Thy Kingdom Come!
DG-FRC 0036-2019
Clas. II.3.A.1
Rome, September 17, 2019
To the members of Regnum Christi
Dear friends in Jesus Christ:
We send you our warm greetings, along with our gratitude and our best wishes for each of you.
In accordance with what we communicated in our letter of June 11th, the Statutes of the Regnum Christi Federation went into effect on September 15th, 2019. We thank God for this step of ecclesial maturity which is of great relevance for all of Regnum Christi, for all of us. In light of this, we would like to share some reflections and the first steps we have taken as the General Directive College.
At this time we must remember that the Regnum Christi Federation is not understood as a mere organizational mechanism, but as an expression of God’s plan, with a shared spiritual foundation and a mission. In the Statutes we express it this way (n. 6):
We recognize it as God’s plan that the Legionaries of Christ, the Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi, the Lay Consecrated Men of Regnum Christi and the associated faithful live in a profound communion and that we are to be witnesses to the love of Jesus Christ by the unity and charity among us. These institutions, their members, and the associated faithful share a common spirituality and mission, which each lives according to their individual identity and vocation, as expressed in their proper law. This spiritual foundation must inspire and guide the governing bodies of the Federation at its various levels and in the different circumstances of time and place.
We cannot separate the charismatic reality of Regnum Christi from its organizational or juridical dimension. This Federation that is being born juridically is the form that we all accept, with the approval of the Holy See, to help us better live our identity as a spiritual family and apostolic body.
From a spiritual point of view, it should be stressed that this Federation, more than being a pact or a contract between people, is a covenant with the Lord, it comes “from above.” In fact, the word “federation” comes from the Latin word foedus (covenant, in Hebrew berit), one of the concepts that is central to the history of salvation. Through the covenant, sealed with the blood of Christ, God wants to lead all people to a life of communion with Him. Against this backdrop, analogously, we can consider the Regnum Christi Federation as a “covenant” with God and between each other. God desires that this will be a lasting and fruitful path, that Regnum Christi follows it while being a means of sanctification for all of us, a blessing “for all the nations of the earth,” and a contribution through which the Church will continue to produce many children for the Kingdom of God. This perspective will also help us cope with the tensions and frictions that are inevitable in any organization.
In addition to sharing these reflections, we communicate some of the acts of government that we have carried out:
- we have published the Regulations of the Lay Faithful Associated to the Regnum Christi Federation with the appropriate adjustments according to the approved version of the Statutes;
- we have published the General Regulations of the Regnum Christi Federation;
- with little variation from the results of the consultation we conducted among the lay participants in the 2018 General Assembly, we have appointed lay members Álvaro Abellán-García and Francisco Gámez to attend the General Directive College and, in addition, Carmen Fernández, José Antonio Lebrija, Kerrie Rivard and David Zárate to attend the General Plenary Council;
- we have appointed Gloria Rodríguez as Vice President of the General Directive College;
- we have appointed Fr. Andreas Schöggl as general secretary of the Federation and Fr. José Cárdenas as general administrator of the Federation for one year, unless the future General Directive College determines otherwise;
- we have constituted the territories of the Federation, as they have existed until now; Regnum Christi in the Holy Land and the locality of Ivory Coast (Africa) will not belong to any territory, instead they will depend directly on the General Directorate;
- we have confirmed the configuration of the Territorial Directive Colleges and the Territorial Committees of Economic Affairs proposed by the territories;
- we have confirmed all those people who have had corresponding roles in Regnum Christi in work teams, localities, sections and works in their current positions, until the new governing bodies decide otherwise in accordance with the Statutes and the General Regulations of the Federation;
- we have approved the Rite of Regnum Christi that contains the text of the rite of adhesion and promise of self-giving to be used from now on.
We put ourselves again, as a spiritual family, under the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, asking her to obtain for us from her Son the graces we need to continue to fully carry out God’s plan for Regnum Christi.
With kind regards, we are yours in Christ,
Eduardo Robles-Gil, L.C.
Gloria Rodríguez Díaz
Dr. Jorge López González
General Directive College
Enclosures: