This report comes from a Mexico City newspaper, so one imagines the writer had a direct source from the LC. The picture of the Pope's letter to De Paolis is from Milenio, while the pictures of De Paolis with the Pope are from the website of Regnum Christi, the LC lay movement.
Pope's delegate had first meeting
with Legionaries leaders on Saturday
by Eugenia Jimenez
Translated from
July 12, 2010
Pope Benedict XVI's personal delegate to the Legionaries of Christ, the troubled Congregation founded by the Mexican Fr. Marcial Maciel, met Saturday with the Superior and General Council of the order, and explained to them that the Pope has asked him to reform the LC constitutions to get started on the path of renewal, and to call an Extraordinary Chapter General of the order to approve the new statutes.
In his letter appointing De Paolis, the Pope urges a profound review of the congregation's specific charism.
The meeting took place at the Legionaries' Center for Higher Studies in Rome. De Paolis presented two letters to the present LC hierarchy.
The first was a copy of the Pope's appointment letter dated June 16, which expresses the hope that the LC must be patient through the difficult moments to come and that these events should not hinder them in carrying out their vocations properly.
The other letter was De Paolis's first letter to the LC, warning them that some individuals and their past deeds pose a radical danger to the congregation itself, but that the Pope wishes them not to lose heart, to face what they must face, and to leave the past behind.
He says that the renewal urged on by the Pope means "having a clear awareness of the situation and to identify sharply the causes that have led to the present bad state and internal suffering" of the congregation.
De Paolis says the Pope hopes for a Chapter-General meeting to approve a new text of the order's Constitutions. He reiterates that the renewal is intended "not to hinder vocation but to return to a consideration of what it basically means" to be a priest.
It is understandable, he noted, "that some are going through difficult times and may already have thought of taking a different path". He continued:
"The priestly vocation is too serious to be decided on during a time of disorientation. It is necessary to recover serenity of the mind and spirit and to make such a decision with the help of God.
"We must be patient. Let us undertake the way of renewal with humility and faith. Let us consider anew together the meaning of religious consecration in the light of the congregation's specific charism. Let us review the constitutions to which you vowed yourselves with a view to ridding it of the elements that obscure that charism".
The Pope's letter to De Paolis emphasizes the 'sincere zeal' and the "fervent religious life of a great many members of the Congregation, as well as the necessity and urgency of a profound review of its mission".
After the meeting, De Paolis concelebrated Mass with the LC leaders. In his homily, he spoke of the need for 'reconstruction, for a restructuring' and a "profound examination of conscience - not to brood constantly on the past but in full awareness of the present".
He called on the Legionaries "to overcome the shadows which oppress, and the difficulties arising from our human frailties and weaknesses, because the mystery of God is far greater than our human weakness. When God enters into our frailties, he purifies us. He comes into our lives to purify us, which can liberate unsuspected energies in us."
Meanwhile, Fr. Alvaro Corcuera, who heads the LC, sent a letter to the congregation members and those of its lay arm. Regnum Christi, informing them that "the present LC leadership will continue exercising their functions until the Vatican publishes the decree" spelling out the mission of Mons. De Paolis.
I've posted a separate story about Mons. De Paolis in the CHURCH&VATICAN thread, from, of all places, the Regnum Christi site.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 13/07/2010 00:01]