Process of reconfiguration and merger of circumscriptions

The letter traces the conceptual evolution of the process since the 1985 General Chapter, sets out the rationale for the process, and indicates the path to follow, including the organisational scenarios that seem possible at this time. It also outlines the milestones of the process leading up to the 2028 General Chapter, at which the identified options, with their operational implications for implementing the new circumscription structures, will be presented to the Chapter for its discernment and decision. The General Council invites all confreres to carefully welcome the letter and asks everyone for generous and constructive collaboration in taking up, with confidence and hope, the challenge of this reconfiguration, dictated by a passion for the mission.

Letter on the Reconfiguration of the Circumscriptions

Dear Confrères,
On the eve of the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, which reminds us of our consecration to God and our mission, we would like to update you on the process of reconfiguring the Institute’s Circumscriptions. It is important to understand its urgency, the reasons behind it, and its significance for our missionary service.

Above all, we want to share with you the journey we are undertaking as an Institute, hoping for your collaboration and support. In the text below, you will find the terms merger and requalification: we have chosen to retain them to respect the terminology used in the various General Chapters.

A reflection that comes from long ago

The Institute’s discernment regarding the merging of Circumscriptions is part of the broader process of reviewing and requalifying missionary commitments, which began with the 1985 Chapter. At that time, the reflection arose from the need to make the missionary presence more meaningful and consistent with the new Rule of Life.

Since the 2003 Chapter, the issue became more pressing due to the progressive reduction and ageing of personnel, as well as the necessity to invest increasingly limited resources strategically.

The 2009 Chapter marked a turning point, identifying mergers as an essential structural choice to ensure high-quality missionary service. While acknowledging the operational difficulties and resistance to change, emphasis was placed on a gradual, dialogue-based approach founded on clear feasibility criteria.

The following Chapters further linked mergers to the reorganisation and requalification of the Institute, according to a ministerial approach oriented towards specific pastoral care and continental needs, emphasising the necessity for more consistent, stable, and international communities.

The failure to implement many Chapter directives led the 2022 Chapter to strongly reaffirm the need to implement the process of merging and requalification. At the 2025 Intercapitular Assembly, participants relaunched this process, emphasising that Circumscriptions that are too small are no longer able to adequately support either the mission or internal services. This results in excessive centralisation and dependence on Rome, a loss of operational quality, and a weakening of the charismatic expression.

The mergers are, therefore, not only an organisational choice, but also a profoundly missionary decision, aimed at making the Circumscriptions more sustainable, competent, and capable of faithfully and effectively embodying the Institute’s charism in the current context.

The urgency and reasons for the ongoing process

As early as the 2009 Chapter, there was a “call for the courage to make choices involving everyone and to proceed without hesitation or delay, based on reflections and decisions already urgent in the past, living the mission as a project in communion” (cf. General Council, Presentation Letter of Chapter Acts, 2009).

Faced with the significant reduction in personnel – from 1,839 missionaries in 1996 to 1,443 today –, the structural response has been limited: only two Circumscription mergers have been carried out in thirty years (Brazil and Egypt-Sudan). This slow but steady decline in the number of confrères has progressively eroded our capacity to respond to the mission.

Many communities have been closed, but the presence of communities that are too small generates a sort of missionary stagnation, due to a lack of turnover, of sufficient skills, of limited capacity for mission regeneration, and of correct balance between internal services and service to the local Church. Moreover, numerous communities continue to operate with fewer than three members, contrary to the Rule of Life (RL 40.1). This is not just a numerical problem: such situations have a negative impact both personal and community health, and on the very style of mission.

For this reason, we believe it necessary to arrive at the next General Chapter (2028) with a new configuration of the Institute to be submitted for approval. In summary, there are four main reasons why the reorganisation of the districts is essential:

1. to promote and support the ministerial requalification of Circumscriptions, in line with the vision, guidelines, and commitments undertaken by the XIX General Chapter (cf. AC 2022, 27–34);
2. to manage the availability of personnel and specialised skills more effectively, applying the principle of subsidiarity both in services to the mission (e.g., specific pastoral initiatives) and in services to the Institute (formation, governance, economy);
3. to ensure the sustainability of the Circumscriptions by creating economies of scale and optimising the use of personnel and resources for more competent and better distributed services;
4. to facilitate, on the part of Circumscription Councils, the assignment of new confrères, safeguarding and enhancing internationality.

The path ahead

The proposed process is the result of reflections that have matured at various levels: continental meetings, meetings of Circumscription superiors or within the Circumscriptions themselves – in same cases through surveys –, as well as in the General Secretariats and the General Council. At all levels, it has become clear that the Institute’s restructuring can no longer be postponed.

Taking into account the various contributions, a number of working hypotheses have been formulated for each continent, to be explored in greater depth in terms of their practical aspects. We hope for broad involvement of confrères, both in recognising the need for consolidation and in contributing to the definition of proposals, under the guidance and accompaniment of Circumscription superiors. In particular, the configuration hypotheses are as follows:

• Europe: a single province, with the exception of the London Province-LP.
• ASCAF: a single province.
• APDESAM: three provinces – North (EGSD, ET, ER); East (KE, SS, U); South (MO, MZ, RSA).
• America–Asia: three provinces – South (BR, CO, EC, PE), Central (PCA, M), North (NAP) – and one delegation (A).

Both LP and NAP will participate in the meetings of the new provinces: LP with Europe and NAP with the “Central America” province.

The possible path, which has already been partially agreed upon by the Circumscription superiors, foresees work in groups of Circumscriptions, according to the above-mentioned merger proposals.

2026

Each new configuration will establish a commission tasked with developing a strategic unification plan, aimed at clarifying the implications at the governance and administrative levels. This process of reflection will also draw on contributions from the provincial secretariats for their respective sectors. Each provincial superior will also be responsible for continuing the work of raising awareness within their own Circumscription.

The results of this work must be shared with the General Council by June 2026. To this end, it is important that each continental coordinator, together with the provincials, immediately begin organising an appropriate work programme, relying on the support and constant guidance of the general councillor assigned to that continent, who will closely monitor the progress of the work.

In September and October 2026, the General Council will meet with interprovincial groups (two representatives per province: the provincial superior plus a member nominated by the provincial council) for dialogue and decision-making on the proposed hypotheses.

Please, communicate your available dates by the end of April, bearing in mind that, as already agreed at the Intercapitular Assembly, two general councillors will be expected to attend.

This will be followed by the drafting of a preliminary version of the new provincial directories (ad experimentum) for the start-up phase following the 2028 Chapter; this draft will be discussed in a special Consulta in January 2027. The same Consulta will also define the procedures for the 20^th General Chapter (2028).

In the October 2026 Consulta, the General Council will appoint a commission to study the amendments needed to the Rule of Life for implementing mergers.

2027

At the Consulta of June 2027, the pre-chapter commission will be appointed, and the 20^th General Chapter will be convened.

In October 2027, delegates to the Chapter will be elected; in December, the list of Chapter members will be drawn up, and the process of revising the Rule of Life to be presented to the Dicastery will be completed.

2028

The 20^th General Chapter will be held in June 2028 and will deal, among other things, the approval of mergers and the revision of Rule of Life. Immediately afterwards, in August, the election process will begin according to the new configuration of the Circumscriptions.

Conclusion

The profound changes that have transformed our reality, our mission, and the Institute require the courage to take concrete steps towards appropriate reorganisation. We are not alone on this journey: many other Institutes are undergoing similar processes in response to the transformations taking place.

It is natural to fell nostalgia for the past and fear for a future yet to be explored. However, the Spirit invites us to look forward with confidence and hope, dreaming of a mission-driven reconfiguration. In this, governance structures are called to be adequate instruments for evangelising today’s world, rather than means of self-preservation (cf. EG 27).

This is a favourable time for the reconfiguration of Circumscriptions. We still have the energy and capacity necessary to manage it in a responsible and constructive manner.

While not a solution to all difficulties, it represents an opportunity to remain creatively faithful to the Institute’s mission. The signs of the times urge us to live the mission in a ministerial key, strengthening specific pastorals according to continental priorities, which constitute the glue and missionary dynamism of the Comboni Circumscriptions. We, therefore, hope for the generous and constructive collaboration of all confrères so, that this process may be carried out in communion and with a vision of the Institute- that goes beyond the limited perspective of individual Circumscriptions.

May St Daniel Comboni accompany and inspire us for the good of the mission and the greater glory of God

The General Council

Rome, 1^st February 2026
Eve of the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord