(ANS – Rome) – The General Council’s Summer Plenary Session, which began on July 6, concluded this Thursday, August 6, 2026, at the Salesian Headquarters in Rome. As is customary at the end of the proceedings, the Rector Major, Fr. Fabio Attard, addressed the Sacred Heart Community with his “Goodnight,” sharing an overview of the work carried out and two spiritual reflections drawn from Pope Leo XIV’s recent encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas.
This was the second session of the General Council in 2026, in accordance with the new working method adopted by the Congregation: three sessions of five weeks each, with an additional week in the first session dedicated to the Spiritual Exercises. Over the course of the month, the Council tackled a packed agenda that included the appointment of new Provincials and Superiors, the examination of reports relating to Extraordinary Visitations, various topics for discussion—including consultation on the Pontifical Salesian University, the convening of Provincial Chapters, the preparation of the Team Visits, the Council’s Pastoral Projects, and the Statutes of the Curatoriums for the Houses of Formation—as well as financial matters, the formation course for new Provincials, and the monthly recollection led by Cardinal Baldassare Reina.
A Working Method That Bears Fruit
Opening his address, the Rector Major first expressed his gratitude to the members of the General Council and, by extension, to all those who form part of its teams or who support the work of the Generalate on a daily basis. The new working method, he observed, involves everyone whenever the Council meets, calling for the time spent together to be put to good use through the study of issues of regional interest and the support of processes that strengthen synergy between the various Sectors.
In light of his own experience, Fr. Attard noted with satisfaction that this journey is already bearing fruit, even though it requires “an extra measure of commitment and energy.” He then expressed his appreciation and gratitude to the Councilors and to the staff: “Without the contribution of each and every one of you,” he said, “this journey would not exist or would be far more fragile.”
Called to Choose: Babel or Jerusalem
The heart of the “Goodnight” was devoted to two reflections drawn from Pope Leo XIV’s Magnifica Humanitas, which—as the Rector Major said—are capable of shedding light on the service of governance and animation within the Congregation.
Referring to the first paragraph of the encyclical, Fr. Attard recalled the Pope’s invitation to recognize that humanity today finds itself “faced with a decisive choice: to erect a new Tower of Babel or to build the city where God and humanity dwell together.”
For those dedicated to the education and evangelization of young people, he emphasized, these words call first and foremost for serious discernment, capable of going beyond a mere reaction to emergencies—the very same kind of discernment that, ever since the days of the Convitto, St. Joseph Cafasso helped Don Bosco to practice in relation to the city and the young people who lived there. Referring to the two biblical images put forward in the encyclical—the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:1–9) and the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem (Neh. 2–6)—the Rector Major described Babel as the project of a humanity seeking stability and power through uniformity, “a work conceived without reference to God,” which sacrifices people’s dignity to efficiency. Set against this is Jerusalem, a city to be rebuilt not from a position of comfort, but from the ruins, with the courage of those who still believe a future of communion is possible.
Nehemiah, a Model of Discernment and Shared Mission
The Rector Major then focused on the figure of Nehemiah, whom the encyclical presents as a model for action: before taking action, he fasts, prays, and intercedes for the people, and only afterward does he silently survey the ruined areas. It is from this inner grounding, Fr. Attard explained, that the ability to look with hope even upon the ruined city arises—an inner journey that, in the life of Don Bosco, finds a parallel in his “well-established familiarity with the extraordinary,” nourished by faith, hope, and charity from the moment of his baptism.
Nehemiah, the Rector Major continued, does not impose solutions from above: he gathers the families together, listens to their fears, coordinates their efforts, and entrusts each person with a section of the wall to rebuild, showing that the city is reborn thanks to the “shared responsibility of the whole people.”
Drawing on this example, Fr. Attard invited the Community first and foremost to cultivate their relationship with God and the purification of their intentions, and then to live out the mission as a shared endeavor, in which no one can rely solely on themselves.
In conclusion, the Rector Major reiterated that, every day, in our personal and community lives as well as in our pastoral work, we are called to choose between the “Babel syndrome” and the “way of Nehemiah.” As educators and pastors, he said, quoting the encyclical, there is only one possible choice: that which involves “building together, transforming diversity into a resource and making listening and dialogue the common ground on which to foster justice and fraternity,” for the good of young people.
Leaving a more in-depth exploration of the further insights offered by Magnifica Humanitas for another time, Fr. Attard concluded his address to the Community at the Central Office, bringing to a close a plenary session characterized, once again, by communion and shared responsibility in service to Don Bosco’s charism.