150th Anniversary of the first salesian missionary expedition
This year we are celebrating the 150th anniversary of the first salesian missionary departure — the anniversary of that extraordinary gesture when, on 11 November 1875, Giovanni Bosco bade farewell to the first ten confrères bound for Argentina. That courageous undertaking gave rise to a salesian presence in 137 countries worldwide. In the “yes” of the young salesians who left, the faith and boldness of those who set out to turn the first mission territory into a laboratory of education, hospitality and evangelisation can still be heard.
From that first landing to the present day, the salesian mission has weathered wars, famines and mass migrations, yet it has never betrayed its raison d’être: to offer the poorest young people a comprehensive education, vocational training, an oratory where they can grow up as brothers and sisters, and a parish that welcomes them. The Sons of Don Bosco continue to write the same page of hope that was opened a century and a half ago, building schools, vocational centres and child-protection initiatives.
The first salesian missionaries sent by Giovanni Bosco to their first mission land, Argentina, were all very young — their ages ranged from 19 to 37.
In the historical photograph, standing from left to right: Vincenzo Gioia, Bartolomeo Scavini, Fr Valentino Cassini, Fr Giovanni Battista Baccino, Stefano Belmonte, Fr Domenico Tomatis, Fr Giacomo Allavena, Bartolomeo Molinari. Seated, from left to right: Fr Giovanni Cagliero (head of the expedition), St. Giovanni Bosco, Giovanni Battista Gazzolo (Argentine consul in Savona), and Fr Giuseppe Fagnano.
Don Bosco had his first missionary dream: “I seemed to find myself in a wild and completely unknown region. It was an immense, uncultivated plain, where no hills or mountains could be seen…”
A request for salesian missionaries reached Turin from Archbishop Aneiros, who had been informed by the Argentine consul, Giovanni Battista Gazzolo, about the valuable work of salesians of Don Bosco.
Don Bosco announced the departure of the first missionary expedition to Argentina from the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Turin and, from the pulpit of the church, outlined the programme of action for those who were leaving.
The first missionaries set sail from the port of Genoa aboard the French steamship Savoie, together with fifteen Daughters of Mercy from Savona. The journey lasted about a month and was marked by storms and moments of prayer.
The salesians arrived early in the morning in Buenos Aires, after stopovers in Rio de Janeiro and Montevideo. From the Archbishop to ordinary people — especially Italians — they were welcomed with great enthusiasm.
Fr Fagnano, together with two priests, a lay salesian and four sisters, travelled further south to reach Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, where they devoted themselves to evangelisation and the education of the local population.