Julián Carrón, President, Fraternity of Communion and Liberation
Called by Father Giussani to share in the responsibility of the leadership of the Movement, Father Julián Carrón has been President of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation since March 19, 2005, and Ecclesiastical Assistant to the Memores Domini since May 13, 2005.
Julián Carrón was born in 1950 in Navaconcejo (Cáceres, Spain). While he was still very young, he entered Madrid’s Conciliar Seminary, where he completed his secondary and theological studies. He was ordained a priest in 1975, and the following year he obtained a degree in Theology, specializing in Sacred Scripture at the Comillas Pontifical University. He is lecturer at the Complutense University of Madrid. He was appointed Elève Titulaire at the École Biblique et Archéologique Française in Jerusalem, where he worked under the direction of M.-É. Boismard. He spent one year researching at the Catholic University of America (Washington, DC), and is professor at the Theological College of Madrid’s Conciliar Seminary.
He is head of the Minor Seminary, professor of Religion, and in charge of pastoral care at the Colegio Arzobispal de la Inmaculada y San Dámaso (Madrid), of which he was rector from 1987 to 1994. He obtained a doctorate in Theology from the Facultad de Teología del Norte de España, in Burgos, in 1984. He is lecturer at the San Dámaso Institute of Theology, Religious Science, and Catechetics and ordinary professor of New Testament at the San Dámaso Faculty of Theology in Madrid, where he has taught “Introduction to Sacred Scripture,” “The Pauline Corps and Acts of the Apostles,” and “Origins of Christianity.” He is also a member of the editorial committee of Studia Semitica Novi Testamenti. He is the Director of Madrid’s San Justino Institute of Classical and Eastern Philology. During the 1990s, he gave numerous lectures on the historicity of the Gospels in Madrid, Milan, Turin, Bologna, Rome, Florence, and Rimini, and lessons at New York University, the Catholic University of America, the John Paul II Institute, and the University of San Francisco, on the theme “In Search of Certainty about the Historic Value of the Gospels.” In addition to numerous articles in various journals, he published El Mesías manifestado. Tradición Literaria y transfondo judío de Hch 3, 19-26 (Studia Semitica Novi Testamenti 2, Madrid 1993).
He has served as director of the Spanish edition of the international Catholic journal Communio and the journal Estudios Bíblicos, as well as the Library of the San Dámaso Faculty of Theology in Madrid and the Institute of Religious Sciences related to the same faculty.
In September 2004 he moved to Milan, called by Father Giussani, the founder of the ecclesial movement Communion and Liberation, to share with him in the responsibility of the leadership of the whole Movement.
Since the academic year 2004-2005, he has been professor of Introduction to Theology at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan.
On March 19, 2005, the Central Diakonia of the Fraternity of CL appointed him President of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation, as the successor of Father Giussani, who passed away on February 22, 2005. On May 13, 2005, the Pontifical Council for the Laity appointed him Ecclesiastical Assistant to the Association Memores Domini.
On August 26, 2005, he was received for the first time in a private audience by Pope Benedict XVI at Castel Gandolfo, in his capacity as the President of the Fraternity of CL.
In October 2005, he participated in the Synod on “The Eucharist: Source and Summit of the Life and Mission of the Church” as a Synodal Father appointed by the Pope.
On June 3, 2006, he spoke in St. Peter’s Square during Pope Benedict XVI’s meeting with the ecclesial movements.
On March 24, 2007, he led CL’s international pilgrimage to St. Peter’s Square for the Audience granted by the Holy Father on the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the Pontifical Recognition of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation.
On March 8, 2008, having reached the end of his mandate, the Central Diakonia of the Fraternity of CL reconfirmed his appointment as President of the Fraternity for the following six years.
In April 2008, he was appointed by Benedict XVI as Consultor of the Pontifical Council for the Laity.
In October 2008, he participated in the Synod on “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church” as a Synodal Father appointed by the Pope.
From 2005 to 2009 he was director of the series “Books of the Christian Spirit” published by Rizzoli, and from 2005 to 2010, of the “Spirto Gentil” music series, both founded by Father Giussani.
In November 2010, he spoke at the Theological Conference of the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow entitled “Life in Christ: Christian Morality, Church Ascetic Tradition, and Challenges of the Modern Age,” and, also in November 2010, at the 12th Congress on Catholics and Public Life organized by the University Foundation “San Pablo Ceu” in Madrid entitled “Rooted in Christ: Strengthened in Faith and in Mission.”
On May 19, 2011, Benedict XVI appointed him Consultor of the new Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization.
On February 22, 2012, he sent the request for the opening of the cause of beatification and canonization of Father Giussani to the Archbishop of Milan, Cardinal Angelo Scola.
On May 12, 2012, the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC bestowed an honorary degree in Sacred Theology on him, “For his distinguished service in the theology field, especially in Sacred Scripture, and as leader of an international ecclesial movement recognized by the Pope.”
In October 2012, he participated in the Synod on “The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith” as a Synodal Father appointed by the Pope.
On October 11, 2013 Fr. Julián Carrón is received in private audience with Pope Francis. On October 16, Fr. Julián writes a letter to the Fraternity and to the entire Movement of Communion and Liberation.
On March 29, 2014, at the end of his term, Fr. Julian Carron was re-elected by the Diakonia as the President of the Fraternity of CL for the next six years.
On March 7, 2015, he led CL’s international pilgrimage to St. Peter’s Square for the Audience granted by Pope Francis on the occasion of the 10th Anniversary of the death of the Servant of God Luigi Giussani.
Fr. Carrón is professor of Theology at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan.
On September, 2015, he wrote the book “La bellezza disarmata” (The Unarmed Beauty), published by Rizzoli.
