ABSTRACT
As has happened with other “popular saints,” the mortal remains of Don Bosco were the object of celebration and veneration by huge crowds of devotees. In particular, the “canonical recognition” of his body (which took place on 16 May 1929, the eve of his beatification) and its subsequent translation were occasions for enormous collective ceremonies attended by hundreds of thousands of people. Based on extensive documentation, this chapter aims to investigate some aspects of this “use of the body of a saint” in order to assimilate the principal religious, political, cultural and social responses to it.
