Rector Major, Salesian World News

“Gospel Rest as a Grace for Those in Leadership”: Mid-Term Meeting of Provincial Superiors with the Rector Major Begins in Turin

(ANS – Turin – September 14, 2026) – Fifteen Salesian Provincials, now halfway through their six-year terms and representing the eight Salesian Regions, are gathered at the Salesian Mother House in Valdocco, Turin, for a welcome pause of rest, reflection, and renewal. Leading them through this time of rejuvenation is the Rector Major himself, Fr. Fabio Attard, assisted by his Vicar, Fr. Stefano Martoglio.

Participants and Program of Activities

The meeting of the Provincials who have reached the halfway point of their terms, scheduled from Sunday, September 13, through Tuesday, September 22, 2026, is attended by:

  • Fr. Anacleto Pires, Superior of the Vice Province of East Timor-Timor-Leste (TLS)
  • Fr. James Briody, Superior of the Province of Great Britain (GBR)
  • Fr. Clive Telles, Superior of the Province of Panjim, India (INP)
  • Fr. Julio Navarro Mora, Superior of the Central American Province (CAM)
  • Fr. Marcelo Farfán, Superior of the Ecuador Province (ECU)
  • Fr. Anthony Boonlert, Superior of the Thailand Province (THA)
  • Fr. Michael Mbandama, Superior of the Zambia-Malawi-Zimbabwe Vice Province (ZMB)
  • Fr. Bosco Lourdusamy, Superior of the Chennai, India Province (INM)
  • Fr. Ricardo Cwendrych, Superior of the Porto Alegre, Brazil Province (BPA)
  • Fr. Juan Pablo Alcas, Superior of the Province of Peru (PER)
  • Fr. Václav Klement, Superior of the Vice Province of Southern Africa (AFM)
  • Fr. Fernando Miranda, Superior of the Province of Spain-Mary Help of Christians (SMX)
  • Fr. Aurélien Mukangwa, Superior of the Vice Province of Congo, Africa (ACC)
  • Fr. Giampaolo Roma, Superior of the Province of Southern Italy (IME)
  • Fr. Tarcízio Morais, Superior of the Province of Portugal (POR)

Following the purely introductory afternoon session on Sunday, September 13, the meeting’s activities began on the morning of Monday, September 14, with the communal recitation of Morning Prayer and a meditation led by Fr. Attard on “Evangelical Rest as a Grace for Those Who Lead.”

The day continued with a presentation of the Core Group for the 29th General Chapter and the schedule for individual meetings with the Rector Major and his Vicar, as well as time for personal reflection for the Provincials present. The day concluded with an afternoon session of shared reflection and Evening Prayer in common.

Over the coming days, the structure of the activities will remain more or less the same, with a keynote address in the morning, followed by individual time and concluding with an evening sharing session.

Among the other topics to be addressed are:

  • The six-year term for 2025–2031
  • The role of the Family in accompanying young people
  • Don Bosco’s proposal for holiness and ecclesial life at Valdocco
  • Self-care and leadership
  • The spiritual journey of Mother Mazzarello
  • Youth ministry and vocations

As usual, there will be no shortage of Eucharistic celebrations and communal religious services, as well as opportunities for sharing and fraternity. Participants will also have the opportunity to make the most of Piedmont’s artistic, cultural, ecclesial, and Salesian heritage, including visits to Chieri, Mornese, and Nizza Monferrato, the Museum of the Shroud, and the Royal Museums.

Evangelical Rest as Interpreted by the Rector Major

To set all the work on the right path, during the morning meditation on the first day, the Rector Major drew the attention of his confreres to the theme of Gospel rest, in light of the Gospel passage in which Jesus invites his disciples, having returned from their mission, to withdraw to a quiet place with him and rest (Mk 6:30–32).

In analyzing this passage, Don Bosco’s 11th Successor saw, first and foremost, an invitation to pause and recognize “a liberating truth: the work is His, not ours.” Faced with the suspicion, “never admitted, that if we stop everything will collapse,” rest is first and foremost an act of faith. It also reminds those in leadership roles within the Church that “the Lord is the true protagonist of the mission, and that we are servants, not masters, of the vineyard.”

The Rector Major then emphasized Jesus’ invitation to withdraw “to a quiet place.” This movement, which is not so much physical as mental, serves to find the solitude necessary to have “the courage to be alone with oneself and with God, without the adrenaline of ministry, without the constant feedback from others which, more often than not, confirms us in our role and spares us from coming face to face with ourselves.”

Such solitude also entails risks because, in that silence, “hidden struggles, unhealed wounds, and the questions that our busyness allowed us to put off” may emerge. Yet the danger of not having that solitude is worse still: failing to hear God’s voice.

Continuing his reflection, Fr. Attard also noted the context of the Gospel passage: the disciples were returning from their mission. This, too, is not merely a chronological detail but an indication of a further point: “success, no less than hardship, can lead us away from what is essential.”

Jesus, therefore, invites the disciples to pause at the height of their human success—not to dampen their enthusiasm, but “to rediscover their center,” because the one thing that is necessary “is not one’s role, nor one’s projects, however good they may be: it is a living relationship with the Lord.”

Gospel-inspired rest is, then, that time in life when the seeds sown by human beings grow through the Lord’s work. It is the act by which one simultaneously challenges “the idol of productivity” and embraces the prophetic surrender of those who know that “some fruits ripen only in silence and precisely when one has the courage to let God take over.”

The Rector Major’s analysis did not end with an examination of the characteristics and values of evangelical rest but also looked at its effects: It “nourishes contemplation and strengthens discernment” because it allows for the proper detachment from worldly things and gives the courage for self-criticism. This helps recalibrate the compass of one’s actions, which at this point “knows where it comes from and toward Whom it is heading.”

The Rector Major concluded with a final remark delivered with clarifying certainty: “Gospel rest is not an escape from the mission, but a preparation for it.” The days at Valdocco will therefore not be an escape for the Provincials but a fruitful time of reflection, enabling them to return to their mission with greater heart and zeal, by virtue of “a purified gaze”—the fruit of the awareness that every human being, in God’s eyes, “before any role or title,” is His beloved child: “not because of their abilities, but by pure grace.”