Cardinal appoints commission to revise Legion of Christ constitution

Rome, Italy, Dec 9, 2010 / 23:42 pm

Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, the pontifical delegate to the Legion of Christ, has appointed the members of the commission which will oversee the revision of the constitution of the troubled religious congregation.

The committee will include two of the cardinal’s personal advisors, Fr. Gianfranco Ghirlanda, S.J., and Fr. Agostino Montan, C.S.I. Four Legion priests will also be on the commission: Fr. Roberto Aspe Hinojosa, Fr. Anthony Bannon, Fr José García Sentandreu and Fr. Gabriel Sotres.

None of the Legionaries on the commission are from its current leadership.

Cardinal De Paolis will preside over the commission, which will initiate and guide the revisions of the Legion of Christ’s governing constitution. The process will involve all Legionaries and will last several years, the Legion of Christ reports on its website. The revision will conclude with an extraordinary general chapter to examine the proposed changes and present them to the Holy See for approval.

In upcoming weeks the commission will present its methodology and the first texts for individual and community reflection.

“We invite our readers to keep the work of revising the Legion of Christ’s constitutions in their prayers,” the Legion of Christ said.

The religious congregation is trying to recover from revelations that its founder, Fr. Marcel Maciel, sexually abused seminarians and fathered several children. The discovery led to questions—and an apostolic visitation ordered by Pope Benedict—about whether the charism and formation process of the order were affected by the founder.

Cardinal De Paolis was appointed July 9, 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI to oversee the renewal of the religious order.