“Coherence and fidelity to the cause of Christ are not improvised virtues, but require a deep awareness of the human, spiritual, psychological, and moral implications of a vocation to the consecrated life. Its cause transcends, challenges, and invites one to decide and dedicate oneself to the service of God’s kingdom. In this service, personal convictions and community commitments are a gift experienced in the grace of conversion” (The gift of fidelity. The joy of perseverance – Guidelines, CIVCSVA).

From October 12 to 17, a training course for new local superiors was held virtually – due to the global health contingency – with the participation of 30 Legionary superiors from Mexico, the United States, Germany, Spain, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Austria, Italy, Poland, and the Holy Land.

The training course consisted of conferences, a time at the end of each day for the Legionary superiors from different parts of the world to share their impressions of the conferences in groups; on Thursday, there was a Eucharistic hour, and on the last day, a sharing session accompanied by the course conclusions.

The topics covered during these days were:

• Profile and mission of the superior: P. John Connor, LC.
• Ongoing formation: P. Juan José Arrieta, LC.
• Psychological health: P. Víctor de Luna, LC.
• Talk with Mons. Jorge Patrón Wong, secretary for seminaries of the Congregation for the Clergy
• Pastoral of safe environments: P. Gerardo Flores, LC.
• Affective formation and the priest’s dealings with women: Marta Rodríguez, Consecrated of the Regnum Christi
• Notions of canon law and archives: P. Jaime Rodríguez, LC.

The new superiors also had the opportunity to reflect on two reference documents: The gift of fidelity, from the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (CIVCSVA), and the “Manual of the local superior”.

For P. Peter Devereux, L.C., the course initially made him think, “How am I going to fit this into my weekly activities?”; however, the father notes: “As the week progressed, I realized that this was more important than anything else I had to do during the week. The presentations were very professional, practical, and profound. It caught my attention that another participating father, jokingly, said, ‘I need something like this every six months!’”.

On his part, P. Michael Brisson, L.C., the organizer of the course, commented that “the local superior must see his task as his primary mission, even if he has other responsibilities in his life. He must be a father, a brother, and have the necessary psychological space and time to be present with his brothers”.