Gianduzzo's religious journey began with his studies at a Salesian school in the places where St. John Bosco was born and lived; on 16 August 1952, he made his religious profession among the Salesians in Chieri, before the new Rector Major of the time, Fr Renato Ziggiotti, who, among other things, in 1924 had been the first Rector of the Don Bosco school in Pordenone.
In his 50 years with the Salesian community in the Friulian city, Silvano Gianduzzo was school secretary and dedicated himself to theatrical activity, teaching acting to thousands of middle school students. As well as this he helped with the weekly liturgical service at the Don Bosco parish in Pordenone, run by Fr Gaetano Finetto.
And then there was his the great passion, which he always cultivated: the collection of holy pictures and other sacred images. Thanks to numerous and generous donors, he was able to collect over 50,000 images, all catalogued and divided by theme: Jesus, Mary, saints, martyrs, founders, and so on. But also etchings, papyri, icons, woodcuts, lace, oriental embroidery on silk, three-dimensional images, Ethiopian paintings on cow skin and roots from Mexico, oriental artistic figures on rice stalks. There is, of course, no shortage of stamps, also divided according to the theme they illustrate (Christmas, Jesus, Our Lady, saints, cathedrals, characters, sports, art and many others).
With his precious collection, Gianduzzo set up numerous exhibitions in parishes, shrines and places of worship. Among others, the exhibition held in the chapel at the hospital in Pordenone was much appreciated: four panels with images on two themes: "Apostles among the poor and the sick" and "Heroic witnesses of faith in suffering". Next to the images chosen for these two themes is a short biographical profile of the key figure whose life embraces the cross of the disease, or of the one who helps that person carry its weight. The exhibition has now become a permanent one.
The travelling exhibition on Pope Luciani, John Paul I, on the other hand, has now reached its 20th stage. It has been to various locations, even outside the Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region. Last summer it was also possible to visit Erto, a town known for having been affected, with Longarone, by the disaster of the Vajont dam. It was then exhibited in Canale d 'Agordo, the birthplace of Pope Luciani.
On the occasion of his visit to the Salesian community in Pordenone, the current Rector Major of the Salesians, Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, inaugurated the exhibition dedicated to the theme of mission.
and now, finally, preparation is underway for images of the historical route of the "Don Bosco" of Pordenone, on the occasion of the commemoration of its Centenary (1924-2024).
