Italy - "Don Bosco's Peace Culture:" the new book by Fr. Peter Gonsalves
Just when you thought you knew enough about Don Bosco, here is a new book that presents him to you in a new perspective: Don Bosco's Peace Culture - a theory-based study of his response to conflicts (LAS, 2022, pp. 468). What better gift could we offer him for his 207th birth anniversary! Don Bosco is popularly admired and known worldwide as a saint, priest, "father, friend and teacher of youth." However, no one has attempted a serious study of his traits of peace and his culture of peace, which he radiated to the thousands of people, who met him in person and through his letters and numerous publications. To confirm the validity of this original and so far unique choice, the author, Fr. Peter Gonsalves, SDB, takes an unconventional approach with his three distinct but interconnected strands of research. Indeed, the first part of the book presents Don Bosco's peace response to the various conflicts he faced in his life. The second perspective broadens its people's understanding of "peace" to embrace the scientifically accepted notion proposed by sociologist Johan Galtung. The final study, which constitutes the most important part of the book, explores the personal, social, political, cultural and transcendent aspects of the culture of peace in Don Bosco's daily life, highlighting its ever-present applicability in different contexts.