The Year for Priests that has just ended was "a time of grace that has brought and will bring precious fruits" and an opportunity "to remember in prayer all those who have followed this vocation."To them and all Catholics today, Benedict XVI offered an example of an exemplary priest. St. Giuseppe Cafasso, whom he said is a reminder " to priests to devote time to the sacrament of reconciliation and spiritual direction and to everyone of the attention we must pay to the most needy "
Speaking to 25 thousand people present in St Peter's Square for the general audience, the Pope said he is "a figure that stands out among the social saints of Piedmont", in fact the Northern Italian region is celebrating the 150th anniversary of his death.
Giuseppe Cafasso was born in 1811 in Castelnuovo d'Asti, the same town as St. John Bosco.
"Nineteenth-century Piedmont is characterized by many social problems, but also by many saints who dedicated themselves to resolving them."
At 22 he was ordained a priest and entered into what would remain his lifetime home: the Church boarding school of St Francis of Assisi in Turin”.
The boarding school "was also a veritable school of priestly formation" and "the kind of priest was the true shepherd, with a rich inner life and a profound zeal in pastoral life”.
"In the boarding school, young men learned to be priests and Cafasso tried to make it so that the priests would in turn become formers of religious and lay people," concerned with the spiritual well being of the person".
St. Giuseppe Cafasso "put to good use his skills as a spiritual director" showing "three virtues: calm, wisdom and prudence."
"He devoted many hours to daily confession". Bishops, laity and famous people flocked to his confessional. "His teaching was never abstract, only based on the books in use in his time, but on the living experience of God's mercy and deep knowledge of the human soul".
"His secret was simple, be a true man of God. He loved the Lord totally", "he lived true charity towards all," "he knew moral theology, but also the situations of people".
Among those who were formed by him emerges the figure of St. John Bosco, to whom he was spiritual director for 25 years.
In all of St. John Bosco’s fundamental life choices, Cafasso was counsellor and guide, who never attempted to form a disciple in St. John Bosco in his own image and likeness, but according to his personal attitudes and their peculiar vocation, a sign of master's wisdom and intelligence of the disciple. "
"This - said the Pope - is a valuable lesson for all those involved in educating the younger generations and a reminder of how important it is to have a spiritual guide to help us understand what God wants from us."
Another characteristic element of the work of St. Giuseppe Cafasso is "attention to the humble and in particular to prisoners who in nineteenth century Turin lived in inhumane and dehumanizing situations”.
"He was a good shepherd, understanding and compassionate." "The inmates were captured, his presence consoled them, touching hardened hearts. "The condemned to death were subject to a special human and spiritual treatment."
He accompanied 57 of them "with deep love and respect until the end of their earthly existence".
For this work, in 1948, "Pius XII proclaimed him patron saint of Italian prisons and in 1950 proposed him as a model for priests committed in sacrament of reconciliation and spiritual direction."