This Saturday, February 29th, a meeting between Pope Francis and the participants in the General Chapter of the Legionaries of Christ and the Assemblies of the Consecrated Women and the Laity was scheduled, but it did not take place because, on the third consecutive day, cancellations have occurred in the Holy Father’s schedule. The Holy See has published the message in Italian that the Pope wanted to address to the attendees, and it was read during the Assemblies and the Chapter in the morning.

Full message from the Pope in Spanish
Full message from the Pope in Italian (original language)

A change of mindset to move out of self-referentiality

In his message, the Pope recalled that the founder’s criminal life “had, to some extent, contaminated the charism that the Holy Spirit had originally given to the Church,” affecting the norms, the praxis of governance, and the life “of the entire Regnum Christi.” However, with the Church’s guidance, the Regnum Christi has undertaken a path that has meant a true “change of mindset,” reflected in the new Constitutions and Statutes, which are “truly new,” says the Pope, “because they reflect a new spirit” and a “coherent vision with the Second Vatican Council,” the result of a process in which “your communities have been involved.” The Pope states in his message that “this has been possible because you have been docile to the help and support offered by the Church,” and because you have realized “the real need for a renewal that would make you move out of self-referentiality, in which you had enclosed yourselves.”

“Pope Francis’s words fill us with gratitude and encourage us to continue the path of discernment and renewal with commitment and docility to the Spirit,” affirmed Nancy Nohrden, General Director of the Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi. “That he has confirmed the steps we have taken in recent years reinforces our desire to bravely and humbly address past errors and to walk in truth to make Christ’s kingdom present,” she said.

Meanwhile, Félix Gómez Rueda, General Director of the Laity, expressed gratitude for “hearing from the Holy Father that the work of these years has allowed us to highlight the charism originally given by the Holy Spirit and truly rooted in the teachings of the Second Vatican Council.”

“We are grateful for the Holy Father’s message and the close accompaniment of the Holy See,” said Fr. John Connor, L.C., recently elected General Director of the Legionaries of Christ. “Aware of what we have learned, recognizing and purifying the sad aspects of our past, we look to the future with hope, seeing a new stage in the path of renewal that must continue,” he assured.

For Francisco Gámez, a layperson attending the General Governing Body of Regnum Christi, “the Pope calls us to maintain a continuous attitude of spiritual renewal. The lay members of Regnum Christi do not want to live a static or closed charism, only for a few. We want to constantly discern and put our charism in contact with reality, with those who do not know God, with existential peripheries,” he affirmed.

Regnum Christi Federation

On June 12, 2019, the Holy See, through the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (CIVCSVA), established the Regnum Christi Federation and approved its Statutes. The new Statutes express the common ground reached by the four vocations of Regnum Christi during the renewal process regarding their charism and shared mission, spirituality, members, organization, and governance. It has been a participatory and global process involving all members of Regnum Christi from the four vocations that form this ecclesial reality since 2010, totaling about 22,000 members including Legionaries of Christ, consecrated women, lay consecrated persons, and laity.

Collegial governance

With the Church’s guidance, mechanisms regulating the exercise of governance and authority have been reformed to exercise it as the Holy See indicated after the 2010 apostolic visitation: “united to the truth, to respect conscience, and to be exercised in the light of the Gospel as an authentic ecclesial service.” In addition to changes in the constitutions of the three consecrated vocations, Regnum Christi has introduced a collegial mode for governing the entire body. This aims to highlight the spirit of communion, shared responsibility, and complementarity among the vocations, respecting each one’s autonomy.

Regnum Christi in figures

Worldwide, by the end of 2018, Regnum Christi had 22,652 lay members, 523 consecrated women, 59 lay consecrated persons, and 1,501 Legionaries of Christ.

The educational work has 185,000 students worldwide. It includes 14 secular universities in Mexico, Italy, Spain, Chile, and the United States, 154 schools (31 of which are Mano Amiga schools for children from marginalized areas in Mexico, Chile, Argentina, the Philippines, Venezuela, Colombia, and Brazil). Additionally, it hosts the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, the John Paul II Institute for the Family, the Pontifical International College Maria Mater Ecclesiae in Rome, and the Maria Mater Ecclesiae Seminary in Brazil.

Evangelization missions

Thousands of families and young people, especially during Holy Week and summer periods, dedicate themselves 100% to serving diocesan parish priests to collaborate with them in evangelization. There are missionaries from 30 countries: United States, El Salvador, Venezuela, Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Cuba, Ivory Coast, Poland, New Zealand, Australia, Romania, Hungary, the Philippines, Canada, Belize, Italy, France, Spain, Mexico, Ireland, Germany, Bosnia, the Bahamas, Lebanon, England, Austria, Belgium, and Lithuania.