austraLasia 1497
Open Source Don Bosco Part 1
(This is NOT an entry in 'towards #1500'. One can hardly claim one's own prize! But keep them coming!)
ROME: 21st March 2006 -- That's correct, 'open source' Don Bosco. In what sense, you ask? This is the first of two items that will use the 'open source' idea to say something about Don Bosco. The second will be a genuine reflection on how some of the features of the 'open source' philosophy were very evident in Don Bosco's approach, without claiming, obviously, that he could have known anything about the term, which has less than twenty years of existence.
What triggered Part I of Open Source Don Bosco was the idea being noised abroad that Pope Benedict XVI, who mentions 'John Bosco' in his concluding section to Deus Caritas Est (in reference to him amongst others as a model of charity), is the first Pope to mention him in an Encyclical. Are we sure about that? The second trigger was the chance discovery by a confrere in our region (so really, he could claim this as his 'entry' if he wishes!) of a single reference to Don Bosco in an Encyclical by Pius XI. I decided to look a little further.
Now, a definition of 'open source' is that one can go to the source code, see it and use it. In this case the 'source code' is the Papal Encyclicals. Using a very simple method, open to anybody, I simply went to www.vatican.va, opened up the papal archives in my Open Source Firefox browser, put the word 'Bosco' in the 'Find in this page' box under 'edit' and rapidly, and I mean rapidly, opened each encyclical from Leo XIII onwards. If 'Bosco' wasn't there, he stayed red. If he was there, he turned green! The entire exercise took me 30 minutes and covered 208 encyclicals, of which Leo XIII wrote nearly 90 with nary a mention! Here are the results:
1929: Pius XI in Mens Nostra, #10 speaking of the importance of the Spiritual Exercises' for the priest. Pius XI there makes reference to the marvellous example of Joseph Cafasso who passed on this example and practice to 'Blessed John Bosco whose name is beyond all praise'.
1935: Pius XI in Ad Catholici Sacerdoti, #77 speaking, obviously from the title of the encyclical on the importance and value of the priesthood. He speaks of 'splendid names on the rolls both of secular and regular clergy' and the names include 'Don Bosco....We Ourselves had the consolation of canonizing'.
1937: Pius XI in Divini Redemptoris, #63 this time speaking of the poor priest. 'A priest who is really poor and disinterested in the Gospel....a Don Bosco...' (listed along with a Cure d'Ars etc).
1954: Pius XII in Sacra Virginitas, #20, noting that if certain people had a wife to look after they couldn't possibly have accomplished all they did! 'a zealous educator of youth like St. John Bosco' is amongst such names.
So there you go, not only is Benedict XVI's the fifth mention of our Founder in a papal encyclical, but the full gamut of five offers a fairly complete range of reference: from Blessed to Saint, from 'a Don Bosco' to 'John Bosco whose name is beyond all praise'.
And thank God for open sources and simple software!
______________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For RSS feeds, subscribe to www.bosconet.aust.com/rssala.xml
Open Source Don Bosco Part 1
(This is NOT an entry in 'towards #1500'. One can hardly claim one's own prize! But keep them coming!)
ROME: 21st March 2006 -- That's correct, 'open source' Don Bosco. In what sense, you ask? This is the first of two items that will use the 'open source' idea to say something about Don Bosco. The second will be a genuine reflection on how some of the features of the 'open source' philosophy were very evident in Don Bosco's approach, without claiming, obviously, that he could have known anything about the term, which has less than twenty years of existence.
What triggered Part I of Open Source Don Bosco was the idea being noised abroad that Pope Benedict XVI, who mentions 'John Bosco' in his concluding section to Deus Caritas Est (in reference to him amongst others as a model of charity), is the first Pope to mention him in an Encyclical. Are we sure about that? The second trigger was the chance discovery by a confrere in our region (so really, he could claim this as his 'entry' if he wishes!) of a single reference to Don Bosco in an Encyclical by Pius XI. I decided to look a little further.
Now, a definition of 'open source' is that one can go to the source code, see it and use it. In this case the 'source code' is the Papal Encyclicals. Using a very simple method, open to anybody, I simply went to www.vatican.va, opened up the papal archives in my Open Source Firefox browser, put the word 'Bosco' in the 'Find in this page' box under 'edit' and rapidly, and I mean rapidly, opened each encyclical from Leo XIII onwards. If 'Bosco' wasn't there, he stayed red. If he was there, he turned green! The entire exercise took me 30 minutes and covered 208 encyclicals, of which Leo XIII wrote nearly 90 with nary a mention! Here are the results:
1929: Pius XI in Mens Nostra, #10 speaking of the importance of the Spiritual Exercises' for the priest. Pius XI there makes reference to the marvellous example of Joseph Cafasso who passed on this example and practice to 'Blessed John Bosco whose name is beyond all praise'.
1935: Pius XI in Ad Catholici Sacerdoti, #77 speaking, obviously from the title of the encyclical on the importance and value of the priesthood. He speaks of 'splendid names on the rolls both of secular and regular clergy' and the names include 'Don Bosco....We Ourselves had the consolation of canonizing'.
1937: Pius XI in Divini Redemptoris, #63 this time speaking of the poor priest. 'A priest who is really poor and disinterested in the Gospel....a Don Bosco...' (listed along with a Cure d'Ars etc).
1954: Pius XII in Sacra Virginitas, #20, noting that if certain people had a wife to look after they couldn't possibly have accomplished all they did! 'a zealous educator of youth like St. John Bosco' is amongst such names.
So there you go, not only is Benedict XVI's the fifth mention of our Founder in a papal encyclical, but the full gamut of five offers a fairly complete range of reference: from Blessed to Saint, from 'a Don Bosco' to 'John Bosco whose name is beyond all praise'.
And thank God for open sources and simple software!
______________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For RSS feeds, subscribe to www.bosconet.aust.com/rssala.xml
