He Was the Nephew of a Saint: St. Joseph Cafasso
Editorial Staff (16/02/2026, Gaudium Press) St. Joseph Allamano, diocesan priest and founder, was the nephew of a saint: St. Joseph Cafasso, himself a benefactor of Don Bosco.
He was born in Castelnuovo d’Asti in 1851, into a peasant family.
He was the fourth of five siblings. When the Blessed One was 3 years old, they were left without a father. His formative references were: St. John Bosco, St. Joseph Cafasso, his teacher Benedetta Savio, and his mother.
He was ordained a diocesan priest in 1873, at 22 years of age.
Hardly ordained, he devoted himself to formation in the seminary. In 1882 he was appointed rector of the Sanctuary of the Consolata, patroness of Turin. He would also work at the Ecclesiastical Convictory, where young priests were formed.
His dream: the mission
He always desired the mission—to be a missionary.
But it was only after a serious illness in 1900, from which his recovery can only be explained as a miracle obtained through the Virgin of the Consolata, that authorization was granted for the creation of the missionary institute.
The first four missionaries departed for Kenya shortly thereafter: Fr. Gays, Bro. L. Falda, Fr. F. Perlo, and Bro. C. Lusso, all around 20 years of age.
He hesitated as to whether to found an institute of the Consolata Missionary Sisters. But speaking with St. Pius X in 1909, the Pope told him: “If you do not have the vocation to found religious sisters, I give it to you.” In 1913, the first missionary sisters departed.
Among the Consolata Missionaries, the motto of Blessed Allamano still resounds:
“First saints, then missionaries.”
Compiled by Sofia Rivera with information from El Testigo Fiel
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