{"id":32692,"date":"2026-07-24T19:00:35","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T02:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/?p=32692"},"modified":"2026-07-24T19:00:35","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T02:00:35","slug":"fr-fabio-attard-only-by-taking-up-the-cross-can-we-truly-follow-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/2026\/07\/24\/fr-fabio-attard-only-by-taking-up-the-cross-can-we-truly-follow-jesus\/","title":{"rendered":"Fr. Fabio Attard: \u201cOnly by Taking Up the Cross Can We Truly Follow Jesus\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

(ANS \u2013 Rome)<\/strong> \u2013 In his Goodnight to the members of the SDB and FMA General Councils, gathered on July 22, 2026<\/strong>, at Salesian Headquarters, the Rector Major, Fr. Fabio Attard, offered a profound reflection on the meaning of following Christ in consecrated life today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drawing inspiration from the Gospel dialogue between Jesus and Peter\u2014when the apostle, after proclaiming Christ as the Messiah, rebuked him for foretelling his own Passion, only to be told in reply to \u201cdeny himself, take up his cross, and follow me\u201d\u2014Fr. Attard invited everyone to ask what it truly means to live out this call to follow Christ today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rector Major referred to Pope Francis\u2019 teaching on pastoral conversion, recalling that it cannot exist without prior personal conversion. It is not primarily a matter of changing methods but of converting the heart of the pastor. He pointed to the challenge\u2014also highlighted in reports from provincial visitations\u2014of communities where life risks becoming \u201ca collection of individualisms,\u201d marked by a lack of joy in being with young people, listening to them, and accompanying them in the schoolyard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fr. Attard urged everyone to recognize the many addictions that threaten inner freedom\u2014not only digital ones, but also toxic friendships and relationships that do not lead to true freedom. He emphasized that it is pointless to concern ourselves with young people if we are not first committed to genuine personal conversion, with the Lord at the center and a willingness to renounce self-centeredness. He also warned against \u201cpastoral worldliness,\u201d which transforms pastoral ministry into a search for personal gratification and recognition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Referring to the dream of the rose-covered arbor, written by Don Bosco as early as 1847\u2014just his second year at Valdocco\u2014the Rector Major recalled how the founder understood from the very beginning that consecrated life dedicated to young people necessarily involves the dimension of the cross. \u201cIt is a matter of the cross, not a walk in the park. It is the path to Calvary.\u201d If this dimension is forgotten or not embraced, he added, there is a risk of harming young people, the mission of the Congregation, and the Institute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fr. Attard concluded by recalling Don Bosco\u2019s promise of an extraordinary future for the Congregation, on one condition alone: fidelity to the Constitutions\u2014that is, to the Gospel as it has been handed down and expressed in the Constitutions. He urged everyone to have the courage to carry the cross with freedom and authenticity, \u201cbecause young people are waiting for us, and the future is there. It is up to us to ensure that it remains so.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(ANS \u2013 Rome) \u2013 In his Goodnight to the members of the SDB and FMA General Councils, gathered on July 22, 2026, at Salesian Headquarters, the Rector Major, Fr. Fabio Attard, offered a profound reflection on the meaning of following Christ in consecrated life today. Drawing inspiration from the Gospel dialogue between Jesus and Peter\u2014when the apostle, after proclaiming Christ as the Messiah, rebuked him for foretelling … Continuar leyendo Fr. Fabio Attard: \u201cOnly by Taking Up the Cross Can We Truly Follow Jesus\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":10336596,"featured_media":32696,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[782003447,516714022],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rector-major","category-salesian-world-news"],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p59ePG-8vi","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/salesianbulletin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2026-07-24-Fr-Fabio-Attard-feature.jpg?fit=1600%2C875&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10336596"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32692"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32692\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32698,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32692\/revisions\/32698"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}