The Founder of the Salvatorians -
The Servant of God, Francis Mary of the Cross Jordan.

Father Jordan was born on June 16, 1848, in a poor, rural family in Gurtweil near Waldshut (Baden, Germany, the archdiocese of Freiburg). He died in Tafers near Freiburg (Switzerland) on September 8, 1918. From an early age, he had a desire to become a priest. He had to wait quite a long time to become a priest due to difficult family situations. He worked physically as a capable and respected craftsman. He had a tenacity to the desired goal. At the age of 26 (1874), he began his studies of theology. At the age of 30 (1878), he was ordained a priest. At that time, the Church in Germany experienced a difficult period of time called the Kulturkampf.

Father Jordan received a scholarship from the Auxiliary Bishop of Freiburg to study oriental languages in Rome. But as a seminarian, he felt that God was called him to help found the Church's apostolic work. During this journey, he realized that God was calling him to found new apostolic work by fully engaging in the apostolic mission of the Church with the help of all possible ways and means. When he returned to the Eternal City, he founded the Apostolic Teaching Society on December 8th, 1881, which was eventually turned into a religious institute called the Society of the Divine Savior.

In his work, he wanted to unite all the Catholic forces all over the world with one specific purpose: to keep, defend, and extend the Catholic faith throughout the world. Men and women, priests and laity, men of know and common people, the organizers of a variety of sectors of life: all together by varying degrees of affiliation to the institute, should unite in a predetermined work, the common apostolic work. On December 8th, 1888, with the help and participation of the BI. Mary of the Apostles, he founded a female branch of the Assembly, called the Salvatorian Sisters. Father Jordan was the first superior General of the Salvatorians. While permanently staying at the main house in Rome, he founded numerous apostolic institutions in Europe, Asia, and American with great courage. The last three years of this life were spent in Switzerland. It was a very hidden life, full of great suffering. He died at the age of 70 after being severely sick for six months. In 1956, his remains were transported to Rome.

His process of beatification is in progress. On January 14, 2011, the Holy Father Benedict XVI has instructed the Congregation for the promulgation of the decree on the heroic virtues of the Servant of God, Francis of the Cross (in the world: John the Baptist Jordan), priest, founder of the Society of the Divine Savior and the Congregation of the Sisters of the Divine Savior, born on June 16, 1848 in Gurtweil (Germany) and died on September 8, 1918 in Tafers (Switzerland).

The Community in Verona