(ANS – Rome) – The formation session for new Provincial Superiors, which began on July 12 at Salesian Headquarters in Rome, concluded on Friday, July 24, 2026. The session ended with a Eucharistic celebration presided over by the Rector Major, Fr. Fabio Attard.
Two Weeks of Shared Formation
The session brought together nine new Provincials from different parts of the world: Fr. Ashley Miranda (INB), Fr. Peter Chinweike Morba (ANN), Fr. Racelis Amelito Mel (FIS), Fr. Gaston Harisoa J. (MDG), Fr. José Laventure Ignacio (AET), Fr. Dariusz Bartocha (PLS), Fr. Ronilo Javines (FIN), Fr. Domenico Saraniti (ISI), and Fr. Doss Kennedy Jegadoss (INT).
During the two-week formation program, participants explored key topics related to provincial governance, including the Rector Major’s six-year term, the Congregation’s legal framework, the animation and governance of the province, formation, youth ministry, the Salesian Family, religious identity and discipline, Salesian missions, social communication, and finance. The program also included cultural and spiritual visits, such as the Don Bosco Museum, the Pontifical Salesian University, the Vatican Library, and a guided tour titled Don Bosco in Rome.
During the session, each Provincial also met individually with the Rector Major, the Vicar of the Rector Major, and the Sector Councilors.
The Rector Major’s Homily: Shepherds “After God’s Own Heart”
In his homily at the closing Mass, the Rector Major reflected on the day’s readings—from the prophet Jeremiah and the parable of the sower in the Gospel of Matthew—to offer the new Provincials a meditation on the true meaning of authority in consecrated life.
Beginning with Jeremiah’s promise of “shepherds after my own heart… who will guide you with knowledge and understanding,” Fr. Attard emphasized that such wisdom flows from a heart conformed to God’s own heart, not merely from academic or technical competence. He reminded the Provincials that, before becoming sowers, they are first called to recognize themselves as soil. “Before leading, one must allow oneself to be led,” he said, warning that a leader who forgets to be, first and foremost, a listener to the Word risks becoming “an official who may be efficient, but is certainly fruitless.”
Using the four types of soil in the parable of the sower, the Rector Major identified four corresponding temptations that can undermine the exercise of authority: superficiality disguised as industriousness; initial enthusiasm without deep spiritual roots; the suffocation of the interior life by worries and the “allure of wealth”—understood not only as money, but also as the attraction of efficiency and measurable results; and, finally, the good soil, capable of listening, understanding, and bearing fruit.
Reflecting on the second image, he recalled the example of Don Bosco, who “weathered the storms because he had roots, not because he had fewer contradictions than we do.” Those roots, he said, were nourished through faithful prayer, the Eucharist lived rather than merely celebrated, daily meditation, and friendship with Christ.
Concluding his homily, the Rector Major pointed to Mary as the model of “good soil”—the one who listens, treasures, and ponders God’s Word in her heart, and in doing so brings Christ into the world. He invited the new Provincials to ask, during that very Eucharist, “for the grace of a plowed heart,” reminding them that the Lord “continues to sow in abundance, on all kinds of soil” and “has not ceased to trust” in them.
Quoting Jeremiah once more, he explained that the true fruit of pastoral leadership is not found in the expansion of structures, but in a communion among people that no longer requires “substitute signs.”
The celebration officially brought the formation program to a close after accompanying the nine new Provincials through the first weeks of their new ministry. They now return to their respective Provinces equipped with the spiritual, juridical, and pastoral tools shared during the session, which was organized by the Secretariat of the Vicar of the Rector Major.