SOCIETÀ DEL DIVIN SALVATORE (S. D. S.). — Religious congregation of simple vows, founded in Rome by Fr. Jordan (v.) on 8 December 1881.
of libraries, etc.: in a word, of every initiative useful for the wider dissemination of the language and culture. The committees within the country—supported by student, women’s, and workers’ subcommittees—through various activities aim to multiply enrolments in the Society, so that the central headquarters may have the funds necessary to expand the work of the Committees abroad. The «Dante» implements special measures on behalf of emigrants, Julian and Dalmatian refugees, inhabitants of the border regions, and the dissemination of Italian books beyond the frontier. The members of the «Dante» meet annually in congress to examine the report and the financial statement of the association and to conduct the periodic election of the president and members of the Central Council, which is the governing body of the association.
Its purpose is to form priest-apostles for the defence and propagation of the Catholic religion. The «Monthly Priestly Day» originated with this Society and has now officially entered the liturgy with the Mass of «Jesus Christ, the Supreme and Eternal Priest». On 27 May 1905, Blessed Pius X granted the decree of praise, and on 8 March 1912 he approved it definitively.
At present the Society is spread throughout many countries of Europe, South and North America, where it has a mission among Blacks and Indians; in Asia, the apostolic prefecture of Shaowis is entrusted to its care. It is divided into 10 provinces and 2 pro-provinces: it has 587 priests, 209 professed clerics, 306 lay brothers, 61 clerical novices, 19 novice lay brothers, 1038 clerical candidates, and 33 lay-brother candidates, for a total of 2253 members.
Among the notable figures of this Society are Fr. Bonaventura Lüthen, the founder’s faithful collaborator; Fr. Pancrazio Pfeiffer, its first superior general, who propagated it and gave it strong impetus; Fr. Evaristo Mader, a well-known biblical archaeologist, director of the Oriental Institute of the «Gürrea Gesellschaft» and discoverer of biblical Mamre, Abraham’s tomb, and the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves; Fr. Cristoforo Becker, founder of the first Catholic medical-missionary institute at Würzburg; and Fr. Otto Hopfenmüller, who distinguished himself in the struggle against the Kulturkampf and founded the mission of Assam, India. The General Curia and the International College of Studies are in Rome, Via della Conciliazione 51.