On Saturday March 21, 2020, the central Diaconia of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation was held in Milan to elect its president, at the end of Fr. Julián Carrón’s term, who, in 2004, was appointed by Fr. Luigi Giussani as his successor. The vote, which took place by secret ballot, was attended by all the members of the Diaconia, except for one justified absentee, 9 of whom were present at the headquarters in compliance with the health regulations imposed by the emergency Covid˗19 and 21 connected by videoconference from Italy and the world. The Vice-President of the Fraternity, Davide Prosperi, presided over the electoral table. Fr. Carrón was unanimously re-elected, with only one blank ballot, for the next six years. Fr. Carrón himself gives notice of his re-election in a letter to the entire movement.
Here is the text:

Dear friends,

On Saturday, March 21, the Central Diaconia of the Fraternity met in Milan. The meeting included the election of the president because the term of office provided for in the Statute had elapsed.

With the coronavirus emergency in full swing, we asked ourselves whether it would be better to hold the Diaconia meeting or delay it. Our conclusion was that since the president is the leader of the movement, he needs full legitimacy so that he can carry out his role of guiding and fully exercising the prerogatives that the Statute assigns to him. As we are unable to guess how long this crisis will last, and therefore do not know how long we would have to delay the Diaconia, it was our judgment that it would not be good for the movement to be too long under the leadership of a president acting under a provisional extension. Having verified that the necessary legal, organizational, and logistical conditions were present, we decided to hold the meeting as scheduled.

I first brought up the topic of the presidential election one year ago, during the Fraternity Diaconia meeting of March 23, 2019. “I would not want,” I said, “to come to the end of the term as if [this election] were a formality, without giving ourselves time to prepare for the next step with an in-depth discussion among us. If we do not take time to think of possible alternatives, it would be as if there were no other possibility than continuing with ‘what we already know.’ That is exactly what I really do not want! Consequently, I propose that, in light of the end of term, we begin a process of discussion that concerns all of us, the entire movement, especially those of us called to carry out this task which is critical for everyone’s life. […] Before coming up with names, it is a question of looking at the life of our people and asking, ‘What do we need, what are the priorities we see and how are we facing the challenges we find in front of us?’”

Therefore, the time to vote came after a year of preparation. The Diaconia decided unanimously on my re-election.

After thanking everyone for having put their faith in me once again, I accepted the responsibility with the same openness I have had in responding from the first moment that Fr. Giussani called me, and with the sole desire of following and supporting the design of an Other. Aware of my limitations, I desire to continue in service to the initiative of the One who is the true protagonist of what we live. None of us, in fact, would be capable of generating what we see happening among and around us. We are all truly stupefied by all the richness of life, of the initiatives and newness happening right now, at a particularly challenging time, during an age when nihilism reigns all around us. Specifically, in the dramatic circumstances we are passing through, it is particularly evident how the educational path in which we participate generates people who are capable of facing challenges without giving in to fear or nothingness.

I ask you to pray for me, that I may be completely open to following and supporting all that the Lord wants to accomplish among us. I want to be the first to follow the signs of Christ’s victory in the lives of those He chooses. I also ask you to pray that all of us together, following the grace of the charism and with the help of Fr. Giussani from heaven, may respond to the task embedded in the gift of the charism that was brought into the world by the Holy Spirit, which I am increasingly convinced is crucial for our lives and the life of the church and the world today.

I would like to take this opportunity to make an appeal to each of you. As is by now evident, the grave public health emergency caused by COVID-19 is having repercussions on the economy and in the lives of many people in Italy and around the world. Consequently, the Fraternity will certainly be called upon to help with needs that will arise among us. In these dramatic days, we all perceive the desire to come to the aid of the many people who are now or will soon be in great need. To help us face this need and the desire it engenders; that is, the desire to conceive of and live every detail in its connection with the whole, I ask you to be very serious in considering the commitment each of you has made or intends to make using the instrument the movement has always used to educate us to a “communal conception of what one possesses”: the Common Fund. This will allow the Fraternity to address, to the extent possible, and keeping in mind all the factors at play, the various needs that are presented.

In this very strange time through which the mystery is allowing us to live, I would like to express my closeness and that of the entire movement to all those involved on the front lines (including nurses, doctors, and other service providers), to the sick, and to those who have lost a loved one. What a wonder to be able to live and to offer everything, rooted in the certainty of
Christ present!

Yours,

Fr. Julián Carrón