Born in Castelnuovo Don Bosco, Italy, on January 21, 1851, Allamano was a priest of the diocese of Turin, who made his own the Church’s call to universal mission. As a young boy Joseph grew up among the Salesians, then, as a teenager, he opts for the diocesan seminary. He is ordained a priest at 22, and very soon he occupies key positions in his diocese: he is appointed the rector of the “Convitto” – the diocesan center for the priests renewal – where many young priests will pick him as their councilor and spiritual director; at 29, he is called to be the Rector of Turin’s most popular shrine – the Consolata – , which he restored to its former glory. His greatest desire, however, is to leave for the missions, but poor health does not allow him to fulfill his dream. Still, far from getting discouraged, he passes on the fire that burns in his heart to young priests and lay people, who, duly trained, set in numbers for distant lands.
At the foot of the Consolata, Allamano laid the foundations for a great missionary activity, led by a religious society of priests and brothers founded in 1901 and one of sisters founded in 1910. Accompanied by Cottolengo Sisters, the first four missionaries – two priests and two brothers – left for Kenya, in 1902. The most important tenets of his teaching to them were that one who wants to be a true missionary, first has to be a saint; and that when good is done, it has to be done well. The main goal of the mission is the announcement of the Gospel, but always hand in hand with the improvement of the people’s state of life. People will be attracted – he would say – by a religion that not only promises to them a better life in Heaven, but that helps them to improve their life already here on earth.
Blessed Joseph Allamano died in Turin, Italy, on February 16, 1926. His missionaries, where present in Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Mozambique. Now they work in 28 countries and have vocations form 25 countries throughout the world. The Consolata Missionary Sisters have a presence a few miles away at 6801 Belmont Ave NE.
