During the totalitarian regime, Benno Beneš was actively involved in secret Salesian activities for young people, after reunification he was behind the founding of the Salesian publishing house Portal, the social-theological school Jabok and the Salesian missions in Bulgaria.
He has been active in Teplice since 2003, where he has been leading the local Salesian community for years and has had a significant impact on it; since the early 1990's he has been involved in the development of the local Salesian ministry which without him would not have nearly the same background and could not serve as many people in the city. He was very active in restoring damaged relations between Germans and Czechs. Coming from a Czech-German family, he experienced the consequences of nationalist hatred in his youth. In 2015 he was awarded the Golden Dove of Peace for his work.