Salesian School in Odessa Expands

Salesian School in Odessa Expands

by Fr. Adam Nyk, SDB

(ANS – Odessa, Ukraine – July 14, 2025) – Despite the war in Ukraine, the Salesian community in Odessa continues its work. Taking advantage of the school’s summer break, work has begun on the construction of a new floor for classrooms and the re-roofing of the entire building.

The old roof was badly weathered and the school needed new space. In fact, given the growing demand from the population – which has increased because of the presence of war refugees from occupied areas – the Salesians decided to open a high school in addition to the elementary and middle schools, which have already existed for many years.

At the end of the works, there will be a large Salesian school center located in the middle of Odessa’s working-class neighborhoods, populated by numerous young people eager to study in a serene and peaceful atmosphere, permeated by Christian and human values in the style of Don Bosco.

This purely Salesian project was largely financed by Salesian headquarters, for whom everyone expressed great gratitude. “However,” they explain from Odessa, “we remain concerned about how to settle the finances to cover [all this], given the constant increase in the cost of building work in Ukraine. Here the Salesian community trusts in Divine Providence, which acts, as always, through people of goodwill.”

Once the works are completed and the war is over, all the faithful and friends of the Salesian Family will be invited to come and see not only the Salesian educational and pastoral activities but, it is hoped, also to spend a holiday period in a renovated and welcoming Odessa on the shores of the Black Sea.