Saint John Bosco

Images of St John Bosco and the Salesian community

St John Bosco was born on August 16, 1815 and died on January 31, 1888. He was an Italian Catholic priest, educator and writer who put into practice the convictions of his religion, dedicating his life to the betterment and education of street children, juvenile delinquents, and other disadvantaged youth and employing teaching methods based on love rather than punishment, a method that is known as the preventive system. A follower of the spirituality and philosophy of Francis de Sales, Bosco dedicated his works to him when he founded the Society of St. Francis de Sales (more commonly known as the Salesians of Don Bosco). Together with St Maria Domenica Mazzarello, he founded the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, a religious congregation of nuns dedicated to the care and education of poor girls, and popularly known as Salesian Sisters. In 1875 he published Bollettino Salesiano Mensuale (A Salesian Monthly Bulletin) and it has remained in continuous publication, and is currently published in 50 different editions and 30 languages. He was canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1934.