ROME, MARCH 31, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here is the letter Father Álvaro Corcuera, the general director of the Legionaries of Christ, sent Monday to the members of the congregation to annonce an apostolic visitation. The letter was released by the Legionaries of Christ today.
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To all Legionaries of Christ,
Dear Fathers and Brothers in Christ,
With deep gratitude we have experienced the closeness of the Holy See at this phase in the life of our congregation. The Holy Father and his closest collaborators have confirmed us in our mission at the service of the Church, and with fatherly concern they have offered us their advice and support.
I want to share with you the letter that His Eminence, the Cardinal Secretary of State to His Holiness wrote to me on March 10 past (cf. attachment). In it, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone assures us that the Holy Father renews his nearness, “his solidarity and prayers”, and he informs us that the Holy Father has decided that there will be an Apostolic Visitation of the institutions of the Legionaries of Christ.
I have thanked the Holy Father from my heart for offering us this additional help to face our present vicissitudes related to the grave facts in our father founder’s life that already were the object of the investigations by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which were concluded in May of 2006, and those which have come to light more recently. We are deeply saddened and sorry, and we sincerely ask for forgiveness from God and from those who have been hurt through this.
Full of confidence in divine Providence and in our Mother the Church, guardian of the authentic good of her children, we are now preparing to receive the Apostolic Visitors who, over the next months, will visit us to familiarize themselves closely with the life and apostolate of the Legion of Christ.
Let us reaffirm our commitment, and lift up our prayers to God that he will grant us the grace to continue to seek the holiness to which He is calling us, and that we will be able to bring to its fullness the charism He has entrusted to us. May the Blessed Virgin Mary accompany us and lead us to love every day more her Son Jesus Christ.
Sincerely yours in Christ and the Legion,
Father Álvaro Corcuera
