Saint Giuseppe Allamano

Life story

Giuseppe was born on 21 January 1851 in Castelnuovo d'Asti, the fourth of five children. His father died when he was not yet three, and his mother was a sister of Saint Giuseppe Cafasso. From autumn 1862 he boarded at Don Bosco's oratory in Valdocco, where Don Bosco was his regular confessor for four years. In 1866 he entered the diocesan seminary of Turin and was ordained a priest on 20 September 1873.

He served as spiritual director of the major seminary from 1876, and in October 1880, aged twenty-nine, he was named rector of the Consolata shrine in Turin, a post he held until his death. On 29 January 1901 he founded the Consolata Missionary Institute; the first four missionaries, two priests and two lay brothers, left for Kenya on 8 May 1902. On 29 January 1910 he founded the Consolata Missionary Sisters.

He died at the Consolata shrine in Turin on 16 February 1926. Pope John Paul II beatified him on 7 October 1990 and Pope Francis canonized him on 20 October 2024.

Works and witness

• Boarded at Don Bosco's oratory in Valdocco from 1862
• Ordained a priest on 20 September 1873
• Rector of the Consolata shrine in Turin from October 1880
• Founded the Consolata Missionary Institute on 29 January 1901; first missionaries to Kenya on 8 May 1902
• Founded the Consolata Missionary Sisters in 1910; canonized on 20 October 2024

Saints from the same country

Saint Agnes, Saint Lawrence, Saint Cecilia, Saint Sebastian

References

• Consolata Missionaries, official Allamano site, 'Giuseppe Allamano: chi è in breve' (giuseppeallamano.consolata.org)

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.