No hidden agendas. No lobbying. This was one of the clearest signs of the spiritual depth and maturity of the delegates. The atmosphere of prayer could be felt throughout the week. Last week, the first ordinary General Convention of the „Regnum Christi Federation“ took place in Rome. The John Paul II. Center is sponsored by Regnum Christi and is run in its spirit and according to its principles. As one of 3 priests of the Legionaries of Christ, I was able to represent our religious province (also known as a territory) of Central Europe. The Assembly brought together 115 delegates and 5 invited guests from all over the world, from each of the three federated institutions, as well as the associated laity: priests of the Legionaries of Christ, consecrated women, consecrated men, lay members. It took several years to get there. For me personally, it was the beginning of a new chapter in our community. After the revelation of the founder’s double life in 2006 and the almost 20-year renewal process, it was the first „ordinary“ gathering of the family. The focus was on our mission in the world instead of having to deal primarily with internal problems.

For me it was a very enriching encounter. We spent a whole week praying together, sharing, listening to each other… where is the Lord leading us in the next 6 years? Where should we set our priorities? Not so easy with a family that has grown a lot despite the years of crisis. In the school and academic sector alone, there are around 150.000 pupils and students in our schools and universities today, and if you add the „helping hand“ schools for the socially disadvantaged and the church universities, there are around 175.000 – not to mention many other areas where we are allowed to be active as a community today.

The method was one of „discernment of the spirits“ in a group. In other words, it was an experience of true synodality. Even if somewhat simplified, this discernment goes like this. One tries to arrive at an attitude of (to use the words of St. Ignatius of Loyola) „santa indiferencia“ (a „holy equanimity“ or an attitude of radical availability). This requires a real spiritual maturity on the part of all participants, not to seek their own, but to be truly open to what the Lord wants. It is also a gift to ask for…that’s why it was so beautiful to see how the whole week was a week of prayer, to be able to breathe a deep atmosphere of prayer. Because when someone in the group expresses their opinion on a topic, you try not to talk them down, but first listen to what their opinion does to me inside – to see whether it has caused inner resistance or peace and clarity, and then to share this in the group. Then you try to discern where the spirit of God is currently moving in the room. This is a very exciting and enriching approach. We were able to experience moments of fog, of darkness, moments when we threw our plans and thoughts overboard again, but then amazing unity and clarity, peace of mind. If we do nothing else in the next 6 years but that everyone returns from Rome and brings this approach of true discernment back into their lives, then it will have been a good General Convention.

3 Priorities:

Even though we come from very different cultural backgrounds, from Hong Kong to Manila, Santiago de Chile, New York, Paris and Krakow, we have been able to distinguish three main directions where we want to focus in the next six years:

+ Making a commitment to be and form communities of apostles „on the move“, following the example of the first Christians,

+ Promoting a culture of vocation: accompaniment on a path to the fullness of one’s God-given vocation (discipleship),

+ and the promotion of pastoral care for marriage and the family.

We also want to continue to take care of our organizational culture by helping each other to avoid three temptations and at the same time making a determined effort for a Gospel filled response to the challenges and opportunities of our time, in 4 areas.

With this in mind, I found it interesting that we had the book „From Christendom to Apostolic Age“ (University of Mary) translated at the John Paul II. Center. Because the book is along the same lines when it claims that we find ourselves in a situation that has not existed for 1700 years. And this situation requires not just minor changes to our pastoral work, but a certain radical approach, a kind of paradigm shift. This is what we tried to express in Rome:

  1. At the level of faith: from an all-too-human hope to a hope radically anchored in Christ. How often is it the case that we somehow trust in the Lord to bless our human endeavors? When the real approach should be to see what the Lord blesses, how we can participate. The real thing should be to discern where he is moving, where he wants us to move, and then to exercise radical trust that he will work through our weakness and inadequacy.
  2. On the charismatic level: from dependence on the consecrated branches to a charism that is accepted and promoted by all. We want to live our relationship with one another more from the charism and less from our respective roles. Of course, everyone has their own role. And yet it is about the common mission, a common ownership, overcoming an unhealthy exercise of authority (nothing against authority!), which leads to a consumer behavior where the consecrated are the service providers and the laity are the consumers. We want to enrich each other, inspire and support each other in listening to the Lord’s invitation to fulfill our common mission.
  3. On the methodological level: from an emphasis on manuals and models to an emphasis on discernment and adaptability. In a popular Church age, this was not so necessary. It was more or less clear what needed to be done. It worked in the past, why not in the future? We don’t want to run uniform models around the world. Rather, it is about having clarity in the principles (e.g. typical principles of the Regnum Christi such as the formation of apostles, fidelity to the Church, Christ at the center, holistic formation, people over programs, listening to the Spirit, action nourished by contemplation, etc.), a great flexibility in their application on the ground. And this is again the theme of discernment, a real listening to the Spirit of God.
  4. On the pastoral level: from pastoral care for people „at home“ to pastoral care for people outside and at crossroads. It is about learning from Jesus, leaving the ninety-nine sheep behind to seek the One, knowing that the best thing for the 99 will be to be inspired by the Master and to set out with him on the journey, to equip and be equipped to become shepherds themselves. It is about moving away from a pastoral ministry of preservation towards a pastoral ministry of mission.

In doing so, we want to avoid three temptations, which we have described as the temptation of the „bunker“, the temptation of nostalgia and the temptation of „becoming the world“.

You can read the entire communiqué here. I am very grateful for this time in Rome, which I see as confirmation of the path we have taken in Vienna. At the same time, I feel the healthy challenge that we as a congregation continue to walk a true path of discernment and see that we too can be a place where people can mature to the fullness of their vocation, where we become more and more a true community of apostles and where we give special importance to family ministry.

God’s blessing!

Here is an impression of the days in Rome