Salesians of Don Bosco
The Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), formally known as the Society of Saint Francis de Sales (Latin: Societas Sancti Francisci Salesii), is a religious congregation of men in the Catholic Church, founded in 1859 by the Italian priest John Bosco to help poor and migrant youngsters during the Industrial Revolution. The congregation was named after Francis de Sales, a 17th-century bishop of Geneva.
This article is about the religious order. For schools bearing the name, see Don Bosco School (disambiguation).Abbreviation
SDB
Salesians of Don Bosco
December 18, 1859
Clerical Religious Congregation of Pontifical Right
Rome, Italy
14,614 (128 bishops, 14,056 priests and 430 novices)
Francesco Cereda, SDB
The Salesians' charter describes the society's mission as "the Christian perfection of its associates obtained by the exercise of spiritual and corporal works of charity towards the young, especially the poor, and the education of boys to the priesthood".[1] Its associated women's institute is the Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco, while the lay movement is the Association of Salesian Cooperators.
Works[edit]
Salesian communities primarily operate shelters for homeless or at-risk youths; schools; technical, vocational, and language instruction centers for youths and adults; and boys' clubs and community centers. In some areas they run parish churches. Salesians are also active in publishing and other public communication activities, as well as mission work, especially in Asia (Siberia - in the Yakutsk area), Africa, and South America (Yanomami). The Salesian Bulletin is now published in fifty-two editions, in thirty languages.
In 1988, the Salesians branched to create the Salesian Youth Movement. Then in the 1990s, the Salesians launched new works in the area of tertiary education, and today have a network of over 58 colleges and universities. The official university of the Salesian Society is the Salesian Pontifical University in Rome.
A number of schools and churches established under the Salesians have been at the center of child sex abuse scandals, including Mary Help of Christians in Tampa, Florida.[6] Due to ongoing sexual assault lawsuits and settlements, several boarding schools were closed.[6]
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