Vatican, 29 January, 2026 / 12:43 pm (ACI Africa).
Pope Leo XIV met Thursday with members of the Regnum Christi federation’s general assemblies of consecrated women and lay consecrated men, urging them to deepen their sense of identity, embrace leadership as service, and strengthen communion across the apostolic movement’s different vocations.
Regnum Christi calls itself a “spiritual family” with four “vocations”: lay members, consecrated women, lay consecrated men, and the Legionaries of Christ, a religious congregation of priests.
The federation has undergone years of reform and renewal following revelations about its founder, Legionaries of Christ Father Marcial Maciel, who was credibly accused of sexually abusing minors and later found to have led a double life, including fathering at least four children. A 2019 Regnum Christi report acknowledged at least 175 minors as abuse victims of 33 priests in the congregation, including at least 60 cases attributed to Maciel.
Pope Leo did not refer to this history on Thursday but invited Regnum Christi members to rediscover the gift that defines them — their charism, a distinctive spiritual gift given for the good of the Church and expressed in a particular mission and way of life.
“Today more than ever it is necessary to know who we are, if we want to dialogue authentically with society without being absorbed or made uniform,” he said, encouraging members to clarify their identity and vocation so they can proclaim the Gospel more fruitfully.
