SDB and FMA Councils Meet

SDB and FMA General Councils Meet for Fellowship and Sharing

(ANS – Rome – July 23, 2026) – On the evening of July 22, the general councils of the Salesians of Don Bosco and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians met at the Salesian headquarters for a time of fellowship and sharing, now a regular half-yearly event between the 2 governing bodies of their respective religious families.

The participants were welcomed by the rector major, Fr. Fabio Attard, who emphasized the value of the meeting not merely as a milestone, but as confirmation of a journey of charismatic closeness, capable of generating tangible benefits, including during visits to Salesian communities around the world.

Mother Chiara Cazzuola, mother general of the FMAs, then addressed the gathering, expressing her gratitude for the welcome and recalling the importance of these meetings not only as an exchange of shared journeys and objectives, but above all as a testimony to communion, which is deeply cherished by both the Institute and the Congregation. Mother Chiara highlighted how these occasions help regional and provincial communities to find ways of sharing even at a local level, safeguarding the charism as a treasure to be nurtured together.

The vicar of the rector major, Fr. Stefano Martoglio, then introduced the session’s program, which focused primarily on the theme of the forthcoming FMA general chapter, with a presentation followed by a period of comments and discussion. Later, an update was provided on the ongoing work of the commission established by Mother Chiara and Fr. Fabio to foster synergy between the Pontifical Faculty the Auxilium and the Pontifical Salesian University.

After the celebration of Vespers, the participants listened to the traditional Good Nights.

Mother Chiara urged everyone to “read the reality,” citing the example of Don Bosco and Mother Mazzarello, both of whom were able to discern their own vocation by observing the context in which they lived. She urged them not to be discouraged by the complexity of the current global situation, to keep alive the vision of the salvation of young people, and to ask the Lord for the grace to find appropriate answers, starting from the concrete reality of the communities, the resources, and the numbers available.

The rector major offered a reflection drawing on the dialog between Jesus and Peter in the Gospel, on the meaning of following Christ today: renouncing oneself, taking up one’s cross, and journeying toward a personal conversion that’s the authentic foundation of all pastoral conversion.

Referring also to Don Bosco’s dream of the rose-covered arbor (1847), Fr. Attard recalled that fidelity to the Constitutions – and therefore to the Gospel – remains the essential path to securing a future for the Congregation, while warning against individualism and a “pastoral worldliness” that risk substituting the pursuit of personal gratification for true dedication to young people.

The meeting concluded with a fraternal dinner on the terrace of the generalate.