Father Álvaro Corcuera Martínez del Río, L.C. has died at the age of 56 after a long battle with cancer, the Legionaries of Christ has announced.
The Mexican priest served as General Director of Regnum Christi and the Legionaries of Christ from 2005 until 2014. The congregation said he passed on at 13.35 (CST) on Monday and that his final resting place will be in the Panteón Francés (French Cemetery) in San Joaquín, Mexico City.</p>
Born in Mexico City on July 22, 1957, Alvaro Corcuera became a lay consecrated member of Regnum Christi in 1975, and joined the Legion of Christ four years later.
He was ordained a priest in 1985. In 1987 he was named rector of the Center for Higher Studies of the Legionaries of Christ in Rome. From 1993 to 2000 he also served as rector of the Pontifical Atheneum Regina Apostolorum.
In 1999 he received a doctorate honoris causa from the Anáhuac University, of which he was an alumnus. In 2005 he was elected General Director of the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi by the General Chapter of the congregation.
On October 11, 2012, Father Corcuera petitioned the Pontifical Delegate for the Legion of Christ, Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, and was granted a leave of absence from his post as General Director.
In January of 2013 he was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. He participated in the General Chapter of the Legionaries of Christ this past January 2014. In 2012 he authored a book titled Nos amó primero (He first loved us).
The Legion’s current General Director, Fr. Eduardo Robles-Gil LC, wrote in a letter to members of Regnum Christi: “I invite everyone to offer Masses and prayers to commend his soul to God and thank God for the life of this father, brother and friend who has been our General Director during the nine most difficult years in our history.”
The Legion of Christ has opened an online book of condolences at: http://legionariesofchrist.org/inmemoryofFrAlvaro/
