Works, personnel and activities
of the Society of Saint Francis of Sales.

Quantitative descriptive data in the years 1888, 1895, 1910, 1925, 1940 and 1955

Marco Bay, sdb

Francesco Motto, sdb

 

1. Introduction

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the General Lists of the Society of Saint Francis of Sales (EG) and from the other published sources consulted [1] or unpublished archive [2] which have mostly confirmed with small error tolerances the data of the EG itself.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.

1. On a civilian level we recall the two world wars and the local wars , imperialism , nationalisms and totalitarianisms , the emigration phenomenon , improvements in communication routes (Suez, Panama), the growing literacy of the masses, urbanization and the industrialization of many countries at different times with the growth of the proletariat, the religious persecutions of some countries (Ecuador, France, Portugal, Spain, Eastern Europe, China ...).
2. At the ecclesial level the Church-State concordat in Italy, the evolution of catechesis and pastoral care, the growth of Catholic Action, the Church's missionary impetus, the liturgical reform, the positive image of society have affected the entire Salesian society Salesian, the favorable climate for consecrated life ...
3. Endogenous factors in Salesian society for faster growth or innovative choices can be considered the founder's drive in the early years of his death, the declaration of venerability (1907, beatification (1929), canonization (1934); moreover, 50 ° of the first missionary expedition (1925), the centenary of the Oratory (1941). The governing action of the Major Rectors of the period was remarkable, although very different: M. Rua (1888-1910), P. Albera (1910-1921 ), F. Rinaldi (1922-1931), P. Ricaldone (1931-1951), R. Ziggiotti (1951-1965).

 

2. Members and works

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 (without registration)		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

 

3. Two simple comparisons

1. G. Rocca ( Don Michele Rua in history. Rome, Las 2011, pp. 84-85) offers a useful reference for ten clerical congregations born in the years 1849-1875. The total number of SDBs in 1900 (3,526) and in 1930 (8,493) is slightly lower than all the institutions combined (3771, 9951); but as a development index the primacy is due, for particular local conditions, to the German Verbites.
2. According to the Pontifical Yearbook (tab. No. 4) in 1955 there are 184 male religious institutes with a total of about 250,000 members: 68 orders, 92 clerical congregations, 20 lay congregations, 4 secular institutes. The SDB occupy the first place for the percentage of increase, the second for the annual progress, the third for number of members.

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)

 

4. Case per continent

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).

 

5. Composition of the provinces, visitatoria, prefectures and apostolic vicariates

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.

 

6. Dead members

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.

 

7. Salesian members who abandon society

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.

 

8. Activities

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. 

 

9. Students

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

 

10. Open problems

1. It is quite clear that, despite the limitations indicated in the introduction, the tables shown illustrate a constant, albeit not homogeneous, expansion of the Salesian Society from the numerical point of view of the personnel, of the foundations, of the wealth of initiatives, of the countries reached ( just under eighty). But it is more difficult to understand the development of the activities carried out both for the variable criteria with which the relative information has been given in EG in the various geo-cultural contexts, and for the uninterrupted evolution of the activities within the same Salesian house. Therefore, it will be a question of analyzing the data disjointed country by country and, one would say, almost house by house, in a synchronic and diachronic way, in order to be able to consider carefully the weight of the local context, with its demands, its challenges and its conditioning, as well as the weight of tradition and the provisions of the governing bodies of the Congregation and of the Church. And this without forgetting that often life, practice, decisions taken locally have gone beyond the official guidelines of the summits and the general rules. 
2. The intelligence to perceive the "signs of the time" by meeting, without unnecessary delays and impromptu races, the changing needs of the young and the popular classes, the ability to prevent or stem the negative repercussions on the youth of unprecedented social phenomena by strengthening, at the same time the positive ones, the wisdom to put into practice strategies and activities that respond to their educational model but are adequate to the new times, the will to "remain in the field" actively in socio-political and ideological-cultural emergencies, the ability or otherwise of carry out a valid pastoral care in the so-called "mission lands" etc. they are all interesting topics of study already partly addressed in the ISS-ACSSA framework, partly to be addressed at this conference and again in future years.
3. As already mentioned (n. 6), the search for the number of young people (and adults) reached by Salesian works is not a simple undertaking. The numbers available, often given for celebratory purposes, do not always correspond to reality and some realities such as oratories and parishes escape precise numerical data. Only the recovery of local data as true as possible will allow more reliable overall data.
4. But even more problematic is the evaluation of the influence that the SDB have exerted on those who have entered the range of their action. Generally the sources of scholastic and professional results of the young are recoverable, but not the same can be said for the indicators of the received education and of the assimilated religious formation. How to evaluate the preparation for the future "honest citizen and good Christian" that the Salesian work as a whole intended to give, to be faithful to its own charisma, to the boy of the college, to the orphan of the hospice, to the pupil of the lower school or superior, to the young Oratorian, to the non-Catholic in the period of his stay in the Salesian area?

 

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[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.