Regnum Christi announces Vatican approval of its statutes

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Regnum Christi Federation, which includes the Legionaries of Christ, says the Vatican has given the federation’s statutes “definitive approval.”

In a letter Feb. 5 to federation members, the three-member General Directive College of Regnum Christi said the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life granted the approval Dec. 16.

Both the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi were founded by the late Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, who was condemned by the Vatican for having sexually abused boys in his seminaries and fathering children. Pope Benedict XVI ordered an apostolic visitation of the Legionaries and Regnum Christi in 2009 and appointed a papal delegate to oversee the groups as they underwent a Vatican-ordered reform of their communities and constitutions.

A key part of the process was spelling out how the branches of Regnum Christi relate to one another and, particularly, how to give the consecrated men and women greater autonomy from the priests of the Legionaries of Christ in their daily lives and apostolic work while still promoting cooperation.

The federation was established in 2019 with Vatican approval “ad experimentum.”

At the same time, each branch of the federation — the Legionaries of Christ, the consecrated women of Regnum Christi, the consecrated lay men of Regnum Christi and the lay members — began drawing up their own constitutions and submitting them to the Vatican for approval.

In their letter, members of the General Directive College said the Vatican approval “represents a recognition that gives solidity and stability to the federation,” while also calling members “to continue growing in the knowledge, understanding and integration of our statutes as they illuminate our charism, spirituality and apostolic mission.”

In a press release, the federation said that as of Dec. 31, 2023, its membership included more than 20,000 people. More than 18,300 of those members are laypeople, it said. The federation also includes 1,316 Legionaries of Christ, 486 consecrated women and 47 consecrated lay men.