Fr Attard is familiar with Konkan region, having visited it many times to disseminate his ideas on youth pastoral activity
PANAJI
The Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), a Catholic religious congregation spread across the world which has a significant presence in Goa, got its new Rector Major on March 25 with the election of Fr Fabio Attard (66), the 11th Successor of Don Bosco.
Fr Fabio Attard, the first Maltese Salesian to hold this position, is also the first Rector Major to be elected outside of the General Chapter.
As the new Rector Major, Fr Fabio will lead a Congregation of 13,750 consecrated Salesians, organised in 92 provinces and present in 136 nations.
Fr Fabio is familiar with the Konkan region having visited it several times to disseminate his ideas on youth pastoral activity. He is fluent in English and Italian, besides other western languages.
The Panjim Province of the Salesians has 111 professed Salesians, with 18 canonical houses and two new presence in Karnataka. The Province consists of the Konkan belt comprising the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman, Diocese of Sindhudurg in Maharashtra, and the Dioceses of Udupi, Mangalore, Karwar and Belgaum in Karnataka. The Provincial Fr Clive Telles and the Vice Provincial Fr Banzelao Teixeira are participating in the Chapter.
Contacted by phone after the first round of voting in which he was elected Rector Major, Fr Attard, with a calm yet emotional voice, responded to the question posed by the President of the General Chapter, Fr Stefano Martoglio, whether he would accept this new responsibility: “If my confreres have placed their trust in me, with the Grace of God, I will do my best.”
His election represents a new dawn for the Salesian Congregation, which, under his leadership, will continue to grow as a global force for education, evangelisation, and social transformation.
Fr Attard will inspire and motivate Salesians, lay collaborators, and young people worldwide to carry forward Don Bosco’s mission: to be witnesses and bearers of God’s love for young people, especially those in need.
A visionary and charismatic leader, Fr. Fabio Attard brings to the helm of the Salesian Congregation a profound spirituality, a dynamic and forward-thinking vision, and decades of rich pastoral and administrative experience.
Fr Attard was born on March 23, 1959 in Gozo, Malta. He made his first profession as a Salesian on September 8, 1980 in Dublin, Ireland, and was ordained a priest on July 4, 1987 in Rome. In 1988, he contributed to re-establishing the Salesian presence in Tunisia.
After completing his doctoral studies in Dublin in 1999, he taught at the Pontifical Salesian University and the Alphonsianum Academy in Rome, as well as at the University of Malta.
On October 6, 2018, Pope Francis appointed him as a Consultor of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life. Following the 28th General Chapter in 2020, the Rector Major assigned him to coordinate Salesian and Lay Formation in Europe from 2020 to 2023.
