The General Council collaborates with the General Director in the governance of the Congregation. This collaboration is primarily expressed by giving consent or advice, as determined by universal law or the congregation’s own regulations. The General Council consists of six members, elected by the General Chapter for a six-year term.
The Council ceases to function when the General Director’s mandate ends. Councilors may be re-elected for additional terms. The General Director may delegate specific faculties to the General Councilors for a determined period or on a case-by-case basis to assist in the governance of the Congregation.
First Counselor and Vicar General
Fr. Hernán Jiménez, L.C.
Fr. Hernán Jiménez, L.C., was born on January 6, 1959, in Monterrey, Nuevo León (Mexico). He joined the Legion of Christ in 1976 and completed his novitiate and humanities studies in Salamanca, Spain.
In 1978, he moved to Rome to begin his bachelor’s degree in philosophy at the Gregorian University, where he graduated with a licentiate in 1982. In 1990, he completed his theological studies at the Angelicum and was ordained a priest on January 3, 1991. He has served in youth ministry in Spain and vocational ministry in Italy and Mexico. From 2011 to 2016, he was rector of the theology community at the Legionaries of Christ International College in Rome.
In 2016, he moved to Mexico City to work in vocational promotion, serve as rector of the Student Center, and act as territorial counselor. In February 2020, he was elected first counselor and vicar general by the General Chapter of the Congregation.
Powers of the Vicar General when the General Director is impeded or the position is vacant:
The Vicar General assumes all the obligations and rights of the General Director’s office. During his term, he is prohibited from introducing any changes in the life of the Congregation. In the event that the position of General Director becomes vacant, it is the responsibility of the Vicar General to convene the elective General Chapter within three months and to preside over it until the election of the new General Director.
General Counselor
Fr. Jesús Villagrasa, L.C.
Fr. Jesús Villagrasa, L.C., was born in 1963 in Zaragoza, Spain. He entered the Novitiate of the Legion of Christ in Salamanca on September 15, 1981, and made his perpetual profession on October 8, 1989. He was ordained a priest on November 25, 1994. He holds a doctorate in philosophy, a licentiate in theology, and a licentiate in bioethics. Since 1999, he has been a full professor of metaphysics at the Faculty of Philosophy at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum. He served as the director of the Office of Quality and the Evaluation Core at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum from 2009 to 2013.
On January 31, 2011, Cardinal Velasio De Paolis appointed him as General Counselor, a position he was confirmed in by the General Chapter of 2014. He has been responsible for overseeing the network of schools and universities of Regnum Christi and served as rector of the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum from 2013 to 2019. On February 7, he was re-elected by the General Chapter of 2020 as a General Counselor of the Legionaries of Christ.
General Counselor
Fr. Rafael Ducci, L.C.
Fr. Rafael Ducci, L.C., was born in Santiago (Chile) on September 12, 1970. He entered the Legion of Christ on March 25, 1989, after completing his preparatory studies. He made his perpetual profession in June 1997 and was ordained a priest on December 24, 2002. He holds a licentiate in philosophy and a licentiate in theology from the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum. For 10 years, he worked in the offices of the General Secretariat. He has served as director of the section for men and women of Regnum Christi in Santiago (Chile).
Before being elected as General Counselor of the Legionaries of Christ by the 2020 Ordinary General Chapter, he served as territorial vicar and was responsible for the territorial apostolate team in the Territory of Chile. He was elected as General Counselor by the General Chapter of the Congregation in February 2020.
General Counselor
Fr. Pedro Barrajón, L.C.
Fr. Pedro Barrajón, L.C., was born on December 4, 1957, in Valdepeñas, Ciudad Real, Spain. He entered the Legion of Christ on October 4, 1974, and made his perpetual profession on April 7, 1985. During his apostolic practices, he served as assistant of ECYD and the youth section of Regnum Christi in Monterrey (1979 to 1983). He was prefect of studies for the Consecrated Laity in Mexico (1985-1986). From 1987 to 2000, he collaborated as an assistant in the General Secretariat.
He studied his Bachelor’s in Theology at the Angelicum University in Rome and holds a licentiate in philosophy and a doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He was ordained a priest on December 24, 1988. After his ordination, he has mainly dedicated himself to academic pastoral work, first at the International College of the Legionaries of Christ, then affiliated with the Pontifical Gregorian University (1991-1992), and since 1993 at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, where he served as rector from 2007 to 2013. From 2004 to 2014, he was director of the adult sections in Brussels, Belgium. He then served as director of the Sacerdos Institute from 2014 to 2016. He is currently the rector of the European University of Rome. He was elected as General Counselor by the General Chapter of the Congregation in February 2020.
General Counselor
Fr. Gerardo Flores, L.C.
Gerardo Flores de la Fuente, L.C., was born on February 21, 1972, in Puebla, Mexico. In 1990, he entered the Novitiate of the Legion of Christ in Cheshire, United States, where he also completed his humanities studies from 1992 to 1993. He pursued ecclesiastical studies at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome, Italy, where he also obtained a licentiate in philosophy. From 1995 to 2000, he worked in the formation of minor seminarians in Monterrey, Mexico. He made his perpetual profession on August 15, 1998, and was ordained a priest on December 24, 2003.
After his ordination, he returned to Mexico, where he continued working in the formation of minor seminarians at the vocational centers in La Joya (Mexico City), León, Monterrey, and Guadalajara. Since 2015, he has been responsible for overseeing the renewal process of the Legionaries of Christ’s vocational centers, and since 2017, he has served as the person responsible for Safe Environments for minors and vulnerable adults. He was elected as General Counselor by the General Chapter of the Congregation in February 2020.
General Counselor
Fr. Michael Brisson, L.C.
Fr. Michael Brisson, L.C., was born on February 22, 1977, in Hartford, United States. He entered the Legion of Christ in 1995 in Cheshire. He completed his novitiate in Monterrey, Mexico, and his humanities studies in Cheshire. During his apostolic practices, he worked in the Fundraising office in the United States. He holds a licentiate in philosophy from the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, where he also completed his first year of ecclesiastical studies in theology from 2006 to 2007. In 2007, he was appointed territorial secretary for the New York Territory and manager of the community at the territorial headquarters while finishing his studies.
He was ordained a priest on December 12, 2009, at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls. He was later appointed superior of the New York territorial headquarters and director of the men’s and women’s sections in the same city. He then worked for three years as the local coordinator of apostolate in New York and superior of the Thornwood apostolate community. Since 2013, he has served as territorial secretary for North America, superior of a Legionary community in Atlanta, and chaplain of the Regnum Christi Consecrated Women community in Atlanta. He was elected as General Counselor by the General Chapter of the Congregation in February 2020.
Powers of the General Council
The General Director must obtain the consent or hear the opinion of his council in all cases established by universal law or the congregation’s own regulations.
By universal law, the consent of the General Council is required for the General Director to:
- To erect, transfer, or suppress a novitiate house.
- To grant a novice permission to complete his novitiate in another house of the Congregation.
- To grant a professed of perpetual vows permission to join another religious institute.
- To grant the indult of departure to a professed of temporary vows.
- To grant the indult of exclaustration to a professed of perpetual vows for a maximum of three years.
- To request from the Holy See the imposition of exclaustration on a member of the Congregation.
- To readmit a novice or a professed who left the Congregation lawfully.