Free Republic

As a teenager in Mexico, Pascual Chavez asked his dying mother for money to buy a pair of basketball shoes. His mom agreed to give him the money if he became a priest. Today, at 59, Rector Major Chavez is the leader of the Salesians of Don Bosco, the second-largest Catholic order in the world, behind the Jesuits. He lives in Rome. His only superior is the pope. In his first visit here to the U.S. since becoming rector major in 2002, Chavez is touring the Salesians' Eastern United States Province for two weeks this month. Headquartered in New Rochelle,...