From April 1st to 3rd, 2022, the XX Anniversary Convention of the Logos Priestly Center was held at the Santa María de la Cascada Retreat Center, in the municipality of Amecameca.

This convention was originally planned to take place in 2020, but due to the pandemic, it had to be postponed twice. Two years ago, the 20th anniversary of the Logos Priestly Center was to be celebrated, an apostolate that has served many priests, especially diocesan priests.

The Convention was attended by most of the directors of the apostolate from the dioceses where Logos is present; from Central America, the local directors of El Salvador and Costa Rica participated. Among the attendees, they mentioned that more than a Convention, those days felt like a spiritual retreat centered on the priest and his mission in the Church and in the world.

Legionaries and diocesan priests at the Convention

Present were Father Alfonso López Muñoz, LC, director of the Logos Priestly Center; Father Antonio Rivero, LC, national assistant for the direction of the apostolate and a long-time collaborator of Logos; Father Roberto González, LC, who has also been very involved in the apostolate in recent years, and to whom priests and bishops request various pastoral academic services thanks to his experience; both Fathers Antonio and Roberto travel from the novitiate in Monterrey, where they reside, to offer their services to the dioceses with spiritual exercises, retreats, and various courses.

During the Convention, Father Roberto González, LC, delivered a lecture titled “The Identity of the Priest, Worshiper of God in Spirit and in Truth,” and Father Antonio Rivero, LC, spoke on “How Laity Can Encourage Priestly Fraternity Among Priests of Their Diocese.”

Also attending the Convention were Father Luis Alfonso Orozco, LC, who supports Logos mainly in the area of human values and virtues, and Father Alfonso Velarde, LC, a long-time collaborator. The fathers led the meditations on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Finally, two diocesan priests also participated in the Convention: Father Fernando Valle, a priest from Ciudad Juárez who has participated since the first spiritual exercises organized by Logos, 22 years ago; and Father Marco Antonio Bolaños, who has also been attending the annual spiritual exercises for many years, shared a heartfelt testimony, mentioning that attending Logos’ spiritual exercises helped his vocation and that he “fell in love again” with his priesthood and ministry.

The sharing among laity as local directors of the apostolate

During the Convention, there were conferences and panels where local directors shared a bit of the history of Logos in their respective dioceses, the successes and challenges encountered over the years, and how they have experienced God’s grace in the apostolate as a response of Regnum Christi to the service of the dioceses. Additionally, in other panels, the present Legionary priests along with the diocesan priests shared their personal experiences within the apostolate and answered questions from the local directors.

On Sunday, before the closing Mass, a sharing session was held where the local directors of Logos and the priests present provided feedback on the Convention and their plans for their dioceses. At the end of the meeting, the director of Logos outlined some concrete objectives for the future of the apostolate.

The Convention concluded with the Holy Mass, during which the deceased local directors of Logos were remembered: Guillermo Funes (founder of Logos in El Salvador, along with his wife Sandra, who was present at the Convention), Moisés Cantú (Querétaro), and Francisco Romero (from Mérida; he and his wife Guille, who attended the Convention, have supported Logos in their diocese for several years). We also remembered the deceased members of the families of the local directors, as well as Father Miguel Romeo, LC, one of the main promoters of service to diocesan priests in Mexico.

Mrs. Gaby Sordo, general assistant of the apostolate and who has been present since the founding of Logos, gave a historical presentation of the Priestly Center: Initially, Father Michael Grealy, LC, supported the initial organization of the retreats for priests. Father Michael relied heavily on the Vocational Action Circles of Regnum Christi. Shortly after, Father Miguel Romeo, LC, arrived to coordinate what would become the Logos Priestly Center. Father Romeo spent nearly six years consolidating the apostolate; later, in 2007, Father Rafael Jácome, LC, arrived as director of Logos, continuing to strengthen and grow the apostolate for eight years until 2015, when Father Alfonso López Muñoz, LC, became the current director of the Logos Priestly Center.