Father Ricaldone's successor was the man he had chosen a year before his death as his prefect general. Father Ziggiotti thus became the fifth successor of Don Bosco and led the Congregation for thirteen years. He was not from Piedmont, a fact which points to the expansion of the modest society that had begun there. Renato Ziggiotti was born in Campodoro, in the province of Padua, on the 9th of October, 1892. At the age of seven his father entrusted him to the care of the Salesians at Este, so that Renato could later exclaim: "I can say I have been a Salesian since the age of reason!" In spite of his parish priest's pressure to enter the seminary at Vicenza, Renato felt he could not leave the Salesians whose religious life and scholastic work appealed to him, and with whom he could also satisfy his taste for music and theater and practice gymnastics as well with considerable success.

In 1908 he decided to enter the novitiate at Foglizzo, and on September 15, 1909, he made his religious profession in the presence of Father Rua. The following years took him first to Valsalice, where he continued his studies and dedicated the Sundays to the boys at the Oratory at Valdocco. In 1912 he was sent to Verona for his practical training. At the outbreak of World War I, Ziggiotti was called up in June 1915. He eventually became a lieutenant in the artillery, was wounded in the arm in 1917, and spent the long hours in hospital studying theology. He returned in due course to the trenches and was demobilized only in April, 1919 with the rank of Captain.

He took up his studies once more, obtained a degree in literature and philosophy at the university of Padua and was ordained a priest on December 8, 1920. Father Ziggiotti's advancement was rapid: At age thirty-two he became the first Salesian rector of the house of Pordenone. As head of this school he supervised the construction of many extra buildings that speeded development of this establishment. We take note here that the life of this young priest was just then on the point of taking a different direction. He very much wanted to be a missionary and had submitted his first application in 1917. During the war he renewed the request every year until the end of hostilities. Actually he had been on the list of those that were chosen three times: in 1921 he should have gone to Ecuador; in 1923 to Kimberley, Australia; in 1924 to Japan. But each time something happened that prevented his departure. In 1931 Father Rinaldi named him provincial of the central province which had been established in 1926 and consisted mainly of houses for the education of candidates for the Salesian and missionary life.

Father Ziggiotti worked hard for four years and was then sent as provincial to Sicily, where he stayed for only two years. In 1937 he was called to the superior chapter to become prefect general of education, in which capacity he was confirmed by the XV and XVI General Chapters. Under Father Ricaldone's direction, he organized the philosophical and theological studies and the development of the schools of the Congregation. During World War 11 he was given a rather special task. Turin was heavily bombed from 1942 until the end of the war, and Father Ziggiotti gave proof of his courage as head of the first-aid group, ready to go at once to the stricken areas or deal with incendiaries.

One night in December 1942, he found the old Oratory library in flames but succeeded in saving not only several volumes but also the rooms of Don Bosco above by opening a window. On May 1, 1950, Father Berruti, prefect general of the Congregation, (who many had thought would become the next rector major), died. Father Ricaldone chose Father Ziggiotti to succeed him which contributed further to Father Ziggiotti's knowledge of the Congregation. When the general chapter met in July, 1952 to choose a successor to Father Ricaldone there was immediate agreement which produced an absolute majority of votes for Father Ziggiotti.

The Rectorship of Father Ziggiotti, 1952-1965.

His Journeys

Reviving the tradition of Father Rua, the new superior general started out on a series of long journeys immediately after his election; in this respect he accomplished far more than his predecessor, but we must remember that the conditions for traveling had changed considerably since then. It was the first time, in fact, that a rector major visited America and the Far East. There were times when the conditions seemed to favor the realization of Don Bosco's boldest dreams.

Naturally, Father Ziggiotti's first visits were reserved for the Salesian houses in Italy, with a special preference for the houses of formation. Between November 1952 and January 1953, he had visited all the novitiates and seminaries of Upper Italy; he then turned to the center and the south, using the opportunity for brief visits to many other houses as well. Right from the start he exuded an air of great exuberance which he himself explained as follows: The figure of Don Bosco continues to live and to increase in importance in the world through the work of the Salesians and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, and through the publicity carried out by the Past Pupils, the Cooperators and innumerable friends."

In 1953 Father Ziggiotti used the occasion of various feasts and Salesian anniversaries to visit France, Germany, Austria, Spain, and Portugal. I can tell you," he wrote in October of that year, "that these first visits have induced me to do all I can to visit provinces and houses abroad as well."

In 1954 he crossed Europe: Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Holland, England, and Ireland. At the end of that year he decided to go on a tour of the world. Before setting out, he asked the Salesian family to accompany him in thought and prayer and to look upon it as a sort of collective pilgrimage. He went first to Egypt, where he stayed at the houses in Alexandria and Cairo, then to the Holy Land, from there to Damascus, Aleppo, Beirut, and Teheran. In these countries of the Middle East, he saw for himself the complex situations in which the Salesians found themselves. India was next and, as he himself said, he traveled "from Karachi to Bombay, from Goa to Vellore and Madras, from Calcutta to Krishnagar, from Shillong to Dibrugarh, from Sonada to the foot of Mt. Everest, and on to the Brahmaputra and Ganges." At Madras he was welcomed by Archbishop Mathias, a pioneer of the Salesian work in that country, where the abundance of vocations made the visitor very optimistic for the future. He flew from Calcutta to Rangoon and Mandalay in Burma, to Bangkok and Ban-Pong in Thailand, where the Salesian method of education was used throughout the country.

Enthusiastic receptions awaited him at Hong Kong and Macao where the non-Christians were as enthusiastic as the rest. Unfortunately he could not visit the Chinese mainland and went on to the Philippines, instead, where the work had begun under good auspices. In Japan he assisted at the celebration of the Golden Jubilee of the ordination of Bishop Cimatti, the first Salesian in that country, and he also spoke on the national radio. The last stops on this prodigious journey were Australia, the United States, and Canada.

Returning to Turin, after an absence of six months, he planned another world tour in 1956. This time he went to Central America, the Antiiles, Mexico, and Argentina which had been "the land of Don Bosco's dreams" and therefore had a special claim on his attention. He spent four months there as the official guest of the government. The Onas Indians also wanted to show their respect by conferring on him the title of Honorary Chief. Upon his return from this trip Father Ziggiotti admitted: "The sum of all I have seen and the emotions I have felt have reached such a peak that I find it impossible to express it in words.

Two more trips took him to Latin America, towards which Popes Pius XII and John XXIII were turning the attention of Catholics. Between February and October 1957, he visited the houses of several countries: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Brazil. In 1960 he went to Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay. During these three visits to South America, he visited the five hundred Salesian houses and almost as many Salesian convents. One of his last memories of that continent would be the inauguration of a Salesian house in the futuristic capital, Brasilia. The visits produced an immediate effect. With the war over, they served to concentrate Salesian unity around the successor of Don Bosco. There was great interest everywhere, and the welcome given him was warm, enthusiastic, and sometimes overwhelming.

Organizing Work

At Turin Father Ziggiotti continued the organizing work of Father Ricaldone. With the XVII General Chapter as a basis, he looked after the proper running of the houses of formation. One particular motive inspired him in this task: the urgent need of more men, which he now understood so well, thanks to his visits.

He encouraged the work of the religious sodalities, because, "they formed a vital part of the Preventive System." If necessary, he intervened by letter. There were certain people who said the sodalities were out-of-date, and he reminded them that they were meant to prepare the boys for Catholic Action. As a consequence there was a renewal of sodalites, with congresses, gatherings, and reviews, which were further inspired by the canonization of Dominic Savio on June 12, 1954. There were feasts to honor the boy saint everywhere, both in Italy and abroad. "Dominic Savio Clubs" sprang up and "Friends of Dominic Savio," and the Pueri cantores chose him as their patron. Various solemn occasions and achievements complete the picture of Father Ziggiotti's rectorship.

In May, 1959, on the occasion of the consecration of a new church, dedicated to St. John Bosco at Cinecitta in Rome, an extraordinary celebration took place. As a very special privilege, the urn containing Don Bosco's body was brought from Turin. On the 3rd of May Pope John XXIII came to exalt the apostle of the young before a crowd of more than one hundred thousand people.

Father Ziggiotti also started to put into action his predecessor's vow regarding a "temple" on the hill of Becchi. In 1962 John XXIII advanced to cardinal the Salesian Archbishop of Santiago (Chile) Raul Silva Henriquez.

Father Ziggiotti completed the transfer to Rome of the pontifical Salesian Athenaeum, and added a faculty for advanced Latin which the Holy See entrusted to the Salesians. Finally in what he called "my supreme honor and joy," the rector major participated in the first three sessions of the Second Vatican Council in 1962.

When the XIX General Chapter met in Rome in April, 1965, Father Ziggiotti asked the electors to give their vote to someone younger than himself. It was the first time a Salesian rector major had resigned and Father Ziggiotti did it with edifying simplicity. He returned to Becchi as rector of the new establishment. Despite a slight drop toward the end, between 1952 and 1965, the Congregation experienced a very substantial increase in numbers, reaching more than 20,000 members.

The optimism of the rector major and the encouragement he was able to provide in every country brought great results. A man of God, he endeavored to promote through his work and through his writings the spiritual life of the Salesians.