 On 9 January 1914 - at the behest of Cardinal Agostino Richelmy - he was made the Superior General of his late brother's order.Boccardo also underwent pilgrimages to both Lourdes and Rome and also travelled south to Naples and then up north to both Lucca and Florence.On 3 December 1919 he was made the director of the Institute for the Blind which was at the time in grave debt.