La Salle Italy

The Brothers of the Christian Schools are committed to the education and Christian formation of young people. In Italy, they are present with 20 educational institutions at various levels, ranging from early childhood to upper secondary education, including second-chance schools, a boarding school in Paderno del Grappa, and two residential facilities in Milan and Turin. Currently, there are about 110 Brothers active in Italy, alongside nearly 1,000 employees and approximately 7,000 students who benefit from their educational program.

The lay religious Congregation was founded in 1682 in Reims by Saint John Baptist de La Salle with the aim of providing free education to children from the poorest families of France at that time. De La Salle asked his “Brothers” for total commitment to this mission, even to the point of renouncing the priesthood and the study of Latin, which was then considered a pathway to ordination. This choice constituted a true “vow to teach the poor free of charge.”

The Saint’s innovative insights—such as the establishment of teacher-training schools, the simultaneous teaching method, the use of the vernacular instead of Latin, and the prohibition of corporal punishment—introduced educational approaches that are considered precursors of modern pedagogy. In addition to primary schools, De La Salle founded Sunday schools for young workers and the first boarding schools for students, including those that welcomed groups of Irish exiles.

Although the ban on Latin attracted criticism from contemporary intellectuals (in Italy the Brothers were long referred to as “Ignorantelli”), it oriented their work toward practicality and concreteness. For example, early forms of Nautical Institutes were established in Calais and Saint-Malo, and accounting courses were introduced in regions with strong commercial activity.

After being suppressed during the French Revolution, the Congregation was reinstated by Napoleon and grew rapidly, so much so that by the late nineteenth century the number of Brothers increased from 160 to nearly 15,000. The secularization laws of 1904, which led to the closure of Catholic schools, caused the Congregation to spread throughout the world. The number of religious reached its peak in 1966, after which the decline in vocations led to a gradual decrease. Nevertheless, the educational works have been preserved through the involvement of many lay Lasallians in leadership and teaching roles.

Today, the Brothers are present in 85 countries worldwide, serving 1 million students. They operate 912 institutions and involve approximately 63,000 religious and lay collaborators. In an era in which public education is generally accessible to all, the Brothers are exploring new ways to continue the work of their Founder among young people. Their choice to share in poverty now also leads them to work outside traditional school settings, supporting young people in difficulty, serving in developing countries, and working in the outskirts of major cities.

The seed planted more than 300 years ago by Saint John Baptist de La Salle has borne fruit in the Church with 12 saints and 23 blesseds, as well as thousands of other extraordinary men and educators. In Italy, among many others, we recall Brother Teodoreto Garberoglio, founder of a House of Charity for Arts and Trades that today stands as a highly regarded model of vocational education in Piedmont and beyond, and Brother Angelino Guiot, listed in the Righteous Among the Nations for saving his Jewish students by defying the SS during the Second World War in Rhodes.