The General Decree of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, The Associations of the Faithful, which regulates the government of the international associations of the faithful and entered into force on September 11, 2021, establishes that “The terms of office in the central governing body at international level can have a maximum duration of five years each” (art. 1) and that “The same person can hold positions in the central governing body at international level for a maximum period consecutive period of ten years” (art. 2).
Furthermore, the Vatican Dicastery establishes that “Associations in which, at the time of coming into force of this Decree, positions in the central governing body at international level are conferred on members who have exceeded the limits referred to in articles 1 and 2, must provide for new elections no later than twenty-four months from the coming into force of this Decree” (art. 4), that is, within and not beyond September 11, 2023.
Since he has been President of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation for over ten years, Fr. Julián Carrón has decided to resign from this role, in order to facilitate starting immediately the process of change required of international associations of the faithful recognized by the Holy See.

Fr. Carrón’s letter communicating his decision to the members of the Fraternity of CL follows:

Milan, November 15, 2021

Dear Friends,
In this delicate moment in the life of the Movement, I have decided to resign as President of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation, to help the change of leadership to which we are called by the Holy Father, through the Decree to regulate government within movements, to take place with the freedom that this process requires.
This will lead each one to personally take on the responsibility for the charism.
It has been an honor for me to carry out this service for years, an honor that fills me with humiliation at my limitations and if I have failed some of you. I give thanks to God for the gift of the companionship I have been able to enjoy, in front of the beautiful sight of your daily witness, from which I have learned constantly and from which I want to continue learning.
I hope you will experience this circumstance as an opportunity for the growth of your ecclesial self-awareness, so that you may continue to testify to the grace of the charism given by the Holy Spirit to Fr. Giussani, which makes Christ a real, persuasive and decisive presence that has struck us and drawn us into a flow of new life, for us and for the whole world.

Always yours,
Julián Carrón