CATHOLIC READINGS. - A popular periodical publication begun by St. John Bosco in Turin in 1853, initially in bimonthly installments, later becoming monthly.
The founder's aim was to nourish and defend the faith among the people, which was increasingly threatened by the spread of errors unleashed in Upper Italy following the promulgation of the Editto Albertino on press freedom (1847). Written in simple style, they contained exclusively religious matters, often of current interest. After Don Bosco's death (1888), the Catholic Readings did not perish; despite various crises, they have survived to the present day.
BIBL.: G. B. Lemoine, Memorie biografiche di d. Giov. Bosco, IV, S. Benigno Canavese 1904, pp. 523-31, 571-81.