Joseph Allamano was born in Castelnuovo Don Bosco (at the time called Castelnuovo d’Asti) on January 21, 1851, the nephew of Saint Joseph Cafasso on his mother’s side. He attended the gymnasium in Valdocco and had as a formator none other than Don Bosco himself.
By the Editor *
At the age of 22 he was ordained a priest in Turin and soon after was put in charge of the formation of young seminarians. At the age of 29 he was appointed rector of Turin’s Marian shrine, dedicated to the Our Lady Consolata, and at the same time formator of the young clergy at the Ecclesiastical College (Convitto Ecclesiastico) annexed to the shrine.
On January 29, 1901, he founded the Institute of the Consolata Missionaries in Turin. On May 8, 1902, the first four missionaries, two priests and two coadjutor brothers, left for Kenya, followed, at the end of the same year, by another four priests and a layman. In 1910, Allamano founded the Institute of the Consolata Missionaries Sisters.
He died in Turin on February 16, 1926. His body is preserved and venerated in the Mother House of the Consolata Missionaries, in Turin.
The Founder of the Consolata Missionaries, Fathers, Brothers and Sisters, was beatified by Saint John Paul II on October 7, 1990, and February 16, the very day he died, his feast day was set.
On Monday, July 1, 2024, during the Ordinary Public Consistory, Pope Francis announced that Blessed Joseph Allamano would be canonized on Sunday October 20, 2024 in Rome, on World Mission Sunday.
* Video made by the Canonization Communications team
