John Bosco was born in Turin, Italy in 1815. From an early age, he was drawn towards helping the poor and abandoned youth. In 1835 he entered the seminary and supported himself by working as a tailor, blacksmith, shoemaker, violinist, acrobat and magician. All this came in handy during his life time of working with youngsters. John Bosco was ordained a priest in 1841 and dedicated many years to start a movement that would one day reach out to millions of poor young people in every continent. The Salesian society was given permanent status within the Catholic Church in 1874. Don Bosco died in 1888 and was canonized in 1934 as the Apostle of Youth.