Sons of Divine Providence

The Sons of Divine Providence (FDP; Figli della Divina Provvidenza), or the Orionine Fathers, is a Roman Catholic religious institute founded in 1893 by Luigi Orione (1872–1940) in Turin, Italy. It is dedicated to helping the poor and is currently active in 23 nations.

The Sons of Divine Providence is a Roman Catholic religious institute founded in Italy in 1893 by Luigi Orione. Orione began his work with orphans and street children in the city of Tortona in north-west Italy while he was still a student. On October 15, 1895, Orione opened his first boarding school, titled the Little House of Divine Providence. A man of enormous energy, by the time of his death in 1940 Don Orione and his followers had established services for the care of elderly, disabled and disadvantaged people all over Italy, as well as in Poland, Brazil, Argentina and Palestine.

In 1913 began the activities of the missions outside Italy with the departure of a priest and two brothers to Brazil, immediately followed by other expeditions to Argentina and the Holy Land. Orione himself served as a missionary in Latin America (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile) in the years 1921-22 and 1934-37. In the 1920s and 1930s, while continuing assistance to youth with orphanages, agricultural schools and education institutions, the institute deepened the commitment to pastoral care to other categories of the needy; developed health care activity for people with severe mental and physical disabilities, and nursing homes for the elderly and lonely people.

The English Delegation "Mother of the Church", run presently by Father Malcolm George Dyer are present in Philippine, India, Jordan, Kenya, United Kingdom, Ireland, and in USA.

Saint Luigi Orione's motto, and that of the FDP, is: "Fare del bene a tutti, fare del bene sempre, del male mai a nessuno." ("Do good to all, help everyone, harm no one.")

As of 2016, the Sons of Divine Providence number 1023: three bishops, 728 priests, 82 brothers, and eight hermits. In formation there are 201 clerics and 19 brothers of temporary vows, and 45 novices. The FDP have centers in 296 localities in 32 nations.

In the United States, the headquarters of the congregation is at the National Shrine of the Madonna, located on a historic hill in East Boston, Massachusetts, known as Orient Heights.

...
Wikipedia