Blessed Philip Rinaldi
Blessed Philip Rinaldi (Italian: Filippo Rinaldi; 28 May 1856 – 5 December 1931) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest, Salesian religious, and the third Rector Major of the Salesians of Don Bosco, serving from 1922 until his death. Born into a farming family in Lu Monferrato, Piedmont, and shaped from childhood by his encounter with Don Bosco, he devoted his life to continuing and deepening the Salesian charism of education and evangelisation of the young. He spent twelve years in Spain, where he built up the Salesian presence and founded a Catholic periodical, before returning to Turin as vicar-general and ultimately as Rector Major.[1][2]
As Rector Major from 1922 to 1931, Rinaldi led the congregation through a period of intense growth — the number of Salesians rose by sixty-six per cent, from approximately 6,000 to 10,000 members — while introducing a notably warmer and more pastoral style of leadership than the generations before him. His approach was built not on institutional rigour but on personal accompaniment, paternal trust, and a fidelity to Don Bosco's preventive system that was creative rather than merely conservative.[3] He died in Turin on 5 December 1931 and was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 29 April 1990. His feast is observed on 5 December.
Stored in Cargo: Blessed Philip Rinaldi
| Blessed Philip Rinaldi | |
|---|---|
| Feast Day | December 05 |
| Profession | Priest; Salesian religious; Rector Major; educator; spiritual director |
| Rel. Affiliation | Catholic Church; Salesians of Don Bosco (Society of Saint Francis de Sales) |
| Attributes | Salesian religious habit; image of Don Bosco; youth |
| Birthplace | Lu Monferrato, Province of Alessandria, Piedmont, Italy |
| Death Place | Turin, Piedmont, Italy |
| Cause of Death | Cardiac failure; died 5 December 1931 in Turin |
| Primary Shrine | Basilica of Mary Our Help (Maria Ausiliatrice), Valdocco, Turin, Italy |
| Liturgical Class | Not included in the General Roman Calendar; observed by the Salesian Family worldwide |
| Historic Class | Not included |
Biography
Birth and early encounter with Don Bosco
Filippo Rinaldi was born on 28 May 1856 at Lu Monferrato (now Lu e Cuccaro Monferrato), in the Province of Alessandria, Piedmont. He was the eighth and youngest child of Cristobolo Rinaldi and Antonia Brezza, a farming couple of modest circumstances.[1] Sometime around 1861, when Filippo was about five years old, he met John Bosco (Don Bosco) for the first time — a childhood encounter that would prove decisive for the direction of his life.[1][2]
Education and long discernment
As a young man, Filippo studied at the Salesian school of Mirabello Monferrato in Piedmont, where Salesian formation was available alongside his ordinary schooling.[1] Yet the path to religious life was not straightforward: he returned home after his studies and worked on the family farm, uncertain about his vocation and resistant to what he felt were the demands of the priesthood. The Don Bosco Press biography describes his vocation as marked by "hesitations and attempted escapes from religious life."[2]
Don Bosco's personal intervention proved the turning point. The founder "sought out the young Philip and convinced him to pursue priesthood with truly paternal patience," visiting him at home and accompanying him through his doubts with what the sources describe as a fatherly confidence that eventually overcame Filippo's resistance.[2] At the age of twenty-two, Rinaldi entered the Salesian novitiate at San Benigno Canavese in September 1879. Don Bosco himself placed the cassock on him on 20 October 1879.[1] He made his initial profession of vows on 13 August 1880 and was ordained a priest on 23 December 1882.[1]
Early ministry and work in Spain
After ordination, Rinaldi served as director of the house for late vocations at Mathi, in the Province of Turin. In 1889 he was assigned to Spain, where the Salesian mission was then expanding rapidly. He took charge of the Salesian house at Sarrià, a neighbourhood of Barcelona, and in 1892 was appointed provincial director of the Salesians in Spain, a post he held until 1901.[1][3] During these twelve years in Catalonia he opened new houses, formed a first generation of Spanish Salesian leadership, and in 1895 founded the periodical Lecturas Católicas (Catholic Readings), a widely distributed Catholic publication.[1]
The experience in Spain shaped Rinaldi's pastoral sensibility in important ways. Working at a distance from headquarters and in a very different cultural context forced him to develop the judgment and flexibility he would later bring to the role of Rector Major.
Vicar-General and founding of the Salesian Volunteers
Returning to Turin in 1901, Rinaldi was appointed vicar-general of the congregation, the principal deputy to the Rector Major.[1] In this role he was closely involved in the governance of the rapidly growing Salesian Family and in the elaboration of its various branches beyond the core congregation of priests and brothers.
In May 1917 he gave decisive support and structure to what would become the Secular Institute of the Salesian Volunteers (Volontarie di Don Bosco), a group of consecrated laywomen living the Salesian spirit in the world — extending the Don Bosco charism beyond the walls of Salesian institutions.[1][3]
Rector Major (1922–1931)
On 24 May 1922, following the death of the second Rector Major, Paolo Albera, the Salesians elected Philip Rinaldi as their third superior general.[1] His nine-year tenure saw the congregation grow from approximately 6,000 to more than 10,000 members worldwide — an increase of sixty-six per cent — as Salesian missions expanded across Asia, Africa, and the Americas.[1][3]
In style and approach, Rinaldi represented a marked shift from his predecessors. Don Bosco's first successor, Michael Rua, had maintained the founder's exact prescriptions with great fidelity but with some severity; Albera had been a man of profound interiority. Rinaldi, the Don Bosco Press notes, was "less severe, more paternal; less focused on structures, more on people," emphasising accompaniment, trust, and personal relationship over institutional discipline.[2] Pope John Paul II, at his beatification, described his holiness as "simple and paternal."[4]
His educational philosophy returned insistently to the preventive system: the conviction that the aim of education is not punishment after the fact but the creation of an environment of reason, religion, and loving kindness in which young people are simply "unable to make mistakes."[2] He also strengthened the Salesian Cooperators movement and fostered the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, seeking to extend the Salesian Family beyond its directly consecrated members to include the broad network of lay associates and Salesian-educated alumni.
Death
Blessed Philip Rinaldi died on 5 December 1931 in Turin from cardiac failure. He was seventy-five years old.[1] His remains were translated to the Basilica of Maria Ausiliatrice (Basilica of Our Lady Help of Christians) at Valdocco, Turin — the symbolic heart of the Salesian world — where they rest in the crypt.[1][3]
Significant events
- Born 28 May 1856 at Lu Monferrato, Piedmont, eighth child of Cristobolo and Antonia Rinaldi.
- Met Don Bosco as a child, c. 1861.
- Studied at Salesian school of Mirabello Monferrato.
- Entered Salesian novitiate at San Benigno Canavese, September 1879; received cassock from Don Bosco, 20 October 1879.
- Initial Salesian vows, 13 August 1880; ordained priest, 23 December 1882.
- Director, Salesian late vocations house, Mathi (Turin Province).
- Assigned to Spain, 1889; director of Salesian house, Sarriá, Barcelona.
- Provincial director of Salesians in Spain, 1892–1901.
- Founded Catholic periodical Lecturas Católicas, 1895.
- Returned to Turin as vicar-general of the Salesians, 1901.
- Gave founding support to the Secular Institute of the Salesian Volunteers, May 1917.
- Elected third Rector Major of the Salesians, 24 May 1922.
- Congregation grew 66% (6,000 to 10,000 members) under his leadership.
- Died 5 December 1931 at Turin, of cardiac failure.
- Relics translated to Basilica of Maria Ausiliatrice, Valdocco, Turin.
- Beatified by Pope John Paul II, 29 April 1990, Saint Peter's Square, Rome.
Significant locations
Legend
Birth location: Lu Monferrato, Province of Alessandria, Piedmont, Italy
Death location: Turin, Piedmont, Italy
Notable location: Birthplace (Lu Monferrato, Province of Alessandria, Piedmont, Italy)
Notable location: Salesian motherhouse where he lived, served, and was buried; site of his venerated relics (Basilica of Mary Our Help (Maria Ausiliatrice), Valdocco, Turin, Italy)
Notable location: Where he directed the Salesian house 1889–1901 and served as Spanish provincial 1892–1901 (Sarriá, Barcelona, Spain)
Notable location: Site of his beatification by Pope John Paul II, 29 April 1990 (Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City)
Notable location:
Dynamic content
Parishes
No parishes dedicated to Philip Rinaldi have been added to the database yet.
Media
No media found for this saint.
Shrines
Dynamic shrines
No results
No shrines where this saint is the primary saint.
Canonization
Beatification
The cause of Philip Rinaldi was introduced at Rome and proceeded to the declaration of Venerable. The miracle approved for his beatification was the medically inexplicable healing of Maria Carla, a woman shot in the face on 20 April 1945, near the end of World War II, whose jaw underwent full regeneration — a healing attributed to Rinaldi's intercession that doctors judged inexplicable by natural means. Pope John Paul II approved the miracle on 3 March 1990 and beatified Philip Rinaldi on 29 April 1990 in Saint Peter's Square, Rome.[1][4] He has not been formally canonized.
Feast day
December 05
Veneration
Blessed Philip Rinaldi is venerated throughout the Salesian Family as a model of apostolic fatherhood — the "Don Bosco of the twentieth century," a phrase used within the congregation to mark his faithfulness to the founder's spirit in changed historical circumstances. He is honoured particularly by the Salesians of Don Bosco, the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, the Salesian Cooperators, and the Secular Institute of the Salesian Volunteers, all of whom look to him as a formative figure.[2][3] At the Basilica of Maria Ausiliatrice in Valdocco, Turin — the heart of the Salesian world — his relics are venerated alongside those of Don Bosco and Dominic Savio, forming a pattern of Salesian holiness that spans founder, student, and successor.[1]
Prayers
Authored
There are prayers authored by this saint in prayers list yet.
Intercessory
There are no prayers asking for this saint's intercession in prayers list yet.
External links
- Wikipedia – Filippo Rinaldi
- Don Bosco Press – Blessed Philip Rinaldi
- Salesian Missions – Bl. Philip Rinaldi
- Catholic News Agency – Blessed Philip Rinaldi
- Salesians USA – Bl. Philip Rinaldi, SDB
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 Wikipedia, "Filippo Rinaldi" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filippo_Rinaldi).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Don Bosco Press, "Blessed Philip Rinaldi: A father who brought Don Bosco into the heart of the twentieth century" (https://www.donbosco.press/en/our-saints/blessed-philip-rinaldi-a-father-who-brought-don-bosco-into-the-heart-of-the-twentieth-century/).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Salesian Missions, "Bl. Philip Rinaldi" (https://salesianmissions.org/about-us/who-we-are/about-st-john-bosco/our-history/history-of-the-salesians/bl-philip-rinaldi-1990/).
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Catholic News Agency, "Blessed Philip Rinaldi" (https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/blessed-phillip-rinaldi-408).