ABOUT US

Saint Arnold Janssen (1837-1909) was born on November 5th, in Goch, Germany to a devout catholic couple, one of the eleven siblings. He was a great educationist and philanthropist, a man of prayer and service. His brilliance qualified him for professorship at the age of 22. The University of Berlin offered him a teaching position in the natural sciences. He rejected the prestigious offer. The glory and salary of a university position did not succeed in baiting him into the secure and serene existence of European intellectuals. He chose to be a priest, risking the restlessness of a life spent for the redemption of the many. At 24, the scientist became a priest, somehow reconciling the secular and the sacred. As a priest he served as a high-school teacher in mathematics and science. He is the founder of the society of the Divine Word or Societatis verbi Divini (SVD) in Latin, a Catholic International Society whose members are involved in education, social welfare, justice and peace, communication, medical care and spiritual development of the humankind in about 84 countries.