Back Legió de Crist Catalan Legionäre Christi German Legionarios de Cristo Spanish Kristuksen legioona Finnish Légion du Christ French Legio Christi Hungarian Legionari di Cristo Italian 그리스도의 레지오 수도회 Korean Congregatio Legionariorum Christi Latin Legionairs van Christus Dutch

Legionaries of Christ

Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ
Latin: Congregatio Legionariorum Christi
AbbreviationLC
FoundedJanuary 3, 1941 (1941-01-03)
FounderMarcial Maciel, LC
Founded atMexico City, Mexico
TypeClerical religious congregation of pontifical right (for men)
HeadquartersRome, Italy
Membership (2019)
1,455 members (970 priests)
Director General
John Lane Connor, LC
Pontifical Assistant
Gianfranco Ghirlanda, SJ
Parent organization
Catholic Church
Websitehttp://www.legionariesofchrist.org/
[1]

The Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ (Latin: Congregatio Legionariorum Christi; also Legion of Christ) is a Roman Catholic clerical religious order made up of priests and candidates for the priesthood established by Fr. Marcial Maciel, LC in Mexico in 1941. Maciel was also Director General of the congregation for over 60 years until forced to step down in January 2005 as a result of grave sexual scandals against seminarians and children.[2]

The Legionaries of Christ describes itself as being made up of men "driven by the desire of Jesus' heart to set the world ablaze" and lead others to "transform their hearts, their families and their world" with "the love of Christ the King".[3] It has been described as a "conservative" religious institute whose ability to attract large numbers of "young Catholics to religious vocations" and large financial donations once made it "a favorite" of the Vatican (New York Times);[4] and one whose focus is on "evangelizing society's leaders ... the wealthy and powerful", in the hope that this would multiply "the beneficial impact on society" (Wall Street Journal).[5]

As of 2019, the Legionaries of Christ had religious communities in 21 countries. Its members included four bishops, 970 priests and 481 seminarians (not including minor seminarians).[6] The order is part of the Regnum Christi Federation, which is composed of Legionary of Christ priests, Consecrated Women and Men and lay members of Regnum Christi.[7]

In 2019, the congregation published an extensive report on abuse by Marcial Maciel, finding Maciel himself had abused at least 60 children, and 33 Legionaire priests (many of whom had been abused in the Legion as minors) had abused at least another 115 minors.[8][9] The Director General John Connor has said that responding to these sexual abuses is an important part of the mission of the congregation.

  1. ^ "Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ (L.C.)". GCatholic. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  2. ^ Pullella, Philip (December 21, 2019). "Legionaries founder sexually abused 60 boys, religious order's report says". Reuters.
  3. ^ "About Us". Regnum Christi. Legionaires of Christ. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference denounce-nyt-7-2-2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ de Coacuterdoba, Jose (23 January 2006). "With Elite Backing, A Catholic Order Has Pull in Mexico". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  6. ^ "Statistics of the Legionaries of Christ as of December 31, 2016". regnumchristi.org. Regnum Christi. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  7. ^ CNA. "Pope Francis meets with Legionaries of Christ leader". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBC-22 December 2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Report 1941-2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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