Salesians of Don Bosco
Don Bosco
John Bosco was born in Turin, Italy in 1815. From an early age, he was drawn towards helping the poor and abandoned youth. In 1835 he entered the seminary and supported himself by working as a tailor, blacksmith, shoemaker, violinist, acrobat and magician. All this came in handy during his life time of working with youngsters. John Bosco was ordained a priest in 1841 and dedicated many years to start a movement that would one day reach out to millions of poor young people in every continent. The Salesian society was given permanent status within the Catholic Church in 1874. Don Bosco died in 1888 and was canonized in 1934 as the Apostle of Youth.
Don Bosco & the worldwide network
Journeying with the Young
We are the Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), a religious order of men, working in the south of India with its headquarters in Bangalore. We have our missions in the two states of Kerala and Karnataka. In imitation of the compassionate love of the Sacred Heart, we commit ourselves to the integral and inclusive development of children and youth, especially from the poor and the marginalized sections of the society.
Our work involves the rescue, rehabilitation and education of children and youth. We provide them with food, shelter and education through the shelters that we operate (13 in Karnataka and 9 in Kerala). Other aspects of our work include rescuing and rehabilitation of children from child labor, child marriage, ensuring education to children from economically and socially backward classes and tribal population, prompt intervention during natural disasters, supporting the formation of seminarians and care of aged priests. Several of our parishes focus directly on evangelization and integral development of the human person. Thus, we take the Gospel to those who have never heard of it.
We, the Salesians of Don Bosco, formally known as the Society of St Francis of Sales, are recognized in the Church as a clerical religious institute of pontifical right. We are a Religious Congregation of men devoted to apostolic and missionary activities and to the many different works inspired by Christian charity, but especially to the service of young people, in particular, those who are poor and disadvantaged. Our history began, we may say, when little Johnny Bosco had a very strange dream at the age of 9. However, today, the society has over 14,000 members working in 132 countries. Through a global network of educational and social service organization it currently caters to over 9 million young people the world over.
The Salesian Charism
The Salesian charism consists in being signs and bearers of God’s love in the world in imitation of St. John Bosco. In keeping with his “politics of the Our Father” St. John Bosco worked for the total well-being of all people but with an evident predilection for the young and those more in need. Thus the Salesian charism remains open to all God’s children and incarnates itself in varying forms among all peoples, in all cultures and through changing times and circumstances. Through ceaseless work and judicious temperance, it constantly challenges one to search out the more effective and creative options which will draw people to God and to an experience of His love.
