The Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ concluded its 2020 General Chapter on Sunday, March 1, after a month and a half of work, and completed the three main tasks: assessing the last six years of governance, analyzing the challenges and issues of its evangelizing mission as part of the Church, and electing the new general government to carry forward the priorities for the next six-year term.

As a conclusion of this work, the Chapter published the Capitular Communiqué 2020. It includes the final Communiqué titled “You Will Be My Witnesses,” as well as speeches, homilies, conferences, messages produced during this month and a half, along with guidelines and mandates for the upcoming government. It also includes the documents that reflect the fruits of reflections, decisions, and commitments regarding past abuses of minors by members of the Congregation, attention to victims, and strengthening of its Safe Environment policy.

You Will Be My Witnesses

“You Will Be My Witnesses” contains reflections, canonical texts, and ecclesial references that illuminate the identity and mission of the Legionaries of Christ, vocations promotion, community life, and some aspects of the relationship with other vocations within Regnum Christi. It emphasizes authenticity, communion, and apostolic dedication of the members of the Congregation as fundamental attitudes for the coming years.

The Chapter also reviewed the normative framework issued by the general government over the past six years, especially the Ratio institutionis and the Ratio studiorum, and addressed the allocation of works and material assets in accordance with the General Assemblies of the other two consecrated vocations within Regnum Christi.

The previous six-year Governance Report highlighted, in economic terms, the reduction of debt and compliance with audit requirements and fiscal, tax, and labor obligations in the countries where the Congregation is established. It also valued the achievement of the canonical configuration of the entire Regnum Christi, a task carried out under the guidance of the Pontifical Delegate Gianfranco Ghirlanda, S.J.

New General Government

On February 6, 7, and 8, the General Chapter proceeded with the voting to elect the new general director of the Congregation and his Council. The American P. John Connor, LC was elected as the new general director. He will be responsible, along with the rest of the government, for implementing the mandates and guidelines of the current Chapter, which is the highest governing body of the Congregation and obliges all Legionaries.

Cultural Change: Commitment to Justice, Truth, and Victims of Sexual Abuse, Power, and Conscience

The Chapter also published Conversion and Reparation and Protection and Healing, products of their reflections, decisions, and commitments regarding sexual abuse of minors by members of the Congregation. They publicly apologize to the victims, especially those of the founder, acknowledge the good they have done to the Legionaries of Christ and the Catholic Church through their courage, and undertake concrete commitments such as investigating responsibilities, presenting cases to civil and ecclesiastical justice, and publishing names according to a public communication and transparency policy committed to a culture of zero abuse so that no more minors become victims.

In “You Will Be My Witnesses,” the capitular fathers also instructed the new Government to “analyze the issue of abuse of power and conscience in exercising authority and in apostolic activity,” and to establish “measures for the training, prevention, and healing of affected persons” by these issues.

Pope Francis: A Stage in a Path That Must Continue

The Chapter is held for the first time since the constitution of the Regnum Christi Federation and simultaneously with the General Assemblies of the Consecrated and Laity of Regnum Christi. The Pope had granted an audience to all participants, which he could not attend after canceling many commitments in his public schedule due to health reasons.

Pope Francis’s message was published in Italian by the Holy See, and the Holy Father recalled that the founder’s criminal life “contaminated, to some extent, the charism that the Spirit originally had given to the Church,” which was reflected in the norms, governance praxis, and lifestyle “of the entire Regnum Christi.” He also recognizes that, hand in hand with the Church, Regnum Christi has traveled a path that has meant a true “change of mentality,” 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 Vatican II.”

Furthermore, Pope Francis emphasized that the renewal “has not finished” because “the change of mentality in individuals and in an institution takes a long time to assimilate,” thus requiring a “continuous conversion.”