June 23: Saint Joseph Cafasso
The “Priest of the Gallows”
He accompanied no fewer than 57 condemned prisoners to the gallows, hearing their confessions and giving them Communion to support them in their final moments. For this reason, he became known as the “Priest of the Gallows.” His concern for prisoners was part of his deep love for the marginalized and the most in need, to whom he sought to show the merciful face of God.
This was the defining trait of Joseph Cafasso, born on January 15, 1811, in Castelnuovo d’Asti (today known as Castelnuovo Don Bosco), the same hometown as Saint John Bosco. He was the third of four children. His sister Marianna, the youngest, became the mother of Blessed Joseph Allamano, founder of the Consolata Missionaries and Missionary Sisters.
Though frail in constitution and short in stature—Don Bosco once said he was “almost entirely voice”—Cafasso had great spiritual strength. He was ordained a priest on September 21, 1833, in Turin. The following year, he met Fr. Luigi Guala, a notable theologian with deep ties to Jesuit spirituality. In 1834, Cafasso entered the Ecclesiastical College of St. Francis of Assisi, where he would remain for the rest of his life as a teacher and spiritual guide.
He taught moral theology and helped train future confessors and spiritual directors to act with balance—conveying both the mercy of God and the seriousness of sin.
His secret was simple: to live each day for the glory of God and for the good of souls. He was a man deeply devoted to prayer and charity. While well-versed in theology, he also understood people’s real-life problems and sought to help them like a true shepherd.
Practical by nature, he disliked complicated theories and fought against the rigid moralism of Jansenism. His aim was to shape every priest into a model of holiness—pure, educated, devout, prudent, and full of charity. He often said that a priest’s first duty was to become a saint in order to help others become saints.
He was also the confessor of the noblewoman Giulia Falletti di Barolo and trained many future saints, including Saint John Bosco, Blessed Francesco Faà di Bruno, and Blessed Clemente Marchisio.
Cafasso is considered one of the leading figures of the so-called “Turin of the Social Saints”—a time marked by numerous religious leaders committed to addressing the pressing social justice issues of their day. Turin, at the time, was undergoing major upheaval: political tensions tied to the Italian unification movement, the growing influence of secular and anti-clerical elites, and rapid industrialization, which drew many peasants into the city and led to confusion, poverty, and social unrest.
He had great compassion for these outcasts and worked tirelessly for the conversion of sinners. He regularly visited Turin’s prisons, sometimes staying through the night. He would bring small gifts—like tobacco or cigars—to distract inmates from their harsh conditions, but more importantly, he offered spiritual support, even helping hardened criminals to repent. He had an extraordinary gift for reading hearts and treated every prisoner with dignity and respect.
Joseph Cafasso died on June 23, 1860. His remains rest in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Consolation in Turin. On June 22, 1947, Pope Pius XII canonized him, and on April 9, 1948, named him the patron saint of prisons. That same Pope, in his Apostolic Exhortation Menti Nostrae on September 23, 1950, presented him as a model for priests engaged in the ministry of confession and spiritual direction.