• The ceremony will be held next Saturday, April 27th, at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, in Rome (Italy).
• It will be presided over by Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle, Pro-prefect of the Section for the First Evangelization and the New Particular Churches of the Dicastery for Evangelization.
• The new priests are ordained after more than 12 years of formation.

Rome, April 19, 2024. On next Saturday, April 27th, from 10 am (Rome time), 20 Legionaries of Christ will be ordained priests, originating from Germany, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, South Korea, Spain, the United States, Mexico, and Venezuela.

The ceremony, which will take place at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls (Rome), will be officiated by Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle, Pro-prefect of the Section for the First Evangelization and the New Particular Churches of the Dicastery for Evangelization.

Information about the ordination:

• Date: Saturday, April 27, 2024.
• Time: 10 am (Rome)
• Location: Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls (Rome)
• Broadcast: Live via YouTube
• Link: https://ordenaciones.legionariosdecristo.org/live-stream/
• Languages of broadcast: Italian (official language) with commentary in Spanish and English (simultaneous channels).

Additionally, a special website for the ordinations has been prepared. There, you can find official posters, testimonies, videos, and other interesting information.

For the new priest, Gustavo Balestrín, L.C., one of the fundamental threads of his vocation has always been friendship with the Lord. “Since I was a child, I had the desire to be close to Jesus, to be an altar server at Masses, I had my rosary that shone in the dark hanging on my bed, and sometimes I would pray it at night. I felt as if Jesus had a magnet and was pointing toward me, attracting me to Him,” he states.

Similarly, Jesús Silva Sosa, L.C., indicates that “it is a great joy to be so close to the priestly ordination. I ask the Lord for the grace not to fear being His instrument, to be docile to the Holy Spirit, and to cover myself under the mantle of Mary in the face of the circumstances I will face in the future, where my human fragility and the strength that comes from Christ are mixed.”

The formation path of the Legionaries of Christ lasts 12 years before being ordained priests. The key aspects of their preparation and formation as an institution of the Church are outlined in the document Ratio Institutionis and titled “Christus vita vestra.”

At the end of 2023, the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ, which is part of Regnum Christi, is composed of 1316 Legionaries: 3 bishops, 1017 priests, and 239 in formation.