Schools. Moments of their history (1853-1953). Rome, Cnos-Fap 2010, passim
[2] Manuscripts, typescripts and printing are preserved in various positions in the Central Salesian Archive.
[3] The Salesian tables of Don Bosco in Italy. 150 years of education in Italy (by F. Motto). Rome, LAS 2011, pp. 38-97, lead to variations that are not very significant with respect to the data collected expressly in view of this report, due, except for errors, to the counting of Italian SDBs abroad, to foreign SDBs present in Italian homes, to the different way of counting the home-work-community and the activities within them etc. However, they offer the interesting location of the works on the national territory.