Our Founder Saint John Bosco

John Bosco was born in August, 1815, to the east of Turin. John Bosco had it in his mind from a very early age that he would dedicate his life to helping young people. He wanted to become a priest to help them morally and he wanted to help them educationally by assisting them to cope with the world around them. He was ordained in June, 1841, and began his work for the poor youth of the city of Turin. He met the viciousness of their lives with a strong gentleness and he eventually founded a religious order to do this work for young people. He gave his order the patronage of St Francis of Sales, the saint of gentleness. The men of this order became known as Salesians. Don Bosco died in 1888 and by that time he had established his Order all over the world, working for youth.