August 6, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(ANS \u2013 Rome)<\/strong> \u2013 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\u2019s 11th Successor<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The letter arrives practically at the end of Fr. Fabio Attard\u2019s<\/strong> 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\u2014including the end of Pope Francis\u2019<\/strong> pontificate and the election of Pope Leo XIV<\/strong>\u2014as well as by \u201cimmense 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Faced with these realities, Fr. Attard<\/strong> first and foremost reaffirms his special support\u2014spiritual, human, and in solidarity\u2014for the Salesians and members of the Salesian Family in war zones, and urges the entire Congregation to do the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He then begins his reflection with the Gospel passage from Matthew 16:13\u201328, 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: \u201cWho do people say the Son of Man is?\u201d This question remains relevant even today for the Salesians, who, like Peter, are called to \u201cthink as God thinks,\u201d rather than as people do, and thus to follow Christ by denying themselves and taking up their own cross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn a world that is increasingly confused, fragmented, and wounded by so many conflicts and fratricidal wars\u2014a world shaped by an aggressive and violent vocabulary and collective imagination\u2014we have no choice but to take seriously the warning that Jesus gave to Peter,\u201d<\/em> the Rector Major asserts in no uncertain terms.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n To concretely follow in Don Bosco\u2019s<\/strong> footsteps and in the footsteps of the Lord, Fr. Attard<\/strong> identifies two fundamental elements: asceticism<\/strong>, that is, \u201cthe inner freedom that liberates the heart from addictions\u201d; and mysticism<\/strong>, \u201cunion with Christ crucified and risen, from which springs a life capable of bearing lasting fruit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following, therefore, the exhortations of GC29\u2014as well as those of previous Chapters\u2014regarding the care of Salesian identity, the Rector Major invites us to undertake this dual path\u2014ascetic and mystical\u2014where the first step allows the Salesian to \u201cabandon the ego\u2019s claim to be the measure of all things,\u201d while the second leads to truly taking up one\u2019s cross in life as a necessary part of the mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In light of the Salesian charism, all of this must then be translated into the dimensions of education and evangelization\u2014elements 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\u2019s Preventive System<\/strong>, composed of Reason, Religion, and Loving Kindness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The model for achieving this even today is Don Bosco<\/strong>, whose holiness \u201cappears simple, joyful, and contagious, yet is rooted in a radical surrender to God.\u201d Indeed, Don Bosco\u2019s Successor reminds us:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHis love for young people flowed from his union with God, nourished by the Eucharist, meditation on Scripture, and unceasing prayer.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n If then, Don Bosco\u2019s<\/strong> secret<\/em> lies in his intimacy with God, the next step is to translate this inner fire into apostolic action that embraces all brothers and sisters\u2014specifically young people, and among them those most in need\u2014while always keeping one\u2019s gaze fixed upward. Hence his famous motto: Da mihi animas, cetera tolle<\/em>, which, as the Rector Major observes, expresses \u201chis full participation in the divine passion for the salvation of humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In conclusion, without idealizing Salesian life by imagining a path free of obstacles\u2014and the dream of the rose arbor serves precisely to remind us that \u201cthe mission unites the beauty of charity with the thorns of mortification\u201d\u2014the Rector Major reaffirms the threefold nature of the Salesian vocation\u2014\u201cmystical, apostolic, and ecclesial\u201d\u2014that is, in communion with God and with the world, so that the world may experience Him through the Sons of Don Bosco<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Current Context and the Need for a Convinced and Authentic Salesian Response<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Following Jesus, Guided by GC29<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Discipleship in the Salesian Way<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Salesian Contemplation and Action: An Apostolic Mysticism<\/h2>\n\n\n\n