Egidio Viganò (born in

Sondrio Sondrio (; ; ; archaic or ; ) is an Italian city, ''comune'' and administrative centre for the province of Sondrio, located in the heart of the Valtellina. , Sondrio counted approximately 21,876 inhabitants. In 2007, Sondrio was named the Alpine ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

on June 29, 1920, died in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

on January 23, 1995) was a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

of the

Salesians of Don Bosco The Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), formally known as the Society of Saint Francis de Sales (), is a religious congregation of men in the Catholic Church, founded in 1859 by the Italian priest John Bosco to help poor and migrant youth during the ...

, who was the 7th Rector Major of that Order from 1977 until his death in 1995. Although he was an Italian, he considered

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

as his second home country because he moved there when he was 19 years old. He was also confessor of Pope

John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

, a prominent

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

and writer. During the first centenary of the death of

Don Bosco John Melchior Bosco, SDB (; ; 16 August 181531 January 1888), popularly known as Don Bosco or Dom Bosco ( IPA: ), was an Italian Catholic priest, educator and writer. While working in Turin, where the population suffered many of the ill eff ...

(1988),

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

dedicated to him the Apostolic Letter ''Iuvenum Patris'' (Father of the Youth): "''To our beloved son Egidio Vigano, Rector Major of the Salesian Society on the First Centenary of the death of Saint John Bosco - John Paul II, Supreme Pontiff.''" He participated also in the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

Life

Viganò was the 8th child of Francesco Viganò and Maria Enrichetta Cattaneo from Sondrio, northern Italy. In 1926 he frequented the official school and inscribed at the Salesian Youth Center, the place that would put him in contact with the Don Bosco's spirituality. In 1929, during the beatification of Don Bosco,St. John Bosco (Canonized: 1934). Beatified 6-2-1929. Link retrieved on February 4, 2015 from http://www.salesianmissions.org/about-us/st-john-bosco-canonized-1934. his mother made a pilgrimage to

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

for the occasion, an event that impressed her very much for the love and affection that people showed to the educator. She became a devote of Don Bosco and communicated it to her children. In 1932 Viganò entered the Salesian aspirantate in Chiari (Brescia) and the Salesian novitiate in Montodine in 1935. He studied philosophy in

Foglizzo Foglizzo is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin. It is part of the Canavese historical region. Foglizzo borders the following municipalities: San Giorgio ...

until 1939. He applied to the missions abroad and was sent to

in 1939, at the age of 19, where he will continue his formation and mission for the following decades, being teacher at the Salesian Aspirantate of

Macul Macul ( Quechua: "to stretch out right hand") is a commune of Chile located in the central-eastern part of the Greater Santiago area, bordered by the communes of Ñuñoa to the north, San Joaquín to the west, Peñalolén to the east and L ...

and at National Gratitude of

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

. he finished his theology at the

Pontifical Catholic University of Chile The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (UC Chile; ) is a traditional private university based in Santiago, Chile. It is one of the thirteen Catholic universities existing in Chilean university system and one of the two pontifical univ ...

in 1949. In 1961 he was sent to make studies in Rome for one year and returned to Chile.

Rector Major

Between 1962 and 1965 Vigano participated at the Second Vatican Council, an event that would make him known to the Catholic Church. In 1968 he was elected as Provincial of Chile and president of the Chilean Conference of Religious Superiors. He was also invited to participate in the 1968's

Latin American Episcopal Conference The Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council (; ), better known as CELAM, is a council of the Catholic bishops in Latin America, created in 1955 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is based in Bogotá, Colombia. Early history From July 25 to A ...

Medellín Medellín ( ; or ), officially the Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation of Medellín (), is the List of cities in Colombia, second-largest city in Colombia after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia Departme ...

. He was elected as Rector Major of the Salesians on December 15, 1977, Grand Chancellor of the

Pontifical Salesian University The Salesian Pontifical University (; ) is a pontifical university in Italy run by the Salesians of Don Bosco. It has three campuses, one in Rome, one in Turin, and one in Jerusalem. The Salesian Pontifical University is an ordinary member of ...

of Rome in 1978 and member of the Latin American Episcopal Conference. Pope John Paul II elected him as member of the

Synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...

of Bishops about Family in 1980 and president of the Religious General Superiors in Rome in 1983. During his government, in 1984, Pope John Paul II made blessed Mgr.

Luigi Versiglia Luigi Versiglia, S.D.B. (5 June 1873 – 25 February 1930) was an Italian Catholic prelate and professed member from the Salesians of Don Bosco who served as the first apostolic vicar of Shaoguan from 1920 until his murder. He was also a former ...

and Fr. Callisto Caravario, martyrs in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. That same year he was reelected Rector Mayor on May 15 and he preached the Spiritual Retreats of the Pope and the

Roman Curia The Roman Curia () comprises the administrative institutions of the Holy See and the central body through which the affairs of the Catholic Church are conducted. The Roman Curia is the institution of which the Roman Pontiff ordinarily makes use ...

. He was also the Rector Major that presided over the celebrations of the centenary of the dead of Don Bosco (January 31, 1888). The main event was the visit of Pope John Paul II to Colle Don Bosco, the hill where Don Bosco was born in 1815, declaring the place as the ''Hill of the Youth Beatitudes''. The Pope make

Laura Vicuña Laura del Carmen Vicuña Pino (5 April 1891 – 22 January 1904) was a Chilean child who was noted for her religious devotion. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1988 as the patron of abuse victims, having herself experienced physical ...

blessed and gave to Saint John Bosco the title of ''Father, Teacher and Friend of the Youth''. In 1990 the General Chapter of the Salesians elected Vigano for a third period as Rector Major. That year Pope John Paul II made blessed Filippo Rinaldi. In 1991 the Pope invited Vigano to the Synod for Latin America in

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

. In 1993 he opened the Institute for Communication Science of the Pontifical Salesian University. In 1994 the Pope made another Salesian blessed: sister Maddalena Morano. Egidio Vigano still as Rector Major when he became sick, supported in the government by his vicar Juan Edmundo Vecchi. He died on January 23, 1995. He was honored in his adoptive country, Chile.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vigano, Egidio 1920 births 1995 deaths Salesians of Don Bosco 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests Participants in the Second Vatican Council People from Sondrio

Life

Rector Major

See also

Notes