The Rector Major's Missionary Appeal for 2026

Originally published on ANS, 11/14/2025

(ANS — Rome) — Close to the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the first Salesian Missionary Expedition, and exactly 150 years from the day when the ship Savoie set sail from the port of Genoa to take the first sons of Don Bosco to Argentina, the 11th Successor of Don Bosco, Fr. Fabio Attard, launched a new missionary appeal, “for a renewed charismatic fidelity and missionary generosity.”

In his message, Fr. Attard cited the Biographical Memoirs to recall how the missionary option taken up by Don Bosco immediately brought a wave of positive news to Valdocco: “Visible effects were a noticeable increase in vocations to the priesthood and in requests to join the Congregation. A good number of members were inflamed with a new zeal for the apostolate” (BM XI, 134). “It was a moment of Pentecost for the Congregation,” the Rector Major noted.

Today's global social context also requires men ready to leave everything to follow the Lord. “Wars, violence, forced migrations, ecological crises, digital distractions, artificial intelligence and cultural fragmentation challenge us on a daily basis,” Fr. Attard further observed.

And so he launched his appeal: “I address myself today with a renewed missionary appeal to every Salesian heart, in every corner of the world: the mission is not over. The mission is now.” The invitation is therefore to give thanks for the journey of dedication and zeal accomplished, but also to rethink (“open our hearts to listen to the voice of the Spirit”) and relaunch (“begin again with confidence, without counting our weaknesses”) the missionary commitment.

Each Salesian, the Rector Major concludes, is therefore invited to “take this appeal seriously” and to make “a courageous, prayerful and sincere discernment” to respond to the needs of the Congregation “in the peripheries where Christ is already waiting for us.”

The full text of the Rector Major's appeal—with a detailed indication of the countries and circumscriptions identified for the missions—is available in Italian, English, Spanish, French and Portuguese.

Access the translations