General Council Session Ends

General Council Session Ends
Rector Major Focuses on Call to Hope and Authenticity

(ANS – Rome – April 17, 2026) – The spring plenary session of the Salesian general council, which began on March 9, concluded on April 16 at the Salesian headquarters. As is customary at the end of each session, the rector major delivered his Good Nite to the community members of the Generalate, sharing a summary of the council’s experience and offering several spiritual and pastoral reflections for the journey of the Congregation. The session lasted 6 weeks, one week longer than usual. It also included the annual spiritual retreat, held in Nemi.

In his address, Fr. Fabio Attard first expressed his gratitude to the members of the general council, together with the collaborators who accompanied the work during this intense and fruitful period.

A Week Marked by the “Will to Conversion”

The rector major devoted his 1st reflection to the retreat, describing it as “a very significant week,” lived in the spirit of Art. 91 of the Constitutions: the “will to conversion.”

Accompanied by Fr. Pascual Chavez, rector major emeritus, the participants reflected on the theme “Rediscovering Ourselves,” accepting the invitation to listen attentively to our times. Such listening – he underlined – requires a heart ready to go out of itself, without fear or hesitation: “Dilexit nos. The heart beyond the obstacle.”

In a historical context marked by deep tensions and rapid change, the Salesian pastoral journey often appears countercultural. For this reason, the rector major affirmed, the challenge of hope is decisive – not an ingenuous optimism, but a theological virtue that shapes the heart and gives meaning and joy to the mission.

At the center of this perspective lies the inseparable bond between Religious Life and the Word of God. Without the Logos with a capital “L” – the Word of Jesus – only our own limited human word remains. For the Salesians of Don Bosco, intimacy with the Word is indispensable nourishment and the guarantee of a balance that is both delicate and urgently needed.

Interior Freedom, an Evangelical Gaze and Active Hope

Sharing some of the guidance offered to the members of the general council, the rector major highlighted 4 fundamental attitudes:

• to ask the Lord Jesus for the grace of interior freedom, dwelling in silence in His presence;
• to look at history with the eyes of Jesus, allowing our hearts to be touched by His Sacred Heart;
• to live conversion as a journey marked by hope rooted in history, translated concretely through the lived experience of the Preventive System as a critical force capable of generating a civilization of love;
• to ensure that the Word of God becomes the source, nourishment, light, and strength of personal life and mission, to be “broken” and shared with the young.

Only from intimacy with the Word made flesh, he reaffirmed, can the Salesian vocation mature authentically.

In a “Change of Epoch”: Being Informed and Credible

In the final part of his message, the rector major broadened his reflection to the global context, describing it as a true “change of epoch,” marked by conflicts and tensions that profoundly challenge Christian conscience.

Faced with this reality, the Salesian headquarters – he stated – cannot limit itself to commenting on events. He therefore invited the confreres to adopt 2 defining attitudes:

1. To be well informed, studying and understanding in depth what is happening in the world, so as to help the provinces develop a global vision and incarnate the charism within increasingly complex cultural contexts.
2. To live consistently in humility and poverty, together with serious study and attentive accompaniment of the provinces, as choices that make the service of the central government credible.

“How we live is what we communicate,” he reminded them. “And how we live speaks louder than what we say.” Hence the invitation to safeguard and promote at the Salesian headquarters a simple and sober lifestyle, without compromise.

“Martyrs of Otherness” and Salesians in Places of Risk

In conclusion, the rector major recalled the witness of the 19 martyrs of Algeria, including the monks of Tibhirine, described as “martyrs of otherness” for having chosen to remain with the Algerian people until the end.

Referring to the powerful image from the dialog between a monk and a village girl – “We are the birds, you are the tree” – he emphasized the value of faithful presence, capable of offering shelter, protection, future, and hope.

Today, he noted, the Congregation is present in 10 particularly challenging contexts marked by conflict and danger, where Salesians are true “martyrs of education and evangelization.” To them goes the human and spiritual closeness of the entire Congregation.

Their witness, he concluded, calls everyone to live the Salesian vocation authentically and without compromise, like “trees” that safeguard and nurture the hope of the young.

With this invitation to conversion, hope, and coherence of life, the rector major entrusted to the community of the Salesian headquarters and to the whole Congregation the task of continuing the journey with renewed fidelity to the Gospel and to the charism of Don Bosco.