Vatican City – From 1 November 2026, the “Domus Missionalis” and “Domus Urbaniana” Foundations will cease to exist as separate entities and will be brought together under a single institution, the “Donum Missionis” Foundation in a Rescriptum ex Audientia Sanctissimi signed by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and published today, October 1, by the Holy See Press Office, together with the new Statutes. During an Audience on July 28 2026, Pope Leo XIV approved the Statutes, “in consideration of the need to harmonize the canonical status of the ‘Domus Missionalis’ and ‘Domus Urbaniana’ Foundations with the current juridical framework.”Father Stefano Fossi, of the Italian Province of the Society of Jesus, has been appointed Director of the newly established Foundation. He has previously held pastoral and administrative positions in the Diocese of Rieti.Father Alessandro Brandi, a priest of the Archdiocese of Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie and Director of the International Centre for Missionary Formation , has been appointed Deputy Director of the Foundation. Until now, he also served as an Official of the Pontifical Society of St Peter the Apostle .The two Foundations now being brought together under “Donum Missionis” were established on the same day, May 20, 2005, at the initiative of Pope Benedict XVI, as instrumental entities of what was then the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. According to the official Vatican website of the Pontifical Domus Missionalis Foundation, its purpose was “to provide care and accompaniment for seminarians and priests, men and women religious who come to Rome from the Churches of Africa, Asia, America and Oceania during their university formation.”Each year, the website states, “more than 600 priests are guided and accompanied by Domus Missionalis” during their studies at the pontifical universities. L’Osservatore Romano recalled in 2021 that Domus Missionalis “provides care for” the Colleges of St. Peter the Apostle, St. Paul the Apostle, Mater Ecclesiae and St. Joseph, while the Domus Urbaniana Foundation, an “autonomous Foundation with canonical and civil legal personality” based in the Vatican, was associated with the Pontifical Urban College.What changesThe new institution has not emerged from nowhere. The Preamble to the Statutes traces the process that led to its establishment: the reform of the Roman Curia through the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium ; the motu proprio of 5 December 2022 on the instrumental legal entities of the Curia; and the Decree of 1 August 2022, through which Pope Francis entrusted the Pro-Prefect of the Section for the First Evangelization and New Particular Churches of the Dicastery for Evangelization with full legal representation of the administrations entrusted to him.The merger, approved by the Administrative Congress of the Section following a proposal by Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle, Pro-Prefect, had been approved by Leo XIV during an Audience on 13 June 2025, when he ordered “the establishment of a single Institution, to be called ‘Donum Missionis’.”The measure involves an administrative and financial merger: a single instrumental entity of the Dicastery, with its own governing bodies and subject to the Holy See’s economic oversight mechanisms, in line with the reform of the Roman Curia. “Donum Missionis” has its legal headquarters in the Vatican, in Via del Pellegrino, and its operational headquarters in the Palazzo di Propaganda Fide. The Pro-Prefect is, by right, its legal representative; the Secretary of the Section serves as its President, while the Adjunct Secretary for Administration serves as Vice-President. The Foundation’s initial endowment is one million euros. Its funding comes primarily from the annual contribution of the Pontifical Mission Societies, supplemented by contributions from the Dicastery, income from its assets and revenues from accommodation provided by CIAM.The Foundation is entrusted with “the care, preservation and ordinary and extraordinary maintenance” of the properties belonging to six institutions: the Pontifical Urban College of Propaganda Fide; the Colleges of St. Peter the Apostle, St. Paul the Apostle, St. Joseph and Mater Ecclesiae; and the International Centre for Missionary Formation .The Colleges, the Statutes specify, are intended to provide “hospitality to candidates for the priesthood, clerics, women and men religious who are sent to Rome from mission territories for an appropriate period of initial or ongoing formation, and to attend university courses and/or advanced training programs, thereby supporting their academic and spiritual formation, which is entrusted in particular to the professors and superiors of the Colleges.”The Statutes establish specific provisions for CIAM. The Centre hosts the ongoing missionary formation programs of the Pontifical Mission Societies and also provides accommodation to pilgrims, prayer groups, and laypeople. Relations with third parties, however, remain administered by the Dicastery, which owns the property.Four centuries of missionary collegesThe history of these institutions was presented by Archbishop Samuele Sangalli, Adjunct Secretary for Administration of the missionary Dicastery, in an address delivered on 8 September during the formation course for new Bishops.“Since the earliest years of its foundation in 1627, the Congregation de Propaganda Fide, of which our Dicastery is the successor, has been committed to ensuring the presence in Rome of institutions providing formation for ecclesial and religious personnel from territories of first evangelization,” he explained.The first was the Urban College, which will celebrate its fourth centenary in 2027. “Established as a seminary,” the Archbishop recalled, “it still welcomes around 170 seminarians each year from Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Apostolic Vicariates of Latin America.”During the twentieth century, he continued, “two priestly Colleges were added – the College of St. Peter in 1946 and the College of St. Paul in 1965 – for the formation of diocesan priests from the same regions.” Each accommodates between 150 and 200 priests every year.“In 1979, the Mater Ecclesiae College was established for the corresponding formation of young women religious,” he said. Today, around 130 women religious attend the College, located in Castel Gandolfo.The College of St. Joseph was also established in 1979 and has been located on the Janiculum since 2006. It provides courses for rectors and formators of “425 minor seminaries, 135 propaedeutic seminaries and 270 major seminaries” in mission territories.Alongside the Colleges, the Pontifical Urbaniana University has around 1,130 students and 97 affiliated institutes in 40 countries.For Archbishop Sangalli, these institutions “carry out an irreplaceable service”: they ensure “formation in missionary spirit among the diocesan clergy of our territories”, prepare formators for seminaries and religious houses, and offer “that unique experience of the Catholicity and universality of the Church which can be experienced only in Rome, sub Petro Sedem.”He therefore appealed to the new Bishops: “We need the support of all the local Churches, so that these Colleges may continue to provide the service for which they were established.” With “Donum Missionis” – the “gift of mission” – that service will now have a single juridical home. Link correlati :ATTACHED BULLETIN
