The following press release was issued by the Legion of Christ press office in Rome on Feb. 6.
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On January 20th, the Extraordinary General Chapter of the Legion of Christ elected Fr. Eduardo and the other members of the central government of the Legion.
The election was personally confirmed by the Archbishop José Rodríguez Carballo, O.F.M., secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life on February 6, 2014.
Along with his election, the Vicar General, Fr. Juan José Arrieta, LC, and one of the general councilors, Fr. Juan Sabadell, LC, were named by the Holy See. Two more general councilors, Fr. Sylvester Heereman, LC, and Fr. Jesús Villagrasa, LC, were elected by the chapter members. Fr. José Gerardo Cárdenas, LC, has been elected General Administrator. Fr. Clemens Gutberlet, LC, has been elected General Procurator.
Here is a run-down of the entire outcome of the election:
– General Director: Fr. Eduardo Robles Gil, LC.
– Vicar General: Fr. Juan José Arrieta, LC.
– General Councilor: Fr. Sylvester Heereman, LC.
– General Councilor: Fr. Jesús Villagrasa, LC.
– General Councilor: Fr. Juan Sabadell, LC.
– General Administrator: Fr. José Gerardo Cárdenas, LC.
– General Procurator: Fr. Clemens Gutberlet, LC.
The General Chapter published the announcement of the election of the new central government simultaneously with the publishing of a in which the members of the chapter take a conclusive stance on Fr. Marcial Maciel and on the path of renewal the Legion of Christ has been travelling.
Fr. Eduardo Robles Gil, LC
Fr. Eduardo brings a wide range of spiritual and apostolic experience to his role as General Director. He has exercised his ministry principally in Spain, Brazil, Chile and Mexico. He has served as a director of several schools, as a superior of several Legionary communities, as territorial administrator for two years in Mexico and as a section director of Regnum Christi, spiritual director and local coordinator of apostolate. He helped found the Legion and Regnum Christi’s presence in Brazil. In 2011, he was named to the Outreach Commission created by Card. Velasio De Paolis to work with the abuse victims of Fr. Marcial Maciel. He began to serve as a major superior in the Legion in August, 2013, when he assumed the post of Territorial Director of Mexico.
“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 recalls. “Now, I will have to get used to Rome.”
Fr. Eduardo made his own the stance adopted by the Chapter in its statement issued today: “The Chapter 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. But, so that it can truly be a new beginning, it is necessary to put the challenges of the past in their place. This is why the Chapter decided to publish a statement for the Legionaries, the members of Regnum Christi and for all those who have been following our recent history. We can’t erase the past. 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.”
Fr. Eduardo was born in Mexico City on September 18, 1952. He studied at the Cumbres Institute and the Anahuac University, where he obtained a degree in industrial engineering.
He became a consecrated member of Regnum Christi in 1975, and joined the Legion of Christ on August 6, 1977. He made his perpetual profession on October 8, 1981 in Rome, and was ordained a priest on August 20, 1983. He holds a licentiate in philosophy from the Gregorian University. From 1983-1985 Fr Eduardo was the superior of the Regnum Christi consecrated men’s house of formation in Madrid, Spain.
From 1985-1989 he served as superior of the Legionary community in Rio de Janeiro, during the founding of the Legion and the Regnum Christi Movement in Brazil. From 1989 to 1990 he was the superior of the community in Vina del Mar, Chile. From 1990-1992 he worked as the treasurer of the territory of Mexico. From 1993 to 2000 he was director of the Irish Institute in Mexico City, and from 2000-2001 he was director of the CEYCA school, also in Mexico City.
From 2001-2004 he was involved in youth ministry in Porto Alegre, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro (all in Brazil). From 2004-2008 he returned to direct the CEYCA school, while serving as the superior of one of the Legionary communities in Mexico City.
He was also a section director, spiritual advisor to various consecrated members of Regnum Christi, and local coordinator for the apostolate in Mexico City. Card. Velasio De Paolis appointed him as a member of the Outreach Commission created in January 2011. He has been the territorial director of Mexico since August 1, 2013.
