Concludes the First Part of the Extraordinary General Chapter of the Legionaries of Christ
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On March 26, Fr. Eduardo Robles-Gil, LC, presided over the Eucharistic celebration that marked the beginning of the first session of the extraordinary General Chapter. During the homily, Father Eduardo said: “The Chapter is and must be a moment of grace. It is so because of the special presence of God our Lord. It is so because it is in God’s intentions and also because we ask for it with great fervor. It will be a grace for each one if we allow the Holy Spirit to truly fill our hearts and ignite in us the fire of His love. And only when we are overflowing with His love will we be good instruments of Him in these days. The Chapter will be a grace for the Legion and Regnum Christi because we will emerge renewed by His presence and His action upon ourselves and the entire Movement. God’s love for His Legion and His Movement is great.”
“This is God’s wisdom: dying to have life. Hopefully, amidst the effort, fatigue, and tension, we can be spiritual men open to the Lord’s wisdom that comes from above. We all have ideas, principles, convictions, but we must know that God’s wisdom is incomparably greater than human wisdom,” he added. Finally, he commented: “The Gospel invites us at this moment to start from the heart, from love, to persevere as one people, with one spirit in God’s heart. And to ask God today in prayer: Look upon the fragility of our nature and raise our weak hope with the strength of your Son’s passion. Willing to be what we must be, we can ‘ignite His fire in the world’.”
The work of the chapter was interrupted on Holy Thursday to participate in the Holy Triduum celebrations and resumed on Easter Monday.
The P. David Koonce, LC, commented: “It was wonderful to meet fathers I already knew and others I only knew by name. Some of the chapter fathers were my companions in formation, and I was filled with admiration to meet them at the Chapter, with that sense of responsibility for the Legion and the Movement, with fraternal spirit. The coexistence was peaceful, even during moments of debate and greater tension in the classroom, which are normal in a chapter, as it is a time for deliberation, and to deliberate one must see the different sides and weigh the arguments. We spoke very frankly, but also with good humor and the desire to understand the other’s point of view.”
“To interpret the conclusions of the Chapter, I believe we must consider that it is divided into two sessions and that we took our time to deliberate and review the issues presented to us, with much calm, with freedom of spirit, not making final decisions, but giving clear guidelines that we hope will be part of the ongoing conversation in the General Assembly. We are closing this stage of the Chapter with great hope for what will come out of the Assembly. The Holy Spirit is speaking through positions that, at first glance, may seem contrasting, but in reality reflect common intuitions that are discovered over time,” added Fr. David Koonce, LC. And he concluded by saying: “Within the Chapter, the most typical work was carried out in plenary sessions, where each had the opportunity to speak; we also had some working sessions in smaller circles. In this way, we advanced together, guided by the material we had previously received: the results of the Assemblies, material from the General Historical Archive, and the letters that arrived in the Chapter’s mailbox (466 pages in A4). We took all this material very seriously because we believed it was important to carry in our hearts the hopes and concerns of all who contributed to this process.”
Fr. Vincent McMahon, LC, commented: “What impressed me most from the beginning of the Chapter was the sense of prayer and apostolic commitment of the chapter fathers. Seeing God’s action in each one and in the group. We have seen many aspects of collaboration between the consecrated branches and with the laity, and we have great hope to launch the Movement in that direction.”
Fr. Rafael Pacanins, LC, said: “This is the first time I attend a General Chapter. At the beginning, one comes with many expectations, fears about what will come out, doubts because you don’t know what will happen or how it will be. Yes, there were tough and quite difficult moments. Today I feel a great consolation from the Holy Spirit because I see a very strong unity in the Legion and in Regnum Christi. I see appreciation, fraternity, love for the Church. I see that my fellow legionaries have a very strong identity as Regnum Christi and are aware that Regnum Christi is the main mission of the Legion of Christ. This experience has renewed me a lot, and I want to return to my pastoral work to continue giving myself and to be more in love with the Legion and Regnum Christi.”
“I had the opportunity to have many moments of personal dialogue with Fr. Ghirlanda, and what caught my attention was that he knows us so thoroughly, our charism, and each of the vocations of Regnum Christi. I believe it’s not an easy task after eight years. During the Chapter, he listened to us six hours daily, explaining, enlightening us, showing various options, and not imposing himself. I leave edified and very grateful because he is an instrument of God that the Church placed in our path to accompany us,” added Fr. Rafael Pacanins, LC.
On April 7, a Eucharistic concelebration of thanksgiving to God was held, presided over by Father Eduardo Robles-Gil, LC, in the chapel of the International College.
At the end of the Eucharistic celebration, Father Eduardo thanked all the legionaries and members of the Movement for the communion of prayers during this period; he also thanked Fr. Gianfranco Ghirlanda, S.I., pontifical assistant, for the support and closeness of the Church during the General Chapter.
In the afternoon, some concluding sessions of the Chapter continued, along with a prayer to the Holy Virgin Mary in the grotto to give thanks and entrust the next stages of the process, and a meeting with the consecrated laity and the vowed women gathered in their extraordinary General Assembly.
