What Pope Leo XIV had to share in meeting with the Legionaries of Christ

 

Pope Leo XIV holds an audience with Legionaries of Christ on February 19, 2026  (@Vatican Media)

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Pope to Legionaries of Christ: Religious authority is service, not domination

Meeting with the General Chapter of the Legionaries of Christ, Pope Leo XIV says the role of authority in religious life is to focus the community on Christ, not as a means to dominate members.

By Devin Watkins

Pope Leo XIV met on Thursday with participants in the General Chapter of the Legionaries of Christ, a religious congregation founded in Mexico in 1941.

In his address, the Pope said General Chapters offer religious orders an opportunity to listen to the Holy Spirit and engage in communal discernment so as to guide the community into the future.

The Legionaries have received a charism within the Church, despite historical expressions and scandals that have led to pain and crises, he noted.

Pope Leo encouraged the congregation’s members to continue to recall their history and seek renewal constantly in order to remain faithful to the Gospel, saying their charism offers a “valuable contribution” to the Church and the spiritual family of Regnum Christi, a lay movement.

“A charism is a gift of the Holy Spirit,” he said. “Every institute and each of its members are called to embody it personally and in community, in a continuous process of deepening their own identity that places them and defines them within the Church and within society.”

Yet, he added, each charism contains various forms and styles of life, which should be welcomed and discerned in order to live out fidelity to God’s call.

“Remember, then, that you are not owners of the charism, but its custodians and servants,” he said. “You are called to give your life so that this gift may continue to be fruitful in the Church and in the world.”

Pope Leo XIV invited the Legionaries of Christ’s leaders to recall that authority in religious life must serve the common life and focus a congregation’s members on Christ, while “avoiding every form of control that does not respect people’s dignity and freedom.”

“Authority, in religious life, is not understood as domination, but as spiritual and fraternal service to those who share the same vocation,” he said. “Its exercise must be expressed in the ‘art of accompaniment’.”

Leaders of religious orders must seek a form of governance characterized by “mutual listening, co-responsibility, transparency, fraternal closeness, and communal discernment,” he said.

Healthy forms of governance added the Pope, foster subsidiarity and responsible participation of all members.

Missionary unity is not uniformity and elimination of differences, he said, but rather harmonizes diversity and divergences so that all may benefit.

“This process requires humility to listen, interior freedom to speak sincerely, and openness to accept shared discernment,” he said. “It is a demand inherent in every vocation that is lived in community.”

In conclusion, Pope Leo XIV exhorted the Legionaries of Christ to avoid particular or regional interests but instead to guide their congregation in interior freedom.

“May this Chapter open you to a time of hope. The Lord continues to call and send; to heal and to purify,” he said. “Therefore, your task is to discern how to respond with fidelity to the present that God places in your hands.”

32 new Priests from the Legionaries of Christ

 

Legionaries of Christ to ordain 32 new priests in 2023

By Ana Paula Morales

ACI Prensa Staff, Mar 19, 2023 / 08:00 am

In 2023 the Legionaries of Christ religious order will provide 32 new priests for service to the Church. Twenty-nine of them will be ordained in Rome in the papal basilica of St. Mary Major on April 29 by Cardinal Fernando Vérguez, president of the Governorate of the State of Vatican City.

The other three will receive priestly ordination at different times of the year.

The soon-to-be new priests of the Legionaries of Christ come from Germany, Colombia, Chile, South Korea, Canada, Brazil, El Salvador, Spain, the United States, Italy, Mexico, and Venezuela.

The April 29 ordination in Rome can be viewed live on the congregation's website at 10 a.m. Rome time.

Speaking with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, Miguel Esponda Sada, a seminarian of the Legionaries of Christ who will be ordained a priest this year, said that “to be a priest is to be a sign and living presence of Jesus Christ among men; it makes the world see the incarnate love of God.”

A priest, he continued, is “taken from among men, is chosen and consecrated to be mediator and bridge between God the Father and men.”

“He knows well and makes people’s sufferings and hopes his own; he knows well the heart of God and makes it his own,” Esponda said.

In a testimony posted on the Legionaries of Christ website, Pablo Lorenzo-Penalva, another of the seminarians who will receive priestly ordination this year, asked Catholics to say a Hail Mary “for all priests, especially for those of us who are going to be ordained, so that we never forget that the most effective way to come to Jesus is through his mother, Mary.”

Seminarian Carlos Javier Ruiz commented: “My life was planned since I was little. But how great is God who saves us even from our plans. When he calls, if we respond to him, nothing is ever the same.”

More horrific reports on the Legion of Christ; rotten from the top down. How is this still a religious order?

Legionaires founder sexually abused 60 boys, religious order's report says




VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Sexual abuse of minors was rife among superiors of the Legionaires of Christ Catholic religious order, with at least 60 boys abused by its founder Father Marcial Maciel, a report by the group showed.

The report is important because for decades until 2006, including during all of the pontificate of Pope John Paul, the Vatican dismissed accusations by seminarians that Maciel had abused them sexually, some when they were as young as 12.

The order said the report, which was released on Saturday and covers the period since Maciel founded it in his native Mexico in 1941 to this year, was “an additional attempt (by the Legionaires) to confront their history”.

Maciel, who died in 2008, was perhaps the Roman Catholic Church’s most notorious paedophile, even abusing children he had fathered secretly with at least two women while living a double life and being feted by the Vatican and Church conservatives.

Cardinal Angelo Sodano, 92, who was secretary of state under John Paul, was for years one of the Legionaires’ biggest protectors in the Vatican.

Pope Francis accepted his resignation as dean of the college of cardinals on Saturday and simultaneously changed church law to limit the dean’s position to a five-year term, rather than for life.

The Vatican first acknowledged Maciel’s crimes in 2006, when former Pope Benedict ordered him to retire to a life of “prayer and penitence”. But Benedict resisted calls from some in the Church who said the order should be dissolved because it was toxic to the core.

The Vatican instead took over the order in 2010 and began a process of reform.

The new report says that between 1941 and 2019, 175 minors were victims of abuse by 33 priests in the order. At least 60, or about one-third, were abused by Maciel himself, it said.

Most victims were boys between 11 and 16, it said.

ABUSE OF POWER

While the report said the 33 amounted to only 2.44% of the 1,353 priests ordained by the order, it said that nearly 43% of those who committed the abuse were in positions of authority, making it difficult to report or punish the abuse.

“(Abuse) was linked to the abuse of power and conscience on the part of some who took advantage of their posts to abuse,” it said.

Of the 33, six have died, eight have left the priesthood, and one had left the order. Of the 18 who remain members, four have “ministerial restrictions” to keep them away from minors and 14 have no public priestly ministry, the report said.

Seventy-four seminarians studying for the priesthood also abused minors and 81% of them were not ordained.

Father Christian Borgogno, a former member of the order, said that the numbers of those abused were “clearly unlikely” to be accurate and believed that they were much higher.

“It is difficult to think that this is anything more than a whitewash of the (Legionaires’) image,” he said in a tweet. He said the reported lacked “independent sources”.

After Maciel’s death, Vatican investigations found that he had also fathered several children with at least two women, visited them regularly and sent them money. He also used drugs.

Former members have said the order was run like a cult, with rules forbidding any criticism of the founder or questioning of his motives.

They said Maciel gave huge contributions to the Vatican during the papacy of John Paul, who admired the Legionaires’ orthodoxy and ability to produce vocations.

Follow up report: US Seminarian had undetected heart disease

US seminarian died of congenital heart 

Dilated cardiomyopathy to blame in Anthony Freeman's death

© ANSA

(ANSA) - Rome, April 6 - A 29-year-old US seminarian found dead in his room in Rome on Monday, Anthony Freeman, died of a congenital heart condition, the Legionaries of Christ said after an autopsy Friday. Freeman died of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), a condition in which the heart's ability to pump blood is decreased because the heart's main pumping chamber, the left ventricle, is enlarged and weakened. In some cases, it prevents the heart from relaxing and filling with blood as it should.
    Freeman, from Louisiana, was described as a sporty type who had no bad habits.
    He was found in his bed in the Legionaries of Christ international college in the Italian capital.
   

Memento Mori; a sure reminder of death; prayers for this seminarian

U.S. seminarian who carried cross at pope's Easter Mass dies in Rome

Apr 4, 2018

by Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service

People

Legionaries of Christ Brother Anthony Freeman, 29, is pictured before serving Pope Francis' Easter Mass at the Vatican April 1. The U.S. seminarian from Houston was found dead in his room in Rome April 2. Italian authorities are investigating the death. (CNS /courtesy Legionaries of Christ)

Rome — Friends and fans called him a "gentle giant," a faithful "prayer warrior" and a Clark Kent whose superman power was helping people grow in holiness and faith. 

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"I believe I truly knew a saint," one friend wrote.
The written comments were among the hundreds of condolence messages, prayers and stories submitted to an "in memoriam" page on the RegnumChristi.org website for Legionary of Christ Br. Anthony Freeman of Houston.
The U.S. seminarian, who was a third-year theology student at Rome's Pontifical Regina Apostolorum University, died unexpectedly at the age of 29. He was scheduled to be ordained a deacon July 7 in Houston.
He was found dead in his room April 2 after classmates realized he had not joined them for a scheduled outing. The university called Italian authorities, who were still conducting an investigation and autopsy as of April 4 to determine the cause of death.
He'd had supper with the seminary community April 1 after serving as an acolyte that day at the Pope Francis' Easter morning Mass, carrying the cross in the opening procession.
"They usually pick the tallest person" to carry the cross to give it prominence, and "he was tall and strong and to bear the cross was very symbolic" in hindsight, Legionary Father Aaron Smith told Catholic News Service April 4.
Born in Houma, Louisiana, in 1988 to Brian and Debbie Freeman, Freeman studied at Legionary institutes in Center Harbor, New Hampshire; Colfax, California; Cheshire, Connecticut; and Thornwood, New York. He started studying in Rome in 2013 and received the ministry of acolyte in 2017.
This "millennial" seminarian used social media and email to connect with and inspire countless people to seek holiness and happiness in Christ. On Facebook, he called himself a "difference maker, Vatican spiritual guide, helping leaders become apostles."
He managed a "Catholic Life Coach" page on Facebook and had more than 11,000 followers on his Instagram account, @catholic_life_coach. He posted inspirational memes like "Maybe you won't be a saint by the end of the day, but you can be one step closer" and brief YouTube videos offering further thoughts and reflections about his posts and vocation.

The idea, he said on his website -- branthonyfreeman.com -- is that too much "motivational material that exists is about getting fit, rich or laid. That's not good enough. We NEED motivation and encouragement for living out our faith."
After a fellow brother showed him a book of business slogans and after a fan had asked him to offer deeper explanations of his inspirational phrases on his accounts, he was inspired to write a book. The result was "One Step Closer: 40 Doses of Motivation, Hacks and Experiences to Share with Millennial Catholics," published in January 2018.
His online outreach, extensive travel, ministry offering tours of the Vatican and his outgoing personality meant, according to numerous commenters on the Regnum Christi memorial page, that he had a huge impact on people, all over the world.
"He truly impacted my life. His love for life and the Lord inspired me and pushed me deeper into my relationship with God. His spirit was gentle and yet on fire and contagious," said one commenter.
Another wrote, "You were a marvel on social media! I felt like I knew you even though we never met. You always responded to my messages right away and were a beacon of light for all those you touched. You were Christ for others on this planet!"

Still problems for the Legion of Christ??

Vatican to name new adviser to oversee Legion

By NICOLE WINFIELD                                                            

       

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican next week will name a new adviser to help oversee the Legion of Christ religious order in the latest sign that Pope Francis doubts the Vatican's three-year reform experiment has resolved all the problems in the troubled congregation, officials said Tuesday.

Francis has kept the Legion at arms' length since he inherited the reform project launched after the Legion admitted in 2009 that its founder sexually abused his seminarians and fathered three children.
Francis has yet to meet with the new superior and didn't send a message to the congregation when it met earlier this year to chart its new course, as he has done with other congregations. The Vatican insisted on naming two members of the Legion's new governing body and during his recent trip to Jerusalem, Francis skipped a luncheon planned by the Legion and ate instead with the Franciscans.
The current superior, the Rev. Eduardo Robles Gil, said in a video posted Monday on a Legion-affiliated website that the Vatican's congregation for religious orders was expected to announce details about the external "assistant" during a meeting with the leadership July 3.
He stressed that the Legion's governance would remain "autonomous" but that the Vatican was providing "a special assistance" as the congregation moves forward with implementing reforms.
A Legion spokesman, the Rev. Benjamin Clariond, said it wasn't clear what the adviser's mandate would be, but noted that the order still faces some daunting challenges, including figuring out a legal structure for its lay group, Regnum Christi.
The Vatican took over the Legion in 2010 after a Vatican investigation determined that its late founder, the Rev. Marcial Maciel, had lived a double life and that his influence and obsession with secrecy and discipline had infected cult-like order itself.
Benedict named a retiring Italian canon lawyer, Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, to oversee the reform process, but critics say he was largely ineffectual in turning the order around. Dozens of disillusioned priests and hundreds of seminarians and consecrated lay people left the Legion and its lay branch in the years since Maciel's misdeeds were made public.

De Paolis' mandate ended in February and Francis didn't renew it. The Vatican hasn't signed off on the constitutions he was tasked to help the Legion rewrite, though a progress report on the constitutions' status is also expected July 3, Robles-Gil said.

Clariond said the Legion welcomed the additional nomination of a Vatican adviser as a sign "that the pope wants to give us close help." He acknowledged though that it also provides "certain guarantees for those who don't trust us."

He likened the new Vatican intervention to a medical checkup, saying the Legion was in "intensive care" in the aftermath of the Maciel revelations and three-year reform process, and that it now needs occasional check-ups.

Despite having received reports since the 1950s about Maciel's duplicity and evidence that he was a drug addict who sodomized his seminarians, Vatican officials held him up as a model for the faithful as the Legion brought in vocations and donations to the church.

A new start for the Legion and an apology for past hurts

Legionaries of Christ elect new leaders, issue apology

By Elise Harris

Rome, Italy, Feb 6, 2014 / 10:00 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Legionaries of Christ revealed the names of their new general council on Feb. 6, also issuing a formal apology to those hurt by the immoral actions of their founder.

The announcement of the new superiors comes in wake of the Legionaries’ first General Chapter meeting, which began on Jan. 9, and was mandated by Benedict XVI in wake of the revelation of the double-life led by the congregation’s founder, Fr. Marcial Maciel, who is since deceased.

In a Feb. 6 press release, the Legionaries revealed the election of Fr. Eduardo Robles Gil as their new General Director, and Fr. Juan José Arrieta, as Vicar General.

“Since my ordination, I have served in different parts of the world and in different types of ministry: schools, family ministry, administration or as a superior of a Legionary community,” Fr. Eduardo recalled in the press release, “Now, I will have to get used to Rome.”

Fr. Eduardo was elected by the Chapter on Jan. 20, and his new role was personally confirmed by Archbishop José Rodríguez Carballo, O.F.M., secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, on Feb. 6.

In addition to publishing the names of their new superiors, the Legionaries also published their conclusive stance on their founder, Fr. Marcial Maciel, and on the path of renewal the Legion of Christ has been traveling.

In the press release detailing their official statements, Fr. Eduardo noted that the General Chapter which has just concluded “marks both an ending and a new beginning.”

“This is what many of the chapter fathers feel and that’s how we have expressed it in the chapter hall,” he said, adding that in order for it to “truly be a new beginning, it is necessary to put the challenges of the past in their place.”

“We can’t erase the past,” the director noted, emphasizing that “we have to learn the lessons, mourn what occurred, trust in God’s mercy and, like St. Paul, run forward in pursuit of the goal of reaching Christ.”

Regarding the actions of founder Marcial Maciel, Fr. Eduardo stated that when “we ponder the magnitude of the evil and scandal caused, we realize that we are under the merciful gaze of God who, with his providence, continues to guide our steps.”

The new director expressed his hope that God will “have mercy” on Fr. Maciel, who passed away in 2008, and expressed his “deep sorrow” at the founder’s acts of abuse, sexually explicit behavior, his “arbitrary use of authority,” and addiction to drugs.

Voicing their “firm condemnation” of the founder’s behavior, Fr. Eduardo expressed the congregation’s grief that “many victims and other affected persons have waited so long in vain for an apology and an act of reconciliation on the part of Fr. Maciel.”

“Today, we would like to issue that apology as we express our solidarity with these persons.”

Highlighting that Fr. Maciel is no longer a “model” for the congregation, nor are his writings “a guide for the spiritual life,” the new director observed that “a religious congregation and its essential features do not have their origin in the person of the founder.”

“They are a gift of God that the Church accepts and approves and that afterwards live in the institute and in its members,” he stated.

In their formal apology to the victims of Fr. Maciel’s actions, the Legionaries acknowledged “with sadness the initial incapability of believing the testimonies of the persons who had been victims of Fr. Maciel, the long institutional silence and, later on, the hesitations and errors of judgment when setting out to inform the members of the congregation and others.”

“We apologize for these shortcomings, which have increased the suffering and confusion of many,” Fr. Eduardo stated on behalf of the congregation, also expressing his “sadness” that the “brothers, religious and priests” who have left are no longer with them.

“We would like to apologize and reiterate our desire to reconcile with all those who in one way or another were hurt by the sad events of these years and our shortcomings.”

The press release also included the financial findings of the commission that was assigned to investigate the Legionaries, and which found that there were no traces of “embezzlements of money or other irregularities in the fiscal actions that were reviewed.”

In consideration of “all these issues,” Fr. Eduardo underlined that the congregation’s journey to an “authentic and profound renewal,” which is confirmed by Pope Francis, “has advanced, but has not yet ended.”

“The events of these years will mark the identity and the life of our Congregation,” he said, adding that “when seen in light of Providence, we can accept, confront and transform them into a stepping stone towards a new stage in our history.”

Fr. Eduardo was born in Mexico City in 1952, and after receiving a degree in industrial engineering, he became a consecrated member of Regnum Christi in 1975. He made his perpetual profession in 1981, and was ordained a Priest in 1983.

In 2011, Fr. Eduardo was appointed Card. Velasio De Paolis to be a member of the Outreach Commission for the Legionaries, and he has been the territorial director of Mexico since Aug. 1, 2013.

Among the other six new council members for the Legionaries are Fr. Juan José Arrieta, LC. as Vicar General, and Frs. Sylvester Heereman, LC., Jesús Villagrasa, LC., Juan Sabadell, LC., as General Councilors.

Others include Fr. José Gerardo Cárdenas, LC., as General Administrator, and Fr. Clemens Gutberlet, LC., as General Procurator.

Praying to Our Lady of Sorrows, who was “a witness of the redemptive power of Crist that conquers evil and sin,” Fr. Eduardo stated that “to her, our Mother, we entrust our future with great confidence.”