(ZENIT News / Rome, 11.13.2025).- When the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life quietly placed its signature on the revised Statute of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation earlier this autumn, few doubted that a new chapter had begun for one of the most influential ecclesial movements born in the post-conciliar Church. The document, approved on 8 September 2025 and signed by Undersecretary Linda Ghisoni, reshapes the Fraternity with a decisiveness that has surprised even long-time members: familiar structures have been reconfigured, longstanding practices replaced, and the overall architecture now leans unmistakably toward a more centralized governance.
The new Statute supersedes the framework enacted in 2017—one that many considered a careful attempt to preserve the robust, participatory identity characteristic of the charism of Fr. Luigi Giussani.That earlier configuration sought to balance global cohesion with the deeply local life of the movement’s communities. The updated text, however, departs from that model, opting for a more uniform structure whose contours are set primarily at the top.
At the center of the reform is a redesigned General Assembly, now convened every five years to elect the President and the members of the Central Diaconia—the body that, until now, had combined elements of representation, discernment, and pastoral guidance. The new Diaconia has shed its representative features and adopted a strictly juridical profile. It includes a President, fifteen elected members, five co-opted members, and a selection of representatives from related ecclesial entities.
With this shift, previous territorial assemblies and local election processes have effectively disappeared. The so-called “territorial referents,” once chosen through diocesan procedures with broad consultation among local members, will now be appointed directly by the Central Diaconia. In many communities, this marks a significant cultural departure: for decades, the movement entrusted such discernment to those who shared daily life with the candidates.
This concentration of authority has sparked concern among a number of observers inside the movement itself. A letter addressed to Davide Prosperi, current President of the Fraternity, questions not only the final shape of the Statute but the path that led to its approval. The authors note that members were not involved in the consultative process—an omission that, they argue, contradicts the very criteria outlined by the Dicastery in its June 2021 decree encouraging participatory and transparent revisions in associations of the faithful.
The same letter argues that the removal of intermediate and local structures risks transforming the Fraternity into what it calls a “vertically managed entity,” potentially distancing the movement from its original charismatic spontaneity. Another point of unease is the inclusion of new provisions in Article 4, which outline spiritual and cultural practices in greater detail than before. While intended to provide clarity, such prescriptions alter what had long been left to lived discernment and shared experience within local groups.
Supporters of the new Statute note that the reform is consistent with the Holy See’s broader effort to ensure that ecclesial associations have defined leadership terms, clear lines of responsibility, and mechanisms to prevent personalist governance. Yet even among those who welcome greater stability, the question remains: how can a movement rooted in friendship, witness, and personal encounter avoid being reduced to an administrative framework?
Communion and Liberation has not been immune to internal tensions over the past decade. During the long stewardship of Fr. Julián Carrón, disagreements emerged among a minority of members regarding leadership style and ecclesial direction. Those disputes did not dominate the life of the movement, but they did create a backdrop against which the Vatican’s call for statutory reform landed with particular force.
The debate surrounding the new Statute thus touches something deeper than organizational logistics. It reaches the perennial dilemma faced by many ecclesial movements as they mature: how to remain faithful to a charism entrusted to the Church while operating within structures designed to safeguard good order. The letter to Prosperi gives voice to the concern that an overly managerial approach could overshadow the very life it aims to protect.
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