On September 13, 2023, the Consolata Missionaries working in Africa received news from the Vatican that a miracle attributed to the intercession their founder, Bl. Joseph Allamano, was deemed “a true miracle.”
The Catholic Information Service of Africa explains the news on their website:
In a telephone conversation with CISA, Fr James Lengarin IMC, the Superior General of Consolata Missionaries, confirmed the news of the miracle and further stated that though an official document has not been issued, the congregation for the causes of saints communicated that the medical finding “is positive and has been accepted as a true miracle.”
In order for an individual to be recognized as a saint in the Catholic Church, two miracles have to be verified and found medically to be a sudden healing that has no medical explanation.
One miracle led to Bl. Allamano’s beatification in 1990, while this new miracle will likely lead to his canonization.
Friend of St. John Bosco
Bl. Allamano was born in Castelnuovo d’Asti, Italy, in 1851 and attended the Oratory of St. John Bosco during his youth.
According to Fr. Francesco Pavese, Bl. Allamano wanted to imitate St. John Bosco and frequently went to him for confession.
Joseph Allamano finished elementary school in 1862 and that autumn entered the Salesian “Oratorio” at Valdocco, where his regular confessor was Don Bosco himself. After completing four years of intermediate school at the “Oratorio,” he felt called to the diocesan priesthood, and left Valdocco for the diocesan seminary in Torino. Don Bosco perhaps had thought that Allamano would enter his own Congregation, and gently reproved him: “You hurt my feelings — you left without even saying ‘goodbye.’” Allamano responded timidly, “I didn’t have the nerve …” He felt great affection for Don Bosco all his life long, and did not want to displease him.
Bl. Allamano would eventually found the Consolata Missionaries, priests and laymen who worked primarily in Africa.
He was also influenced by his uncle, Fr. Joseph Cafasso, who was canonized a saint in 1947.
It is hoped that this miracle will pave the way for Bl. Allamano’s canonization.
