RMG – Celebration of the first anniversary of the election of Fr Fabio Attard as Rector Major
RMG – Celebration of the first anniversary of the election of Fr Fabio Attard as Rector Major
(ANS – Rome) – In an atmosphere of simple celebration and fraternal sharing, the celebration of the first anniversary of Fr Fabio Attard’s election as Rector Major took place on the evening of Wednesday 25 March 2026. The election had taken place exactly one year earlier at Valdocco, Turin, during the 29th General Chapter of the Salesian Congregation. The communal Eucharist with the entire General Council and the members of the Salesian Central House community was the heart of the evening, which was then naturally followed by a time of Salesian celebration.
During the Mass for the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, which he presided over in the community chapel, the Rector Major focused his attention on Mary and drew a continuous parallel between the scene that took place in Nazareth over 2000 years ago and what is also required of the Salesians of Don Bosco every day.
Fr Attard’s reflection on Mary’s “yes”: first and foremost, “do not be afraid”
Don Bosco’s 11th Successor therefore began by setting the scene of the Annunciation, noting the first words addressed to Mary by the Archangel Gabriel: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God” (Lk 1:30). It is precisely that “do not be afraid” which is the keystone opening the way to a fruitful relationship with God, from which alone effective pastoral action can then flow.
“As in the parable of the talents, fear is the first obstacle to the mission. Not ignorance, not a lack of resources: fear”. Even Salesians today may find themselves frightened in the face of events in the modern world and its constant change; it might seem easy to take refuge in comfort zones or to repeat established patterns for fear of the outcome of a different approach. But precisely for this reason, Mary’s example and the angel’s invitation serve as an incentive to proceed with courage and trust in God, who continues to make himself present and close to us.
The grace that precedes every activity
The Rector Major’s analysis then turned to the words immediately following the Archangel Gabriel’s greeting: do not be afraid, “for you have found favour with God”. It is precisely in “grace” that Salesians – and with them all those who wish to embrace the Christian way of life – can find their spiritual roots, capable of nourishing all their actions.
“This is the heart of the mystery of the Annunciation, and I believe the most important point for each of us. There is a real risk in our lives that we may become very good and generous at working for God, whilst gradually forgetting to be with God,” observed Fr Attard with great insight. “The diary fills up, activities multiply, the number of young people to look after increases. And at a certain point we realise, often with a sense of profound weariness, that we were building on sand.”
Instead, the value of every educational, evangelising or social promotion initiative, added Don Bosco’s Successor, does not lie in the “quantity of my apostolic commitments”, in the “number of documents and meetings I organise”, nor even “in the effectiveness and impact of my activities” – but in the grace “freely offered”.
“The source of this is not to be found in the content of one’s skills, nor even in a personal charism, but in a living experience of God who precedes me, calls me to dwell with Him and in Him,” he perfectly summarised.
Third step: following the light of the Spirit
Without fear, grounded in God’s relationship of gratuitous and anticipatory love, the Salesians are ultimately called to do as Mary did: to embrace fully the plan that God has for them. The expression “let it be done to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38), one of the most “profound” in the Gospel, stated Fr Attard, does not imply submission or resignation, but represents “freedom at its highest expression, that of one who chooses to align oneself with God’s will not because one has no alternatives, but because one has understood that there, with him, and only there, is life”.
A freedom, however, which also requires awareness and responsibility, and which for the Sons of Don Bosco “translates into discernment”, learning to read the signs of the times and allowing oneself to be enlightened by the light of the Spirit that illuminates the conscience.
Thus, for all Salesians, Mary is “the icon of their ‘yes’”, a “yes” not spoken once and for all, but repeated many times, even when “we do not fully understand where the world is heading and sometimes even our own vocation”, yet we press on, convinced that “there is a Presence that has been promised to us. And that Presence is enough.”
The community celebration with the other Salesians
Later in the evening, Fr Attard received a festive tribute from his confreres at the Salesian Generalate, with celebratory videos and songs expressing the international character of the Congregation – a moment also shared with the Regional Councillor for East and Southern Africa, Fr Innocent Bizimana, who was celebrating his birthday on the same day.
Among the most significant speeches was one from the Vicar of the Rector Major, Fr Stefano Martoglio, who offered a profound and affectionate reflection on this first year of service. In a tone that was both profound and familiar, he spoke of Fr Attard’s “evident growth” over the course of these twelve months, reinterpreting a playful neologism – “imboscarsi” – to describe the Rector Major’s increasingly complete assimilation of the Founder’s charism and spiritual fatherhood. A journey which, he said, has been for everyone a “contemplation, filled with wonder, of God’s grace” at work in his person. Fr Attard, he added, is becoming more and more a “father” to the Congregation, in a transformation that is visible and moving for the entire community.
Fr Martoglio then returned to the image of the Congregation as “a vast flock of birds” in flight: a living community, at times even lively – “which perhaps pecks at one another a little” – but which knows how to recognise and follow the one flying ahead, pointing the way. In this flock, Fr Attard is called to lead, with his gaze fixed on the horizon opening up before the Congregation, on a journey that looks with confidence to the years ahead.
Taking the floor, the Rector Major responded with his usual sincerity. “I am afraid. And I still am a little,” he confided, acknowledging that a healthy awareness of one’s own limitations is what keeps the heart humble before the Lord: “Fear puts me in the position of saying: ‘Lord, please, do not forsake me’”. He recalled with gratitude the 15 cloistered monasteries that support the Congregation through prayer, a concrete sign of a silent yet powerful spiritual accompaniment.
Fr Attard then expressed his deep appreciation for the Vicar and the General Council, emphasising how communion and mutual collaboration are fundamental to the governance of the Congregation. He thanked the community at the Salesian Central House, describing it as a concrete sign of the entire Congregation, and strongly reiterated what he repeatedly reminds everyone: the primacy of the spiritual life, especially of prayer, as an indispensable starting point from which competence, study and every initiative must spring. “We are not a society that organises meetings,” he stated, “we are the heart, the mind and the hands of the Congregation.”
Finally, returning to the theme of the meditation on the Annunciation, he renewed the invitation not to fear: “We are not here because we chose to be. We are here because we have been chosen. Then the Lord will do the rest.” Words that sealed an evening lived in the spirit of gratitude, fraternity and trust in the journey that continues.
The text of Don Attard’s homily is available in several languages at the bottom of the page.
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