Through the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (CICLSAL), the Holy See established the Regnum Christi Federation and approved its Statutes.
The Federation is made up of and governed collegially by the Legionaries of Christ, Consecrated Women and Consecrated Men, with an advisory vote of the Laity, who are associated individually to the Federation.
In a letter dated May 31 announcing the news, Monsignor Jose Rodriguez Carballo, OFM, the CICLSAL’s Secretary, expressed the hope that “the new structure of communion will contribute to promote and deepen the common charism and foster collaboration in view of the mission entrusted to you by the Church.” The Statutes will come into force on September 15, 2019 ad experimentum for five years.
The pontifical approval was communicated to the members of the Regnum Christi in a letter of the Federation’s Directors General — Father Eduardo Robles-Gil, LC, of the Legionaries of Christ; Gloria Rodriguez of the Consecrated Women of the Regnum Christi, and Jorge Lopez, of the Consecrated Men of the Regnum Christi. “It is a confirmation of the discernment we undertook among us all and of the Statutes as a valid instrument to give continuity and a new projection to God’s plan for our spiritual family,” they affirmed, and thanked all the individuals that made it possible, the Church and the Pontifical Assistant, Father Gianfranco Ghirlanda, S.J.
The process of renewal was a participatory and global process in which, since 2010, all the members of the Regnum Christi of the four vocations — some 22,00 between the Legionaries of Christ, the Consecrated Women, the Consecrated Men, and the Laity — had the opportunity to be involved. “The path has been a challenge, sometimes with difficulties and tensions, but it has given as fruit this step, which isn’t someone’s personal achievement, but the joint effort of all, seeking to be docile to the Holy Spirit,” acknowledge the Directors General in their letter.
With this approval an important stage closes in the history of the Regnum Christi, in which we have sought to understand more profoundly the Regnum Christi’s identity, to be able to identify a canonical structure that helps to protect the spirit and to live the mission that springs from our charism,” continued the Directors General.
The path of renewal that the Regnum Christi has followed, by the hand of the Holy See, began eight years ago after the scandals and offenses were made known of Father Marcial Maciel. During this time, the Legionaries of Christ have elaborated new Constitutions; the Consecrated Women and Consecrated Men have been recognized canonically as Societies of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right with their respective Constitutions, and the Laity have elaborated their Rule, a secondary Code that, together with the recently approved Statutes of the Regnum Christi Federation, will come into force on September 15, 2019.
The Regnum Christi is a reality of the Church made up of four vocations: Legionaries of Christ, Consecrated Women, Consecrated Men and the Laity.
One of the aspects clarified during the process of renewal is the identity itself of the Regnum Christi as a reality made up of four different vocations (Legionaries of Christ, Consecrated Women, Consecrated Men and the Laity), each of which expresses, with its own originality, the common mission and charism of the Regnum Christi.
Consequently, the process concluded that each of the four vocations that make up the Regnum Christi is co-responsible for the custody of the common charism. The value of the autonomy of each is recognized as well as its appropriate canonical expression.
The Federation now approved by the Holy See, was thought out as the most appropriate juridical form for the Regnum Christi, which permitted “giving it a more solid canonical configuration than that of the 2004 Statute and more in agreement with the physiognomy of the Regnum Christi’s charismatic reality,” explained the General Assembly of 2018 in its final message.
Members
At the end of 2018, the Regnum Christi had 22,652 lay members, 523 Consecrated Women, 59 Consecrated Men and 1,501 Legionaries of Christ.
In addition, it has 11,150 members of the ECYD (the Regnum Christi’s charism lived by adolescents).
In the last year, there has been a 6 percent growth of lay members. In the same period, there was a 1 percent decrease in Consecrated Women, 3 percent in the Legionaries, four fewer members among the Consecrated Men and 3.5 percent fewer members of the ECYD.
