Soroj Mullick SDB –
The visit began quietly. No grand spectacle marked the early hours of 5 February 2026 when Fr Fabio Attard, the 11th Rector Major of the Salesians of Don Bosco, arrived in Kolkata from Rome. Yet what unfolded over the next four days would be remembered as a defining moment in the centenary year of the Salesian Province of Kolkata. It was not merely a celebration of the past. It was a reading of the present and a commissioning for the future.
One hundred years after the first Salesians set foot in Bengal, the Rector Major’s journey through Kolkata, Siliguri and Azimganj traced the many faces of the Province: the metropolis and the margins, classrooms and courtyards, tribal villages and urban slums. Everywhere, the message was consistent. Gratitude for the past must become responsibility for the future. Memory must become mission.
What emerged from this historic visit was not only a celebration of a hundred years of presence in Bengal. It was a sober reading of reality. It was a call to responsibility. And it was a clear horizon for the future mission of the Province.
A centenary that listens to the times
The visit opened at the Provincial House in Tangra with prayer, fraternity and a closed-door meeting with the Provincial Council. The tone was reflective. The discussions focused on “the signs of the times”: demographic shifts, new forms of poverty, migration, educational pressures and the deep impact of digital culture on young people. The centenary, the Rector Major insisted, was not about nostalgia. It was about discernment.
Later that afternoon, celebrating the first Eucharist of his visit, he thanked generations of confreres who had served Bengal since 1925. At the same time, he urged today’s Salesians to keep Don Bosco’s style alive: cheerful, missionary and close to the young. That triad would return again and again in his addresses.
By evening, he was on his way to North Bengal. The centenary journey, like the original missionary expansion, moved outward—from the city to the frontiers.
Siliguri: youth at the crossroads of change
Siliguri, a hub of migration and cultures, offered the first major public encounter of the centenary. The Rector Major’s dinner with past pupils set the tone. Alumni from across generations spoke candidly about youth unemployment, fragile faith and social change. Fr Attard responded with a clear appeal: former pupils must remain mission partners, not just beneficiaries. Don Bosco’s work, he said, survives when those formed by it take responsibility for others.
The following day placed youth and education at the centre. Addressing over 1,500 school students at Don Bosco School Siliguri, the Rector Major linked the Salesian Strenna 2026 with India’s digital transition. In an age dominated by Artificial Intelligence, he said, Salesian education must form “authentic intelligence”. Hands skilled in technology. Hearts rooted in values. Intelligence shaped by compassion and service.
At Salesian College, his message broadened. India, he reminded students, is the youngest nation on earth. For the Salesians, that makes it the centre of their world. The task is to transform youthful energy into the synergy of nation building. Questions from students touched on migration, interfaith dialogue and public life. His replies were measured and realistic. Faith, he suggested, grows when it is confident, dialogical and engaged with society.
Meeting Salesians and members of the Salesian Family later that morning, he described North Bengal as a “frontline” where education, migration, media and youth ministry intersect. Fidelity here, he implied, demands creativity.
The spiritual heart of the Siliguri visit came with the Eucharist at the Don Bosco Shrine. Recalling the early missionaries of the region, he offered a vivid image that stayed with many: “Keep the courtyards open and the confessionals warm.” A Salesian shrine, he insisted, must never become a closed sanctuary. It must remain a home where every young person feels welcome and loved.
Past pupils as mission partners
Past pupils gathered for dinner as mission partners rather than mere beneficiaries, representing diverse generations and professions and speaking candidly about youth unemployment, family anxiety and the challenge of sustaining faith in a rapidly changing society, to which Fr Attard responded that the Salesian charism lives on only when those formed by it take responsibility for others, especially the vulnerable; this emphasis on youth and education continued on Friday, 6 February, at Don Bosco School Siliguri, where addressing more than 1,500 students amid India’s digital transition, he called for “authentic intelligence” that unites technological competence with values, service and solidarity, warning that intelligence without ethics becomes efficient but empty; at Salesian College Siliguri he highlighted India as the world’s youngest nation and therefore central to the Salesian mission of transforming youthful energy into nation-building leadership, engaging students’ concerns about migration, interfaith dialogue and public life with a vision of faith that is confident, rooted and unafraid; later, meeting Salesians and the Salesian Family, he described Siliguri as a pastoral frontier where education meets migration, media meets youth ministry and faith meets pluralism, urging creative fidelity, and the day culminated at the Don Bosco Shrine, where recalling the early missionaries of North Bengal, he offered the pastoral image of “keeping the courtyards open and the confessionals warm,” insisting that a shrine must always remain an open, welcoming home.
Azimganj: Gospel in the Santhali heartlands
From the urban crossroads of Siliguri, the centenary journey moved to the rural heart of Bengal. The early morning train to Azimganj carried the Rector Major into the Santhali belt, where the Salesian presence has long been marked by education, boarding houses and parish ministry among first-generation learners.
The welcome was unmistakably local. Drums, tribal dances and crowds from surrounding villages greeted him. The Eucharist that followed was celebrated in the open grounds, with Santhali hymns and a homily translated into the local language. The message was simple and strong. Don Bosco, he said, is as much at home in the Santhali heartlands as in the heart of Kolkata. True education leaves no one behind. It reaches the last child in the furthest village.
Lunch with priests and religious and an interaction with Salesians and parish communities deepened the pastoral focus. Questions revolved around vocations from rural areas, accompaniment of first-generation learners and the application of the Preventive System in multi-religious contexts. The Rector Major did not offer ready-made formulas. Context, he stressed, matters. Identity and charism must guide creativity.
The evening cultural programme brought the diversity of Murshidabad district onto one stage. Children, parish youth, boarding students and self-help groups performed together. When Fr Attard spoke, with translation into Bengali, he praised the community for making Don Bosco’s courtyard wide enough for Santhali, Bengali and Hindi to dance together. The future, he insisted, lies in building bridges, not borders.
His message to young people was direct. Live with joy, but also with responsibility. Be good citizens. Let your values enrich India. To teachers and parents, his appeal was equally challenging: give witness with your lives. Lived example, he said, speaks louder than words.
Rural Santhal Culture as a bridge, not a border
Conveying a clear message, he said that Don Bosco is as much at home among the rural poor as in Kolkata and that true education reaches even the last child in the furthest village, a credibility reinforced by the presence of government officials and civic leaders. Later, in dialogue with Salesians, the Salesian Family and parish communities, questions on rural vocations, first-generation learners and interreligious contexts were met not with formulas but with an insistence on context, creativity and fidelity to charism, while the evening cultural programme showcased Murshidabad’s diversity, prompting an appeal to make Don Bosco’s courtyard a place where cultures meet, to build bridges rather than borders, to live joyfully yet responsibly as good citizens, and, above all, for teachers and parents to offer life-witness, since lived example speaks louder than words.
Kolkata: Centenary memory becomes mandate
The final day gathered the threads of the centenary back in Kolkata. The welcome at Howrah station, where past pupils filled the concourse with banners and hymns, briefly turned a railway platform into a Salesian courtyard. It was a spontaneous reminder of how deeply Don Bosco’s legacy has entered popular memory in Bengal, by setting the tone for a moment of synthesis and mandate.
At Nitika Don Bosco, the Rector Major addressed the Salesians of the Province in what many described as his centenary mandate. Drawing on experiences from Siliguri and Azimganj, he described the Province as “a forest of hope grown from a small seed”. He asked confreres to keep three attitudes alive: closeness to the young, pastoral creativity in a digital age, and unity among scattered communities.
Speaking candidly, he reflected on mission in secular and multi-religious contexts. In some places, he recalled, one cannot speak openly about Jesus. Yet nothing prevents living the Gospel through love, reason and kindness. The Preventive System, he insisted, offers a deeply human proposal that resonates across cultures. The key question he posed to the Salesians was demanding: are our communities turned inward, or are they engaged with the environment around them?
He challenged confreres to be points of reference for teachers, collaborators and youth. Young people, especially in colleges, are open to values. They seek accompaniment. The Salesian task is to walk with them where they are, meeting them at their present stage of freedom and responsibility.
“Knowing, Living, Sharing”: A Spiritual Vision for Salesian Leadership
That morning also marked a moment of transition. Fr Sunil Kerketta SDB was installed as the 18th Provincial of Kolkata, succeeding Fr Joseph Pauria. Two books were released, one chronicling the history of the Province, the other reflecting on youth participation in governance. The symbolism was clear. Memory and leadership, history and future, were being consciously linked.
In his message during the installation ceremony, the Rector Major offered a reflective and challenging vision of religious leadership, framed around the theme “Knowing, Living, Sharing.” He presented this triad not as a slogan, but as the spiritual horizon of authentic leadership in the Salesian Congregation.
He underlined that leadership begins with knowing Christ deeply—not as a private or isolated pursuit, but as a communal journey shaped by shared discernment and attentive listening to the Spirit. Such knowledge, he noted, is never abstract. It gives birth to a way of living marked by generous presence, genuine care for persons, and a steadfast commitment to human dignity, especially in solidarity with the most vulnerable.
From knowing and living, the Rector Major said, flows sharing: a credible witness that illuminates faith, strengthens fraternity, and sustains the mission. This sharing is not merely verbal, but embodied in lives that speak with integrity and hope.
Addressing the newly installed Provincial, he called him to be a man of communion—one who fosters trust, accompanies his confreres, and safeguards the vitality of the Salesian charism amid rapidly changing social and ecclesial contexts. He concluded by reminding the assembly that communities led with authenticity and generosity become luminous signs, capable of inspiring hope and renewing commitment to the Salesian mission.
Salesians too be Salt and Light for society
The centenary’s principal public celebration unfolded at Don Bosco Park Circus. The solemn Eucharist gathered religious, diocesan clergy, youth and representatives from across the Province. In his homily, the Rector Major returned to a core Gospel image. “You are the salt. You are the light.” Identity, he said, is God’s gift. What we do with it is our responsibility.
Don Bosco, he reminded the assembly, began in poverty. What sustained him was conviction: what God gives can flourish if lived with freedom and responsibility. Salesian education, he insisted, is not about running institutions. It is about creating homes. Its foundation is not rules, but relationships. When young people feel loved, they find the freedom to become their best selves.
The evening cultural programme extended the message beyond the liturgy. Performances traced the Province’s history, gave voice to former street children and showcased the creativity of youth from slums and hostels. Addressing the wider audience, the Rector Major spoke of a changed world. 2026 is not 1926. Poverty today is globalised, even as technology advances. Wars, conflicts and displacement are increasing. The need for education and meaning has not diminished. It has become more urgent.
The Salesian response, he said, remains demanding and simple. Educate the mind. Educate the heart. Serve every young person, regardless of religion, caste or background, because a hopeful future is their right. The Preventive System, rooted in love and empathy, remains the secret and the strength of the mission.
His final appeal looked beyond the centenary. May those who come in 2126 be able to say that what was handed on was accepted with joy, nurtured with faith and passed on with courage.
Kolkata gathers the centenary story
Addressing the confreres at Nitika Don Bosco, the Rector Major drew together the experiences of Siliguri and Azimganj, describing the Province as “a forest of hope grown from a small seed” and urging three attitudes to be safeguarded: closeness to the young, pastoral creativity in a digital age and unity across scattered communities. He spoke candidly about mission in secular and multi-religious contexts, insisting that even where explicit proclamation is difficult, the Gospel can always be lived through love, reason and kindness, and challenging communities to look outward rather than inward. The day also marked continuity and transition with the installation of Fr Sunil Kerketta as the 18th Provincial and the release of two books on the Province’s history and on youth participation in leadership, symbolising memory joined to responsibility and future mission.
The principal public celebration at Don Bosco Park Circus expanded this vision before a wide assembly of religious, clergy and youth, as the Rector Major returned to the Gospel images of salt and light, stressing that identity is God’s gift and responsibility the human response, and that Salesian works exist not merely to run schools but to create homes grounded in relationships. Cultural performances and testimonies framed a sober reading of the global context marked by persistent poverty, rising inequality, conflict and a deepening search for meaning among the young, to which the Salesian response remains educating both mind and heart through the Preventive System rooted in loving kindness. The centenary also became a call to justice in memory, recalling the bishops, women religious and lay collaborators who made the early mission possible, and as Fr Fabio Attard departed on 9 February, the message was distilled into a final synthesis: the past is a gift, the present a responsibility and the future a mission, with history not a museum to admire but a fire to pass on.
Memory, gratitude and responsibility
The centenary celebrations also prompted a deeper reflection on history and memory. Beyond institutions and numbers lie stories of collaboration often forgotten. The early benevolence of Archbishop Perier of Calcutta, whose support made the first Salesian foundations possible, stands as a striking example. So too does the long collaboration of women religious congregations and countless lay partners who stood with the Salesians during famine, partition and war.
Remembering them is not a sentimental exercise. It is an act of justice. As the Province celebrates growth—from a single foundation in 1925 to forty communities across India, Nepal and Bangladesh—the danger is to forget that mission has always been shared. The Rector Major’s repeated insistence on networking within the Salesian Family and collaboration with the local Church finds strong roots in this history.
From celebration to mission
When Fr Attard left on 9 February for Delhi and onward to southern India, he carried with him the questions and hopes of a Province at a crossroads. The centenary had not been reduced to pageantry. It had become a moment of truth.
In interviews during the visit, he summed it up simply. A seed planted a hundred years ago has become a forest of hope. The task now is not to admire the forest, but to keep it alive.
As the centenary year moves forward, the leadership of the Province has indicated that the Rector Major’s emphases will shape future pastoral planning: priority for the poorest youth, educational innovation, deeper Salesian Family collaboration and strong communion with the local Church. If the energy of these February days is any indication, the Salesians of Kolkata appear ready to let their history become, in the Rector Major’s words, not a museum to admire, but a fire to pass on—“Passionate for Christ, ‘Passionate’ for the Young”