About the Salesians


Don Bosco gathered a number of priests and lay people together to found a religious congregation in the Catholic Church. He called this congregation the Salesian Society. It was named after St. Francis de Sales who was known for his kind and gentle manner, a trait which Don Bosco wanted his Salesians to acquire. He also chose Mary, Help of Christians, as the patroness of the Salesian Society.


Since that time, a large spiritual family has grown out of Don Bosco’s experience. Numerous groups look to him as a spiritual father as they try to spread the Gospel throughout the world. The Salesian Society represents the group which Don Bosco personally established to launch new approaches in new initiatives for the education of youth. But there are now many groups in the Salesian Family that have a wide influence in the world: the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (Salesian Sisters), Salesian Cooperators, Past Pupils of Don Bosco (Don Bosco Alumni), and Don Bosco Volunteers. These groups are at work on behalf of young people in every corner of the world.

All the groups within Don Bosco’s spiritual Family share his educational method, popularly called "the preventive system". It is not a system at all, but a lifestyle, an educational approach, a pastoral method, and a spiritual heritage. Significantly, Don Bosco’s example and educational methods have inspired a Gospel lifestyle which leads to holiness of life, as witnessed in the lives of saints who have embraced Don Bosco's experience and made it their own.

Salesians participate in many initiatives on behalf of young people.

The Salesians can be found worldwide in many different initiatives on behalf of young people: schools, oratories, youth centers, technical and professional training centers, parishes, foreign missions, and activities in the realm of mass media and social communications.

Salesian House, South Orange New Jersey

History of the Province of St. Philip The Apostle New Rochelle, NY