The Life of Don Michael Rua, the First
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FRANCIS DESRAMAUT LIFE OF FR. MICHAEL RUA DON BOSCO'S FIRST SUCCESSOR (1837-1910) Edited by Aldo Giraudo LAS – ROME 1 Original title: Vie de Don Michel Rua premier successeur de Don Bosco (1837-1910) - © LAS, Rome, 2009. Translated from the French and Italian by a team involving Julian Fox, Robert Coupe, Mary Treacy, John Dickson, Francois Dufour Overall revision of Italian text by Aldo Giraudo based on archival sources 2 INTRODUCTION The centenary of the death of Blessed Michael Rua offers us a chance to take stock of the life of Don Bosco's first successor. The Salesian Family owes much to him. What would it have become without Father Michael Rua? Others in the past have written up his life. Soon after he died, his constant friend, Fr John Baptist Francesia (1838-1930) published a 220 page book, D. Michele Rua, primo successore di Don Bosco (Turin, 1911), its only limitation being perhaps its excessive enthusiasm for its chief character. Later, when the beatification and canonisation process began, a number of testimonies to his virtues ensued. Thus, by the beginning of the 1930s, the editor of the Bollettino Salesiano, Angelo Amadei (1868- 1945), who had easy access to the Central Archives of the Congregation, began gathering a large number of documents which resulted in a monumental three volume work with a total of 2,388 pages, Il Servo di Dio Michele Rua (Turin, 1931-1934). Amadei had kept himself well informed. For example, he even had recourse to the Salesian Sisters' local chronicles. But in a desire to overlook nothing he accumulated testimonies and facts, using a purely chronological criterion to link them year by year, without ever being concerned about putting together a true and proper account. The only exception to this way of proceeding was that he drew up an interesting and detailed moral sketch of Fr Rua based on the years 1898 to 1899. For the rest, it all seems to be something of a hotchpotch: "a bazaar, a muddle", as Fr Ceria said to me one day, when he was talking about the tenth volume of the Memorie biografiche, a work by the same author which followed the same criteria. Besides, Amadei did not specify the sources of his information, and completely ignored any reference system. His biography then, while very worthy of merit, should be used prudently. Out of a desire for precision we might add that confreres had asked him for a digest of the work under the title: Un altro Don Bosco, Don Rua (Turin, 1934, 703 pages). One of his colleagues of the time, Augustine Auffray (1881-1955), who was the editor of the French Bulletin Salésien in Turin, was very careful instead not to fall into the same literary limitations, and put together a true biography of Fr Rua: Un saint formé par un autre saint. Le premier successeur de Don Bosco, Don Rua (Paris-Lyon, 1932, 412 pages), a work then immediately translated into Italian. Auffray built up his story intelligently, dividing it into 49 chapters, accurately organised and with a certain elegance of style. It is true that a critical reader today might turn up his nose at the images and Pindaric flights of fancy, but just the same the book is the first presentable biography of Fr Rua, pleasing to read and sufficiently well-founded (though he too overlooks referencing his sources). Another writer, this time an Italian, Eugene Ceria (1870-1957), was inspired by Auffray's method and style while putting together the final volumes of the Memorie biografiche of Don Bosco, and published a Vita del Servo di Dio don Michele Rua, primo successore di san Giovanni Bosco (Turin, 1949, 600 pages) after the Second World War. It is solidly documented, well put together and well written. He also benefited from a direct knowledge of Fr Rua whom he had met personally. Its 46 chapters are much better by a long shot when compared to Amadei's version. Notes are kept to a minimum, which would be a somewhat serious limitation for scholars. But once he was in possession of first hand information he probably considered himself lawfully dispensed. His biography of Fr Rua still presents as one of 3 excellent quality. It might have been sufficient to re-publish and translate this work of Ceria's for the centenary year. Nevertheless, I believe that no biography is ever definitive. Existing documentation must always be reinterpreted in view of questions raised by researchers. New and neglected documents are always gone back over. Then there is the DVD Documenti di don Rua, prepared in 2007 and edited by the Committee for Historical Studies of Fr Rua 2010, which we need to exploit more systematically. But many letters and documents on Fr Rua still lie completely unknown in Salesian provincial archives in various parts of the world. An understanding of his theology of reference is still imperfect. We have no studies of his preaching. We know that he carefully followed up missionaries sent to the Americas: what shape did this ever-attentive direction take? To what extent did he encourage (or moderate) the marked 'Italianness' of the Salesian Society at the time? What stage did Salesian formation reach during his time as Rector Major? And besides, the serious questions relating to Rectors-confessors still need to be studied, as well as the juridical separation between the Salesian Congregation and the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. These deserve a more accurate analysis than I have given them here ... So in short, this book does not pretend to tackle the subject in any radically new way. Indeed, I frequently recognise my debt to earlier works, especially the one by Fr Ceria, not just for his life of Fr Rua, but also for his Annali della Società Salesiana. I also confess that I was regretfully unable to make first hand use of documents which may have led me to modify the story at certain points. What I have done is provide a rather free re-reading of documentation found in the Fondo Don Rua at the Salesian Central Archive in Rome, made available to researchers in microfilm. And in particular I was unable to benefit from research still in progress on the eve of the 2010 Centenary. I hope that someone able to fill in the gaps will soon come along. Toulon, 31 January 2009. ABBREVIATIONS Amadei A. Amadei, Il Servo di Dio Michele Rua, 3 Vols., Turin, SEI, 1931-1934. Annali E. Ceria, Annali della Società Salesiana, Turin, SEI, 1941-1951. ASC Archivio Salesiano Centrale - Rome (Salesian Central Archives, Rome) Auffray A. Auffray, Le premier successeur de Don Bosco, Don Rua (1837-1910), Lyon-Paris, Vitte, 1932. Ceria, Vita E. Ceria, Vita del Servo di Dio Don Michele Rua, Turin, SEI, 1949. Documents G. B. Lemoyne, Documenti per scrivere la storia di D. John Bosco, dell’Oratorio di s. Francesco di Sales e della Congregaz. Salesiana, 45 volumes, in ASC A050-A094 (FdB 966A8-1201A9). Don Bosco en son temps F. Desramaut, Don Bosco en son temps (1815-1888), Turin, SEI, 1996. Epistolario John Bosco, Epistolario, ed. Francis Motto, vols. 1-4, Rome, LAS, 1991-2003. Epistolario Ceria Epistolario di S. John Bosco, ed. Fr Eugene Ceria, 4 vols., Turin, SEI, 1955-1959. FdB ASC, Fondo Don Bosco. Microfilm and description, Rome, 1980. FdR ASC, Fondo Don Rua. Microfilm and description, Rome, 1996. Francesia D. Michele Rua, primo successore di Don Bosco. Memorie del Sac. G. B. Francesia, Turin, Office of “Letture cattoliche”, 1911. 4 L.C. Lettere circolari di Don Michele Rua ai Salesiani, Turin, S.A.I.D. Buona Stampa, 1910. MB G. B. Lemoyne, A. Amadei, E. Ceria, Memorie biografiche di Don John Bosco, 19 Vols., San Benigno Canavese and Turin, 1898-1948. Positio 1935 Sacra Rituum Congregatione. Taurinen. Beatificationis ac Canonizationis Servi Dei Sac. Michaelis Rua. Positio super introductione Causae, Rome, Guerra et Belli, 1935. Positio 1947 Sacra Rituum Congregatione. Taurinen. Beatificationis et Canonizationis Servi Dei Michaelis Rua. Positio super virtutibus, Romae, Guerra e Belli, 1947. RSS Ricerche Storiche Salesiane, Rome, LAS. 1 - MICHAEL RUA'S CHILDHOOD The City of Turin during the decade 1830-1840 By contrast with John Bosco the country lad, who discovers the city only when he turns fifteen after coming to Chieri as a student, Michael Rua was born in Turin, the capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia, where he would live for the rest of his life. He would always be a city-dweller, a child of the city in its pre-industrial period; a city only slowly evolving into a more liberal period of constitutional monarchy from a past it still looked back to proudly. In the 1830s Turin had 100,000 inhabitants and was enjoying a good reputation in Europe.1 Outsiders praised "the orderly homes, the wide, neat streets, the convenience of water, which they call the Dora, the delightful walks, the excellent police, the kindness of its inhabitants, its famous museum, splendid cafes and many other beautiful things… Here they have…comfortable and beautiful arcades for every need".2 This dignity came from its political circumstance. During the Restoration which followed the interruption of the Napoleonic period, after union with Liguria, the city became the most important capital in the Italian States of the time, if not for its size, at least for its organisation and economic might. The activity in the munitions works which provided for the army, and all the new industries, especially textile industries, attracted people from the Provinces. In Borgo Dora factories sprung up which provided jobs for several hundred workers, with chimneys that polluted the atmosphere.