The traditional tribute to the Rector Major, Fr Fabio Attard, will take place on Wednesday 24 June 2026, on the feast of the Nativity of St John the Baptist – a day which, since the days of the Valdocco Oratory, has also been considered the name day of St John Bosco.
On the same occasion – and this too has now become established practice – tribute will also be paid to the other Salesians at the Generalate or in neighbouring communities under the direct care of the Rector Major who, this year, are celebrating significant anniversaries of their ordination or religious profession.
Alongside Fr Attard, the following will therefore also be honoured:
- Fr Joan Lluis Playà, Delegate of the Rector Major for the Salesian Family, on the occasion of his 60th anniversary of religious profession;
- Fr Pierluigi Cameroni, Postulator General for the Causes of the Saints of the Salesian Family, and Fr Tadeusz Rozmus, Rector of the Castel Gandolfo community, on the occasion of their 50th anniversary of religious profession;
- Fr Peter Timko, from the Formation Sector; Fr Luis Otàvio Botasso, Economer at Sacred Heart; and Fr Patrick Anthonyraj Alexander, Secretary to the Vicar of Rector Major, for their 25 years of priestly ordination;
- Fr Francisco José Enriques Zulaica, who has been with the community for a year for study purposes, on the occasion of his 25th anniversary of religious profession.
In keeping with the Rector Major’s style, the day will be simple yet rich in meaningful moments, and will begin in the best possible way with Morning Mass presided over by Fr Attard: a way of placing the whole day under the Lord’s guidance and direction.
The celebrations will then resume in the afternoon, with a time for greetings and a welcome in the courtyard, followed by the tribute ceremony to be held in the opera house. The programme will begin with Salesian hymns and a welcome address by the Rector of the Headquarters Community, Fr Francesco Marcoccio. The Zeffirino Namuncurà formation community, based in Via della Bufalotta, will then lead the ceremony, presenting the day’s programme of activities and the gifts to be presented to the Rector Major and the others being honoured.
This will be followed by an address from the Salesians of the Central Italy Circumscription (ICC) and a video summarising the Rector Major’s past year – a moment that promises to be one of the most moving of the day, the result of the work of the Social Communications Sector team.
With the official addresses by the Vicar of the Rector Major, Fr Stefano Martoglio, and the presentation of the gift to Fr Attard, the celebratory ceremony will reach its climax, which will be rounded off by words of gratitude and fraternity from the Rector Major himself.
Following the presentation by the Pontifical Salesian University Vice-Province (UPS) and the closing hymn, the academic ceremony will be concluded; but not the celebration, which will continue, first with a fitting spiritual conclusion through the communal praying of Vespers and the Rector Major’s goodnight; and then with a time of fraternal fellowship amongst all those present.
In this way, the Salesians in Rome and those from the works closest to the Salesian Generalate, speaking on behalf of all Salesians and members of the Salesian Family throughout the world, will once again renew their heartfelt tribute to the Successor of Don Bosco and their confident willingness to follow him along the path he has laid out, so as to serve God and young people ever more effectively.
