General Council 2026 Work Begins at Salesian GHQ

General Council 2026 Work Begins at Salesian GHQ

(ANS – Rome – March 11, 2026) – The first plenary session of the general council for 2026 opened on the morning of Monday, March 9, at Salesian Headquarters in Rome and will continue until April 17. With this meeting, the members of the general council, led by the rector major, Fr. Fabio Attard, are embarking for the first time on a new cycle of assembly meetings, no longer on a half-yearly basis (summer-winter), but on a 4-monthly basis (March-April; July-August; November-December), with shorter but more frequent meetings, aimed at giving a renewed and more agile rhythm to the most important decisions of animation and government, which require the presence of the entire general council.

The general daily program

The session includes almost 30 days of work, divided between council meetings, community moments, and institutional visits, and the presence of all the councilors at the Generalate for over 5 weeks guarantees the continuity of discussion and community discernment that characterizes the working method of the rector major and his council.

The specific program runs over 6 weeks, with daily morning and afternoon council meetings, interrupted only by the liturgical solemnities of Lent and Easter. There will also be opportunities for fellowship and fraternity with other communities in Rome, both Salesian and non-Salesian, and in the week after Easter, starting on Easter Monday, there will also be community retreat, led by the rector major emeritus, Fr. Pascual Chavez.

Ordinary activities

As usual, the plenary session will focus on 3 fundamental areas: the appointment of new provincials; the study of the reports of the extraordinary visitations; and issues of particular relevance and importance for the institutional life of the Congregation.

On the first point, the agenda concerns the appointments of superiors of: Argentina North, United States West, Central Africa, Piedmont-Valle d'Aosta, and Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

As for the extraordinary visitations carried out by the councilors in the previous months to be evaluated, there are 8, concerning: Portugal, Warsaw, Ireland, Recife, Peru, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, Equatorial Tropical Africa, Ethiopia-Eritrea, and Sri Lanka.

Through the study of these reports, the general council has at its disposal a fundamental tool for gaining direct knowledge of, and thus accompanying, the local realities of the various provinces and visitations.

As for other strategic issues for the journey of the Congregation, topics of study include consultation on the canonical form of the UPS vice province and related discernment, the pastoral projects of the council, updating the Colle Don Bosco and Salesian Places project, the Statute and Regulations of the Central Archives, the sdb.org website, and the final balance sheet.

The council's upcoming commitments

At the end of this plenary session, the general council will meet again for the summer plenary session scheduled for August 6-7.