Parrocchia San Giovanni Battista de La Salle

The parish was erected on 1 October of the Jubilee year 2000 by decree of Cardinal Vicar Camillo Ruini and is entrusted to the diocesan clergy of Rome. The first parish priest was Fr Ilija Perleta, from the Croatian archdiocese of Split-Makarska.
The boundaries, derived from the parishes B.V.Maria del Carmelo and S. Maria Mater Ecclesiae, include the neighbourhoods called Poggio Torrino and Torrino Nord. The main roads that connect the parish territory to the main Roman road network are: Via di Decima - leading to Via Ostiense on one side and Via Cristoforo Colombo on the other - and Viale della Grande Muraglia that connects with EUR.

The families in the neighbourhood are predominantly young couples with young children or even teenagers. The presence of numerous children and young people gives the parish a special educational vocation characteristic of its patron saint. The population totals around 12,000 inhabitants.

The population totals around 12,000 inhabitants.of Rome for the southern sector. Work continued for two years until the dedication of the church, which took place with Cardinal Vicar Agostino Vallini on 12 December 2009. Not even three years later, on 4 March 2012, the parish had the honour of receiving the pastoral visit of Pope Benedict XVI, who celebrated Holy Mass with the community led, at the time, by Fr Giampaolo Perugini.

The project is by architect Giuseppe Spina. The two buildings that make up the complex rest on a multi-storey churchyard, are low and spread out to contrast with the tall bell tower that, due to its position, acts as a hinge with the neighbourhood. The church has a semicircular ground plan with the entrance at right angles to the street. The presbytery houses the altar, the ambo and the presidential seat. The Blessed Sacrament is clearly visible to the entire assembly in the semicircle of the apse. On the right side of the presbytery is the baptismal font.

Also inside the Church, in the apse, is a prestigious painting by Caffaro depicting St John Baptist De La Salle, donated to the Diocese of Rome by the Brothers of the Christian Schools, the religious congregation founded by the universal patron saint of educators. Under the altar, besides the relic of St. John Baptist De La Salle, there are also: 1. a relic of St. John Mary Vianney (for the current Year of the Priesthood proclaimed by the Pope) 2. a relic of St. Jeanne Frances De Chantal (for the day on which the dedication of the new Church took place) 3. a relic of Pope John XXIII.