ROME, FEB. 17, 2012 (Zenit.org).- In a letter dated Feb. 15, Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, the papal delegate for the Legion of Christ and the Regnum Christi Movement, announced temporary directors for each branch of the consecrated men and women of Regnum Christi, chosen from his personal council, “accompanying in my name … in matters of their internal governance.”
Jesuit Father Gianfranco Ghirlanda was named as the temporary Director of the consecrated men and Father Agostino Montan, CSI, for the consecrated women.
Cardinal De Paolis began his letter by referring to the final report of Archbishop Ricardo Blázquez of Valladolid, Spain, the person assigned to conduct a visitation to the consecrated members of Regnum Christi. In it, the cardinal says, “He draws attention to many positive points, but also to a good number that need correction or improvement.”
After an initial “illuminative phase,” with encounters organized in Rome, Mexico and Brazil, “we were convinced that our reflection on the vocation of consecrated life in Regnum Christi was on the right path; that your vocation is authentic, and there was a renewal of the commitment to preserve and persevere in it.”
With “the desire to not rush the process,” the cardinal concluded, “we have decided to extend the ‘illuminative phase’ until Easter.”
He went on to point out that “we found points of substantial agreement that reflect the lived experience of many of you over many years: we are in agreement on the lay consecrated vocation, we have seen that association is the path to pursue, we have also confirmed that consecrated life in Regnum Christi is linked to the charism of the Legion, in the perspective — which needs deeper examination — of a single ‘Charismatic Family’ in which Legionaries, consecrated lay men and women, and non-consecrated lay members share in different ways in the one charism.”
“We [also] need to address the problem of governance,” Cardinal De Paolis continued. “It is necessary that the consecrated men and women each have their own internal government.”
“All of us are fully aware that the consecrated men and women ought each to have a proper autonomy, and that this implies an association with its own juridical personality,” he said. “More clarifications and specifications will follow soon.”
Respect
Referring to Malén Oriol, who has led the consecrated women of Regnum Christi for many years, Cardinal De Paolis revealed that “some time ago [she] had expressed her desire to withdraw from her position as general assistant, but not to leave the third degree of Regnum Christi [that is, the consecrated branch].”
The cardinal admitted that the recent past has brought “times of special communion and renewed joy for the rediscovery of the beauty of consecrated life,” but that, “there has also been the sadness caused by the fact that some of our sisters have asked to leave Regnum Christi.”
“We thank them for the good they have done and they say they have also received,” the papal delegate wrote. “As respect is justly demanded for those who leave, the same is also to be expected for those — and they are the vast majority — who intend to persevere in the choice they already made in Regnum Christi.”
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On the Net:
Full text: http://www.regnumchristi.org/english/articulos/articulo.phtml?se=359&ca=509&te=903&id=36030
