A Legion for Francis. A general chapter will be held at the end of 2013 to elect the Legion of Christ’s new superiors and approve the new constitutions.
Tthe Pope received Cardinal Velasio De Paolis President emeritus of the Prefecture for Economic Affairs of the Holy See, in a private audience.
Cardinal De Paolis has been a papal delegate to the Legion of Christ since 2010 and was conferred full decision-making powers by Benedict XVI so as to break completely with the Congregation’s previous leadership.
The Congregation was founded and led (until 2005) by Marcial Maciel, a coke-sniffing, child abusing Mexican priest who raped his own children.
In recent days, the Pope’s representative, De Paolis, asked whether he could report to the Pope on the restructuring of the religious order, which was badly shaken by the scandal involving its paedophile founder, Maciel.
The Pope listened to the cardinal’s detailed report and was informed about the next steps that would be taken in the “purification” process started in the Legion and the Regnum Christi movement, the Legion’s lay branch.
De Paolis’ three-year mandate ends in July. He explained to Francis what was next on the Congregation’s agenda: the approval of the constitutions and the general chapter which will elect the Legion’s new government.
The cardinal explained the problems that emerged within the order during its three years under the administration of an external commissioner.
In 2012, De Paolis formally dismissed all superiors who had been nominated by Maciel. Maciel himself had enjoyed the protection of John Paul II’s collaborators until the Pope’s death. All except Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. He was the only one who did not accept the large offerings made to the Roman Curia.
When the Bavarian cardinal was elected Pope in 2005, he was finally able to get the ball rolling and punish the Legion’s corrupt founder (in 2006) and above all encourage the Congregation’s purification process, which is still underway. This was in fact the subject of the Pope’s audience with De Paolis today.
The constitutions that will regulate the life of the Legion’s members will be ready by the end of 2013 and the date of the next general chapter will also be announced within the year.
Once the content of the constitutions is approved and the Congregation’s new set-up is defined, De Paolis will step down.
“Some bits were lost along the way but this was inevitable,” Curia sources say. “given how critical the situation was, losses on the whole were minimal: the vast majority of the Legion’s 1200 priests gave confirmation of their devotion and service.”
The Legion is made up of priests, 40 thousand lay people (who are members of the Regnum Christi movement and carry out their apostolate mainly in universities) and consecrated members (700 women and about a hundred or so men).”
The Legion’s role will be lessened compared to the Regnum Christi’s vast galaxy, De Paolis told the Argentinean Pope.
During their meeting, Francis showed a great interest in the activities of this important Church body, especially given that Latin America is its biggest field of influence. Changing the Legion’s leadership is part of the cardinal’s plan to clean up the Congregation.
The man he has chosen as the Legion’s head, is Brazilian priest, Deomar De Guedes Vaz.
This has been a difficult time in the religious congregation’s history,” De Paolis stressed. “A time marked by sin, discouragement, distress and humiliation.”
The cardinal told Vatican Insider that “Despite being afflicted in every way as Saint Paul says, the vast majority of the Legion’s priests battled on and did not lose their spirits, showing perseverance in their vocation. The days of “pars destruens” are over.
“Pars construens” will now give Francis and the Church a strong and dynamic body, boosted by the growing role of the Regnum Christi.”