New “Donum Missionis” Foundation to oversee Dicastery for Evangelization Colleges
Pope Leo XIV established the Donum Missionis Foundation by Rescript to oversee properties and colleges belonging to the Dicastery for Evangelization. The foundation merges Domus Missionalis and Domus Urbaniana, which have housed and supported seminarians and religious from mission territories studying in Rome. Donum Missionis will oversee six colleges and CIAM, providing accommodation and supporting the academic and spiritual formation of people sent to Rome. The foundation will receive an initial endowment of one million euros, with additional funding from the Pontifical Mission Societies, managed assets, and CIAM hospitality services.
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Pope Leo XIV has established the Donum Missionis Foundation, bringing two Vatican entities responsible for missionary colleges in Rome into a single institution. The foundation will coordinate the care and maintenance of properties that accommodate and educate clergy and religious from mission territories. 1
Donum Missionis combines the Domus Missionalis and Domus Urbaniana foundations, which were established in 2005 to support people from mission territories undertaking formation and study in Rome. The merger is intended to harmonize their canonical status with the current legal framework and reforms to the Roman Curia. 1
The new foundation is to take over from the two separate entities on 1 November 2026. Its remit includes the care, preservation, and ordinary and extraordinary maintenance of the colleges’ properties. 1
The foundation will oversee six institutions: the Pontifical Urban College of Propaganda Fide; the missionary colleges of St. Peter the Apostle, St. Paul the Apostle, St. Joseph, and Mater Ecclesiae; and the International Centre for Missionary Formation (CIAM). 1
The colleges host seminarians, priests, and women and men religious sent to Rome from mission territories for initial or continuing formation, university study, or advanced training. CIAM also runs continuing missionary-formation programs of the Pontifical Mission Societies and provides accommodation to pilgrims, prayer groups, and laypeople. 1
The institutions have different roles and scale. The Urban College welcomes about 170 seminarians annually; St. Peter and St. Paul each accommodate roughly 150 to 200 priests; and Mater Ecclesiae serves around 130 women religious. St. Joseph provides formation for rectors and formators serving seminaries in mission territories. 1
The foundation has an initial endowment of €1 million. Its funding is expected to include annual contributions from the Pontifical Mission Societies, support from the Dicastery, income from managed assets, and revenue from CIAM’s hospitality services. 1
The Dicastery’s Pro-Prefect is the foundation’s legal representative, while the secretary of its Section for the First Evangelization and New Particular Churches serves as president. The statutes also provide for a vice-president, a board of directors, a director, and a three-member board of auditors. 1
Father Stefano Fossi was appointed director, and Father Alessandro Brandi deputy director. 1
The missionary colleges trace their institutional roots to the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, established in 1627, the predecessor of the present Dicastery for Evangelization. The Urban College is due to mark its 400th anniversary in 2027; other colleges were added during the 20th century to serve priests and women religious from mission regions. 1
Missionary formation integrates ecclesial governance, stewardship, and intercultural education
Missionary formation should bring together three realities: communion with the Church’s pastors, responsible stewardship of people and resources, and serious preparation to encounter other cultures. These are not separate administrative concerns; they serve the Church’s central mission of bearing witness to Christ and establishing local Churches.
Ecclesial governance means that missionary work is coordinated within the Church’s visible communion. Missionaries, religious institutes, local Churches, and episcopal conferences have distinct responsibilities, but they are called to cooperate, respect one another’s proper competence, and coordinate their efforts. Formation should therefore teach both the Church’s mission and how pastoral collaboration works in practice.
Stewardship follows from this shared responsibility: missionary personnel, expertise, and other resources should be directed toward genuine pastoral needs, rather than treated as the concern of one group alone. The Church’s missionary structures are charged with planning, coordinating, and assisting this work, while local Churches and institutes contribute their own knowledge and gifts. The supplied texts do not set out a detailed financial or budgeting framework, so stewardship here is best understood as accountable, collaborative service rather than as a specific financial policy.
Intercultural education prepares missionaries to meet people with understanding and respect. Vatican II calls for learning local languages and studying a community’s history, social structures, customs, moral outlook, and religious traditions. John Paul II likewise stresses preparation for intercultural transitions, guidance during a missionary’s first years, and continuing formation throughout religious life. Such learning does not displace proclaiming Christ; it helps missionaries communicate the Gospel faithfully and engage the people they serve.
The formation itself should be integral and ongoing—not merely classroom instruction. It should develop intellectual, spiritual, relational, and practical capacities through shared learning, accompanied experience, reflection, and discernment. In this way, governance gives mission a structure, stewardship directs its gifts toward service, and intercultural education helps that service take root in real communities.