August 6, 2026
(ANS – Rome) – The Acts of the General Council No. 448 have been published and are ready to be distributed to Salesian communities around the world. The document, the official organ of animation and communication for the entire Congregation, brings together, as usual, guidelines and directives, norms and regulations approved by the Rector Major and his Council, and shares news and useful information at the global level. The most significant insights, however, are found in the Letter signed by Don Bosco’s 11th Successor at the beginning, which contains an in-depth analysis of the current reality and, above all, some useful suggestions for every Salesian to follow the Lord Jesus after the example of the Founder.
The Current Context and the Need for a Convinced and Authentic Salesian Response
The letter arrives practically at the end of Fr. Fabio Attard’s first year in office as the Rector Major and is, in a sense, the product of the year. It is the fruit of the experience lived over these twelve months, marked by significant ecclesial moments—including the end of Pope Francis’ pontificate and the election of Pope Leo XIV—as well as by “immense challenges that we must understand, live through, and manage, because this is our world and the world in which young people live and which shapes their culture.”
Faced with these realities, Fr. Attard first and foremost reaffirms his special support—spiritual, human, and in solidarity—for the Salesians and members of the Salesian Family in war zones, and urges the entire Congregation to do the same.
He then begins his reflection with the Gospel passage from Matthew 16:13–28, a text in which the Lord, in His characteristic pedagogical manner, guides His disciples through a process of maturation in the faith, beginning with the question: “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” This question remains relevant even today for the Salesians, who, like Peter, are called to “think as God thinks,” rather than as people do, and thus to follow Christ by denying themselves and taking up their own cross.
“In a world that is increasingly confused, fragmented, and wounded by so many conflicts and fratricidal wars—a world shaped by an aggressive and violent vocabulary and collective imagination—we have no choice but to take seriously the warning that Jesus gave to Peter,” the Rector Major asserts in no uncertain terms.
Following Jesus, Guided by GC29
To concretely follow in Don Bosco’s footsteps and in the footsteps of the Lord, Fr. Attard identifies two fundamental elements: asceticism, that is, “the inner freedom that liberates the heart from addictions”; and mysticism, “union with Christ crucified and risen, from which springs a life capable of bearing lasting fruit.”
Following, therefore, the exhortations of GC29—as well as those of previous Chapters—regarding the care of Salesian identity, the Rector Major invites us to undertake this dual path—ascetic and mystical—where the first step allows the Salesian to “abandon the ego’s claim to be the measure of all things,” while the second leads to truly taking up one’s cross in life as a necessary part of the mission.
Discipleship in the Salesian Way
In light of the Salesian charism, all of this must then be translated into the dimensions of education and evangelization—elements that can find their convergence and unity only where there is an authentic following of Jesus. In this way, nourished by the Word and the Eucharist on a journey that continually requires commitment and renewal, the Salesian can truly give a contemporary and concrete form to Don Bosco’s Preventive System, composed of Reason, Religion, and Loving Kindness.
The model for achieving this even today is Don Bosco, whose holiness “appears simple, joyful, and contagious, yet is rooted in a radical surrender to God.” Indeed, Don Bosco’s Successor reminds us:
“His love for young people flowed from his union with God, nourished by the Eucharist, meditation on Scripture, and unceasing prayer.”
Salesian Contemplation and Action: An Apostolic Mysticism
If then, Don Bosco’s secret lies in his intimacy with God, the next step is to translate this inner fire into apostolic action that embraces all brothers and sisters—specifically young people, and among them those most in need—while always keeping one’s gaze fixed upward. Hence his famous motto: Da mihi animas, cetera tolle, which, as the Rector Major observes, expresses “his full participation in the divine passion for the salvation of humanity.”
In conclusion, without idealizing Salesian life by imagining a path free of obstacles—and the dream of the rose arbor serves precisely to remind us that “the mission unites the beauty of charity with the thorns of mortification”—the Rector Major reaffirms the threefold nature of the Salesian vocation—“mystical, apostolic, and ecclesial”—that is, in communion with God and with the world, so that the world may experience Him through the Sons of Don Bosco.
The document containing the Proceedings of the 448th General Council is currently available for download in Italian and English at the bottom of the page. Other language versions will be uploaded soon.