Posted On: 18 August, 2026

A JOYFUL RECOGNITION OF SERVICE TO THE CHURCH

With great joy and gratitude to God, we are happy to share the news of the significant appointment of Fr. Joseph Jeyaraj Swaminathan SDB, of our Province, as a Consultor to the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development by the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, on 11 August 2026. He will serve in this role for a five-year term from 2026 to 2031.

This appointment is a beautiful recognition of Fr. Jeyaraj’s dedicated service to the Church, the Holy See, and the Congregation. As a Professor of Psychology at UPS, Rome, he has generously placed his academic expertise and experience at the service of the Church. His collaboration in 2025 in preparing the Dicastery’s document, Mental Health in Humanitarian Crises: Caring for Others and Oneself in a Spirit of Fraternity, and his role as Coordinator of the Seminar on Trauma Intervention at UPS in April 2026 are significant expressions of this commitment.

Don Bosco’s spirit has always been one of saying a wholehearted “Yes” to the Church and to the Holy See. In this same spirit, we are grateful that the Church has recognised one of our confreres and entrusted him with this important responsibility. We are deeply aware of Fr. Jeyaraj’s love for the Church and the Congregation, his availability for service, and his complete surrender to the Lord. We are confident that these qualities, together with his competence and experience, will enable him to contribute generously to the mission of the Church and to the work of the Dicastery.

On behalf of the Salesian Province of Chennai, we extend to Fr. Joseph Jeyaraj our heartfelt congratulations and our prayerful good wishes. We assure him of our fraternal support and prayers as he begins this new mission entrusted to him by the Holy Father.

Dear Fr. Jeyaraj, may the Lord accompany you, enlighten you and strengthen you in this important service to the Church. May you continue to be an instrument of Don Bosco’s spirit and a generous servant of the young, the vulnerable and those entrusted to your care.

Congratulations and every good wish! We accompany you with our prayers.