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 SALFORD

399

SALFORD

In 1863 and 1864 colleges were opened at Mirabello, Monferrato, and Lanzo. This was a new step, as hitherto the scope of the congregation had been al- most entirely restricted to the poor. In 1874 the Rule and Constitutions of the Society were definitively ap- proved by Pius IX, and the Salesian Society took its place among the orders of the Church. The development of the order was very rapid; the first Salesian house outside of Italy was opened at Nice in 1875. In the same year, the first band of Salesian missionaries was sent to South America, and houses were founded in Argentina and Buenos Ayres. In 1876 the Salesian co-operators were organized for the purpose of assisting in the good works of the congre- gation. They were enriched with many indulgences by Pius IX. The Figli di Maria Ausiliatrice, or the Sons of Mary, Help of Christians, were founded to assist tardy vocations to the priesthood. In 1877 the "Salesian Bulletin", the official organ of the congrega- tion, made its first npjicaranco, its object being to in- form the Catholic world of the good works undertaken by the institute and to beg help to support them. The "Bulletin" is now printed in eight different languages.

In 1877 houses were opened in Spezia, .\lmagro, and Montevideo. In 1879 missionaries were sent to Pata- gonia, and houses were opened at Navarre, Marseilles, and Saint-Cyr (France). In 1880 the first house in Spain was opened at Utrera, and in South America the mission at Viedma, capital of the Rio Negro, was established. In 1883 the first house in Brazil was opened at Nichteroy, and missions were established at Terra del Fuego and the Falkland Islands. In 1887 the first house was opened in .\ustria at Trent, and in the .same year theSalesians established themselves at Battersea in London, England, and a large band of missionaries was sent to Ecuador. On 31 January, 1886, to the great grief of the congregation, Don Bosco died at the age of seventy-two. His successor, Don Rua, continued and developed the work of the congre- gation, and many more houses were opened in France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Portugal, and South America. In 1889 houses were established in the Holy Land and in Africa. Between 1894 and 1911 houses have been founded in Mexico, Tunis, Venezuela, Patagonia, Lis- bon, Bolivia, Colombia, Paraguay, Montpelier, Cape Town, England, ChiU, San Salvador, Peru, India, and China. The first mission opened in the United States was at San Francisco in 1898. There are now two in that city, and another at Oakland on the other side of the bay. In New York there were two missions opened respectively in 1898 and 1902. A college was opened at Troy in 1903, but transferred (1908) to Hawthorne, Westchester County, in the State of New York.

Although the real object of the Salesian Society is the Christian education of the young, especially of the poorer and middle classes, it does not refuse any work of charity for which it has suitable members. In carrying out its principal work, instead of the old punitive or repressive system, it adopts the preventive one, thus promoting confidence and love among the children, instead of fear and hatred. The success of this method is seen from the number of vocations drawn from its ranks. The young aspirants are im- bued with the Salesian spirit even before joining the congregation. One year is spent in the novitiate, af- ter which triennial vows are taken before the tyro is admitted to his final profession. The growth of the congregation may be seen from the fact that it con- tains about 320 houses, distributed into 34 provincial- ates, of which 18 are in Europe, and the remaining 16 in America. The houses in A.sia and Africa belong to European provinces. There has been no diminution except in France, where most of the houses were sup- pressed during the regime of persecution under Combes. The houses in Portugal were left untouched during the late change of government, in 1910 the second father

general of the congregation died, and was succeeded by Don Albera. The main work of the institute is the education and training of boys divided into two classes, students and artisans. The second branch is the mis- sionary one, and it finds its scope prin(ipally in South America and Asia. The third branch is engaged in the education of adults for the priesthood and the fourth is occupied in the diffusion of good Catholic literature. The order obtains its support largely from the generosity of the Salesian co-operators, who, as a third order, contribute largely for this purpose, and to whom the "Salesian Bulletin" is sent monthly, to keep them informed of the progress of the work in dis- tant lands, and to urge them to greater generosity.

IIeimbdcher, Die Ordtn u. Koni/reaationen, III (Paderborn, 1908) 491 sqq.; Lives of Don Bosco by Lemoyne, Francesia. d'Espiney; Bonetti, I Cinque Lustri; The Salesian Bulletin.

Ernest Marsh.

Salford, Diocese of (Salfordiensis), comprises the Hundreds of Salford and Blackburn, in Lanca- shire, England, and was erected 29 Sept., 1850. It covers the east and south-eastern portions of Lan- cashire and embraces the manufacturing towns of Manchester, Salford, Blackburn, Oldham, Bury, Burnley, Rochdale, etc. Its area is practically co- extensive with that of the ancient CathoUc deanery of Manchester, which was under the jurisdiction of

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The Protestant Cathedral, Manchester

A XV-century Catholic Church with additions made in the

XIX Century

the rector or dean, but its title was taken from Salford instead of Manchester to avoid offending Protestant susceptibilities, as an Anglican See of Manchester had been erected in 1847. The Apostolic Letter of Pius IX, which divided the Lancashire District into the two Sees of Liverpool and Salford, allotted to Salford the Hundred of Leyland in addition to those of Blackburn and Salford, but a papal Brief dated 27 June, 1851, transferred to Liverpool the Hundred of Leyland which included the important Catholic town of Preston.

The Hundred of Blackburn, covering the north- western portion of the diocese, extends twenty-four miles east to west, and fourteen miles north to south. In the chequered history of the Church following on the religious changes of the sixteenth century it had, with Salford, a long roll of recusants and mar- tyrs for the Faith. The ruins of Whalley Abbey, a thirteenth-century Cistercian foundation, still bear their silent witness. Its abbot, John Paslew, was hanged outside its walls in 1537 for taking part in the Pilgrimage of Grace in 1536; and the property was seized for the use of Henry VIII. The first post-Reformation chapel in Blackburn wa,s opened m 1773, and in Manchester in 1774. In 1843 the Rev. James Sharpies, rector of St. Alban's, Blackburn, was consecrated Bishop of Samaria and appointed coadjutor to Bishop Brown, the first vicar .\postolic for the Lancashire District. He built at Salford St.