NORTH AMERICAN TERRITORY
Territorial Government of the Legionaries of Christ
Fr. John Bartunek, LC
North American Territorial Director
Fr. Timothy Walsh, LC
Territorial Vicar
Fr. Timothy Walsh was born and raised in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. After studying Physics at Laval University in Quebec, he entered the Legionaries of Christ’s Canadian novitiate. He did his philosophy and theology studies at the Pontifical Atheneum Regina Apostolorum in Rome and was ordained to the priesthood on December 23, 2006…
Fr. Mark Haydu, LC
Territorial Councilor
Fr. Mark Haydu started his journey in Akron, OH, being born the sixth child and fourth boy on July 15, 1972. As an active member of the charismatic renewal during high school, Fr Mark went to the Franciscan University of Steubenville, followed by a year of missionary work in Antigua, Guatemala, and Reynosa, Mexico. He entered the novitiate in Cheshire, CT, in 1993 and finished his Humanities degree there in 1996, where he first began to fall in love with Art and History…
Fr. Charles Sikorsky, LC
Territorial Councilor
Fr. Patrick O’Loughlin, LC
Territorial Councilor
Fr. Reuben Nuxoll, LC
Territorial Secretary
Fr. Frank Formolo, LC
Territorial Administrator
NORTH AMERICAN TERRITORY
Territorial Government of the Legionaries of Christ
Fr. John Bartunek, LC
North American Territorial Director
Fr. Timothy Walsh, LC
Territorial Vicar
Fr. Timothy Walsh was born and raised in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. After studying Physics at Laval University in Quebec, he entered the Legionaries of Christ’s Canadian novitiate. He did his philosophy and theology studies at the Pontifical Atheneum Regina Apostolorum in Rome and was ordained to the priesthood on December 23, 2006…
Fr. Mark Haydu, LC
Territorial Councilor
Fr. Mark Haydu started his journey in Akron, OH, being born the sixth child and fourth boy on July 15, 1972. As an active member of the charismatic renewal during high school, Fr Mark went to the Franciscan University of Steubenville, followed by a year of missionary work in Antigua, Guatemala, and Reynosa, Mexico. He entered the novitiate in Cheshire, CT, in 1993 and finished his Humanities degree there in 1996, where he first began to fall in love with Art and History…
Fr. Charles Sikorsky, LC
Territorial Councilor
Fr. Patrick O’Loughlin, LC
Territorial Councilor
Fr. Reuben Nuxoll, LC
Territorial Secretary
Fr. Frank Formolo, LC
Territorial Administrator
General Government of the Legionaries of Christ
Fr. Carlos Alberto Gutiérrez López, LC
General Director
Biography:
Father Carlos Gutiérrez López, LC, was born in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, on July 23, 1974. He studied high school and Industrial and Systems Engineering at the Monterrey Institute of Technology, where he graduated in December 1996. In 1998, he was an RC Mission Corps missionary in Santiago, Chile. He entered the Legion of Christ Novitiate in September 1999 in Gozzano, Italy. During his apostolic internship from 2001 to 2004, he served as an assistant with ECYD in Santiago, Chile.
He completed his undergraduate studies in philosophy and theology in Rome and was ordained a priest on December 12, 2009. From then until 2012, he served in Colombia and Venezuela. From 2010 to 2012, he was superior of the apostolate community in Bogotá and local coordinator of apostolate. In 2012, he was appointed territorial councilor for Venezuela. From 2014 to 2015, he served as the director of ECYD in Monterrey. In 2016, he earned a master’s degree in psychology from Divine Mercy University in the United States. He was part of the formation team for the religious community at the General Directorate and served as coordinator of the General Directorate’s Area of Family and Youth Ministry.
He was appointed territorial director of Colombia–Venezuela in 2018, a position for which he was confirmed for a second term in 2021. Since 2022, he has been territorial director of Northern Mexico.
Job description:
It is the responsibility of the general director to govern the Congregation in such a way that it safeguards its spiritual patrimony and carries out its mission in the Church according to God’s will.
Priorities:
- Attentively foster the members’ prayer life, fervor, good religious spirit, integral formation, fraternal life in common and perseverance
- Further the consolidation, projection and development of the apostolate
- Promote the pastoral work for vocations of the Legion and the other branches of Regnum Christi
- Implement the directives and guidelines issued by the General Chapter
- Ensure that everyone—especially the territorial directors, the rectors and superiors, and the formators—carry out their duties in accordance with proper law
- Promote the consolidation, development and institutional unity of Regnum Christi, and work closely with the appropriate governing bodies of the Movement in regard to preserving its spirit and to planning, apostolate and economy
- Strengthen the Congregation’s stable patrimony, supervise the administration of goods and promote a healthy economy
- Promote the desirable institutional communication
Fr. Hernán Jiménez, LC
Vicar General
Biography:
Father Hernán Jiménez, LC, was born on January 6, 1959, in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. He entered the Legion of Christ in 1976 and did his novitiate and humanities studies in Salamanca, Spain. In 1978 he moved to Rome to begin studies in philosophy. In 1982 he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the Pontifical Gregorian University. In 1990 he completed a bachelor’s degree in theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) and was ordained to the priesthood on January 3, 1991. He has worked in youth ministry in Spain, and vocations ministry in Italy and Mexico. From 2011 to 2016 he was the rector of the community of seminarians studying theology at the International College of the Legionaries of Christ in Rome. In 2016 he moved to Mexico City to serve in vocations ministry, as rector of the Centro Estudiantil, and as territorial councilor. On February 7, 2020, the General Chapter elected him as vicar general and first councilor of the Legionaries of Christ. On February 5, 2026, he was re-elected to a second term as vicar general.
Job Description:
The vicar general possesses the faculties that the general director delegates to him for a specified time or ad casum.
Duties:
When the general director is impeded or the office is vacant, the vicar general assumes all the obligations and rights of the office of general director. He is prohibited while in office from any innovation in the governance of the Congregation
Fr. Michael Brisson, LC
Second Councilor
Biography:
Father Michael James Brisson, LC, was born on February 22, 1977, in Hartford, Connecticut, USA. He entered the Legionaries of Christ in 1995. He did his novitiate in Monterrey, México, and his humanities studies in Cheshire, Connecticut. He did four years of apostolic internship on the East Coast of the United States promoting Regnum Christi and raising funds for the formation of priests. He received his licentiate in philosophy from the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, where he also did a year of theological studies from 2006 to 2007. In 2007 he was named territorial secretary for the New York Territory and vice rector of the territorial directorate community, while he completed his theology studies. He was ordained a priest on December 12, 2009, in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. As his first assignment he was named superior of the territorial directorate community in New York and director of the Regnum Christi men’s and women’s sections. From 2010 to 2013 he was local coordinator of apostolate for New York and superior of the Legionary community in Thornwood, New York. From 2013 until 2020 he served as territorial secretary for the North American Territory, superior of the Legionary community in Cumming, Georgia, and chaplain for the Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi in Atlanta. In 2020 he was elected for his first term as a general councilor, and on February 5, 2026, he was re-elected as a member of the general council.
Job Description
The general council collaborates with the general director in the governance of the Congregation. It collaborates above all by giving its consent or opinion in accordance with the prescriptions of universal and proper law. The general council comprises six members, elected by the general chapter for a six-year term. The council ceases when the general director’s term is over. The councilors can be reelected for additional terms. The general director can delegate faculties to the general councilors for a specified time or ad casum to help him in his governance of the Congregation.
Duties:
The general director must obtain the consent or listen to the opinion of his council in all the matters established by universal or proper law. In accordance with universal law, the consent of the general council is required for the general director to do the following:
- Establish, transfer or suppress a novitiate;
- Grant a novice permission to do his novitiate in another house of the Congregation;
- Grant a religious in perpetual vows permission to transfer to another religious institute;
- Grant a religious in temporary vows an indult of departure;
- Grant a religious in perpetual vows an indult of exclaustration, but not for more than three years;
- Petition the Holy See to impose exclaustration on a member of the Congregation;
- Readmit a novice or religious who legitimately left the Congregation.
Fr. Miguel Cavallé Puig, LC
Third Councilor
Biography:
Father Miguel Cavallé Puig, LC was born in Barcelona in 1968 and entered the Novitiate of Salamanca in 1986. After completing his humanistic studies, he carried out his apostolic internship for three years at the Irish Institute in Mexico City, where he served as academic director and ECYD director. In 1992, he moved to Rome, where he worked in the General Secretariat while completing his licentiates in Philosophy (1996) and Theology (2001). During that same period, he also obtained a master’s degree in Bioethics. He was ordained a priest in Rome on January 1, 2000. Subsequently, he completed a master’s degree in “Church, Ecumenism and Religions” (Rome, 2010). Between 1999 and 2002, he served as the general director of the Guilé Foundation, headquartered in Boncourt, Switzerland, with branches in Barcelona, Paris, and Rome. From 2000 to 2013, he presided over the Villaggio dei Ragazzi near Naples, as well as the Higher School of Linguistic Mediators. From 2014 to 2016, he lived in the community of Florence.
In 2002, he was appointed local director of Regnum Christi for southern Italy. In 2010, he founded the network of humanitarian organizations “VIS Foundation International”, which has developed some 200 solidarity projects in more than 30 countries to assist children in need; he currently serves as its international president and carries out numerous missions in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
He has lived in Catania, Sicily, for nine years, where he has served as director of the Regnum Christi sections, as well as Regnum Christi local director, a position he has been serving in until his election as a general councilor.
Job Description
The general council collaborates with the general director in the governance of the Congregation. It collaborates above all by giving its consent or opinion in accordance with the prescriptions of universal and proper law. The general council comprises six members, elected by the general chapter for a six-year term. The council ceases when the general director’s term is over. The councilors can be reelected for additional terms. The general director can delegate faculties to the general councilors for a specified time or ad casum to help him in his governance of the Congregation.
Duties:
The general director must obtain the consent or listen to the opinion of his council in all the matters established by universal or proper law. In accordance with universal law, the consent of the general council is required for the general director to do the following:
- Establish, transfer or suppress a novitiate;
- Grant a novice permission to do his novitiate in another house of the Congregation;
- Grant a religious in perpetual vows permission to transfer to another religious institute;
- Grant a religious in temporary vows an indult of departure;
- Grant a religious in perpetual vows an indult of exclaustration, but not for more than three years;
- Petition the Holy See to impose exclaustration on a member of the Congregation;
- Readmit a novice or religious who legitimately left the Congregation.
Fr. Robert Presutti, LC
Fourth Councilor
Biography:
Father Robert Presutti, LC, was born on November 29, 1965, in Sulmona, L’Aquila, Italy. He entered the Novitiate in Cheshire, Connecticut, in September 1985. He made his perpetual profession in June 1991. He was ordained a priest in Rome on December 24, 1998. He holds a degree in Philosophy. Over the years, he has served in the following roles: vocation director; vice-rector of the Legionary of Christ College in Rome; founding director of National Consultants for Education; rector of Sacramento University; director and rector of Pinecrest Academy (Cumming, Georgia); parochial vicar; and, most recently, vice-rector for Academic and Student Affairs at Divine Mercy University and adjunct professor in the Doctoral Program in Psychology (PsyD) there. During his formation and priesthood, he studied Classical Humanities in Salamanca, Spain, and philosophy and theology in Rome. He holds a licentiate in philosophy from the Gregorian University and a doctorate in philosophy from the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, both in Rome. Throughout his religious and priestly life, he has served as a spiritual director to people from diverse backgrounds and social conditions and has experience leading Spiritual Exercises in different formats. He is currently Chaplain of the Regnum Christi Women’s Section in Washington DC, and of Our Lady of Bethesda Retreat Center.
Job Description
The general council collaborates with the general director in the governance of the Congregation. It collaborates above all by giving its consent or opinion in accordance with the prescriptions of universal and proper law. The general council comprises six members, elected by the general chapter for a six-year term. The council ceases when the general director’s term is over. The councilors can be reelected for additional terms. The general director can delegate faculties to the general councilors for a specified time or ad casum to help him in his governance of the Congregation.
Duties:
The general director must obtain the consent or listen to the opinion of his council in all the matters established by universal or proper law. In accordance with universal law, the consent of the general council is required for the general director to do the following:
- Establish, transfer or suppress a novitiate;
- Grant a novice permission to do his novitiate in another house of the Congregation;
- Grant a religious in perpetual vows permission to transfer to another religious institute;
- Grant a religious in temporary vows an indult of departure;
- Grant a religious in perpetual vows an indult of exclaustration, but not for more than three years;
- Petition the Holy See to impose exclaustration on a member of the Congregation;
- Readmit a novice or religious who legitimately left the Congregation.
Fr. Adolfo Güémez Suárez, LC
Fifth Councilor
Biography:
Father Adolfo Güémez Suárez, LC, was born on January 10, 1976, in Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico, and was ordained a priest on August 15, 2008, at the Church of San Francisco in his hometown. He entered the Legionaries of Christ novitiate in Monterrey in 1995 and professed his perpetual vows in 2003. He completed his philosophical and theological studies at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome, where he earned a licentiate in Philosophy and a bachelor’s degree in theology. Throughout his religious life, he has served in various capacities in Mexico, Chile, Argentina, and Rome, in areas such as formation, spiritual direction, and apostolic accompaniment.
Currently, Fr. Adolfo is the director of the Regnum Christi Men’s section in Monterrey and the territorial coordinator for adult ministry in Regnum Christi. He has served as superior of different Legionary communities, director of young adult and women’s sections, and chaplain to various works and communities. His ministry is distinguished by his pastoral spirit, his experience in lay formation, and his commitment to the evangelizing mission of Regnum Christi.
Job Description
The general council collaborates with the general director in the governance of the Congregation. It collaborates above all by giving its consent or opinion in accordance with the prescriptions of universal and proper law. The general council comprises six members, elected by the general chapter for a six-year term. The council ceases when the general director’s term is over. The councilors can be reelected for additional terms. The general director can delegate faculties to the general councilors for a specified time or ad casum to help him in his governance of the Congregation.
Duties:
The general director must obtain the consent or listen to the opinion of his council in all the matters established by universal or proper law. In accordance with universal law, the consent of the general council is required for the general director to do the following:
- Establish, transfer or suppress a novitiate;
- Grant a novice permission to do his novitiate in another house of the Congregation;
- Grant a religious in perpetual vows permission to transfer to another religious institute;
- Grant a religious in temporary vows an indult of departure;
- Grant a religious in perpetual vows an indult of exclaustration, but not for more than three years;
- Petition the Holy See to impose exclaustration on a member of the Congregation;
- Readmit a novice or religious who legitimately left the Congregation.
Fr. David Daly, LC
Sixth Councilor
Biography:
Father David Patrick Daly, LC, was born on April 7, 1969, in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA. He entered the Novitiate on September 15, 1990, in Cheshire, Connecticut. He was ordained a priest on January 2, 2001, in Rome. He holds a Licentiate in Philosophy and Theology from the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum. During the 1995-1996 and 1998-1999 academic years, he was part of the formation team at the Novitiate and College of Humanities in Cheshire, Connecticut. From 2000 to 2008, he was a member of the formation team at the Thornwood Center for Advanced Studies in New York. From 2002 to 2004, he served as chaplain for Compass, in which he worked with undergraduate students in the northeastern United States. He served as the dean of the Cheshire Novitiate and College of Humanities from 2014 to 2017. Since September 2023, he has been the delegate of the Director General for the Rome Delegation.
Job Description
The general council collaborates with the general director in the governance of the Congregation. It collaborates above all by giving its consent or opinion in accordance with the prescriptions of universal and proper law. The general council comprises six members, elected by the general chapter for a six-year term. The council ceases when the general director’s term is over. The councilors can be reelected for additional terms. The general director can delegate faculties to the general councilors for a specified time or ad casum to help him in his governance of the Congregation to do the following.
Duties:
The general director must obtain the consent or listen to the opinion of his council in all the matters established by universal or proper law. In accordance with universal law, the consent of the general council is required for the general director to do the following:
- Establish, transfer or suppress a novitiate;
- Grant a novice permission to do his novitiate in another house of the Congregation;
- Grant a religious in perpetual vows permission to transfer to another religious institute;
- Grant a religious in temporary vows an indult of departure;
- Grant a religious in perpetual vows an indult of exclaustration, but not for more than three years;
- Petition the Holy See to impose exclaustration on a member of the Congregation;
- Readmit a novice or religious who legitimately left the Congregation.
Fr. José Cárdenas, LC
General Administrator
Biography:
Father José Gerardo Cárdenas Jiménez, LC, was born on July 1, 1957, in Monterrey, Mexico. He entered the novitiate on September 15, 1974, in Orange, Connecticut, USA. He made his perpetual profession on December 22, 1982, and was ordained to the priesthood on December 24, 1985, in Rome. In 1986, he participated in the founding of the Legionaries of Christ in Brazil. From 1987 to 1990, he served as an instructor of novices in the Novitiate of Brazil. From 1991 to 2001, he served as assistant to the territorial director of the South American territory. From 2002 to 2012, he served as territorial director for Chile and Argentina. He also served as territorial administrator of Brazil. The 2014 General Chapter of the Legionaries of Christ elected him as general administrator. The 2020 and 2026 General Chapters re-elected him to this office.
Job Description:
The general administrator has the mission of helping to oversee the patrimony, audits, finances, and legal matters related to the Legion’s works, as well as the development and oversight of budgets.
Duties
- Develop the necessary systems for performing his proper duties, especially systems for accounting, auditing, budgeting, financial consolidation and human resources; also developing norms and policies for the legal, financial, budgeting, human resources, construction, information technology and auditing processes.
- Coordinate the development of financial projections and budgets of all institutions and territories.
- Supervise the implementation of approved budgets, policy compliance in the territories, and account auditing.
- Direct the operation of general information technology accounting systems, budgets, centralized administration of personnel and information, and fundraising.
- Safeguard the economic resources, real estate of the Legion, the information about personnel in the different branches, accounting and financial information, and IT assets.
- Provide formation and training to territorial administrators.
General Council of the Legionaries of Christ
Fr. John Connor, LC
General Director
Biography:
Father John Lane Connor, LC, was born on February 15, 1968, in Severna Park, Maryland, USA. In 1990, he graduated with a degree in finance from Loyal University Maryland. He entered the Novitiate of the Legionaries of Christ on September 15, 1991 in Roetgen, Germany. In 1994 he worked at the Everest School Montecarlo de Madrid, Spain. He made his perpetual profession on May 1, 2000, and was ordained to the priesthood on January 2, 2001, in Rome. From his ordination until 2004 he worked in the Legion’s fundraising office on the East Coast of the United States. From 2004 to 2010 he was the local coordinator of apostolate in the New York City metro area, and he helped found and direct the Lumen Institute. From 2009 to 2010 he was the superior of the Legionary apostolate community in New York. From 2010 to 2011 he was the territorial director of the Atlanta Territory. From 2011 to 2014, he served as assistant to the territorial director for apostolate for the North American Territory. Since 2014 he was the territorial director of the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi, and since 2019 member of the Territorial Directive College of Regnum Christi in North America. On February 6, 2020, the General Chapter elected him to the office of general director of the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ.
Job description:
It is the responsibility of the general director to govern the Congregation in such a way that it safeguards its spiritual patrimony and carries out its mission in the Church according to God’s will.
Priorities:
- Attentively foster the members’ prayer life, fervor, good religious spirit, integral formation, fraternal life in common and perseverance
- Further the consolidation, projection and development of the apostolate
- Promote the pastoral work for vocations of the Legion and the other branches of Regnum Christi
- Implement the directives and guidelines issued by the General Chapter
- Ensure that everyone—especially the territorial directors, the rectors and superiors, and the formators—carry out their duties in accordance with proper law
- Promote the consolidation, development and institutional unity of Regnum Christi, and work closely with the appropriate governing bodies of the Movement in regard to preserving its spirit and to planning, apostolate and economy
- Strengthen the Congregation’s stable patrimony, supervise the administration of goods and promote a healthy economy
- Promote the desirable institutional communication
Fr. Hernán Jiménez, LC
Vicar General and Councilor
Biography:
Father Hernán Jiménez, LC, was born on January 6, 1959, in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. He entered the Legion of Christ in 1976 and did his novitiate and humanities studies in Salamanca, Spain. In 1978 he moved to Rome to begin studies in philosophy. In 1982 he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the Pontifical Gregorian University. In 1990 he completed a bachelor’s degree in theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) and was ordained to the priesthood on January 3, 1991. He has worked in youth ministry in Spain, and vocations ministry in Italy and Mexico. From 2011 to 2016 he was the rector of the community of seminarians studying theology at the International College of the Legionaries of Christ in Rome. In 2016 he moved to Mexico City to serve in vocations ministry, as rector of the Centro Estudiantil, and as territorial councilor. On February 7, 2020, the General Chapter elected him as vicar general and first councilor of the Legionaries of Christ.
Job Description:
The vicar general possesses the faculties that the general director delegates to him for a specified time or ad casum.
Duties:
When the general director is impeded or the office is vacant, the vicar general assumes all the obligations and rights of the office of general director. He is prohibited while in office from any innovation in the governance of the Congregation
Fr. Jesús Villagrasa, LC
General Councilor
Biography:
Father Jesús Villagrasa, LC, was born in 1963 in Zaragoza, Spain. He entered the novitiate of the Legionaries of Christ in Salamanca on September 15, 1981, and made his perpetual profession on October 8, 1989. He was ordained to the priesthood on November 25, 1994.
He holds a doctorate in philosophy, a licentiate in theology, and a licentiate in bioethics.
Since 1999 he was a full professor of metaphysics on the faculty of philosophy of the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum. From 2009 to 2013 he directed the Office of Quality and Center of Evaluation for the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum. On January 31, 2011, Cardinal Velasio De Paolis named him as general councilor of the Legionaries of Christ. The 2014 General Chapter elected him to continue as general councilor. As councilor he was responsible for overseeing the Regnum Christi’s network of schools and universities. He also served as rector of the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum from 2013 to 2019. On February 7, 2020, he was reelected by the General Chapter as general councilor of the Legionaries of Christ.
Job Description
The general council collaborates with the general director in the governance of the Congregation. It collaborates above all by giving its consent or opinion in accordance with the prescriptions of universal and proper law. The general council comprises six members, elected by the general chapter for a six-year term. The council ceases when the general director’s term is over. The councilors can be reelected for additional terms. The general director can delegate faculties to the general councilors for a specified time or ad casum to help him in his governance of the Congregation.
Duties:
The general director must obtain the consent or listen to the opinion of his council in all the matters established by universal or proper law. In accordance with universal law, the consent of the general council is required for the general director to do the following:
- Establish, transfer or suppress a novitiate;
- Grant a novice permission to do his novitiate in another house of the Congregation;
- Grant a religious in perpetual vows permission to transfer to another religious institute;
- Grant a religious in temporary vows an indult of departure;
- Grant a religious in perpetual vows an indult of exclaustration, but not for more than three years;
- Petition the Holy See to impose exclaustration on a member of the Congregation;
- Readmit a novice or religious who legitimately left the Congregation.
Fr. Rafael Ducci, LC
General Councilor
Biography:
Father Rafael Ducci, LC, was born in Santiago, Chile, on September 12, 1970. He entered the Legionaries of Christ on March 25, 1989, after finishing high school. He made his perpetual profession in June 1997 and was ordained to the priesthood on December 24, 2002. He holds a licentiate in philosophy and a licentiate in theology from the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum. For ten years he worked in the offices of the general secretariat. He also served as director of the Regnum Christi men’s and women’s sections in Santiago, Chile. He served as territorial vicar and director of the apostolate team for the Territory of Chile, prior to his election as general councilor of the Legionaries of Christ by the 2020 Ordinary General Chapter.
Job Description
The general council collaborates with the general director in the governance of the Congregation. It collaborates above all by giving its consent or opinion in accordance with the prescriptions of universal and proper law. The general council comprises six members, elected by the general chapter for a six-year term. The council ceases when the general director’s term is over. The councilors can be reelected for additional terms. The general director can delegate faculties to the general councilors for a specified time or ad casum to help him in his governance of the Congregation.
Duties:
The general director must obtain the consent or listen to the opinion of his council in all the matters established by universal or proper law. In accordance with universal law, the consent of the general council is required for the general director to do the following:
- Establish, transfer or suppress a novitiate;
- Grant a novice permission to do his novitiate in another house of the Congregation;
- Grant a religious in perpetual vows permission to transfer to another religious institute;
- Grant a religious in temporary vows an indult of departure;
- Grant a religious in perpetual vows an indult of exclaustration, but not for more than three years;
- Petition the Holy See to impose exclaustration on a member of the Congregation;
- Readmit a novice or religious who legitimately left the Congregation.
Fr. Pedro Barrajón, LC
General Councilor
Biography:
Father Pedro Barrajón, LC, was born on December 4, 1957, in Valdepeñas, Ciudad Real, Spain. He entered the Legionaries of Christ on October 4, 1974. He made his perpetual profession on April 7, 1985. During his apostolic internship he served as ECYD assistant and Regnum Christi young adult section assistant in Monterrey, Mexico, from 1979 to 1983. From 1985 to 1986 he served as prefect of studies for the Lay Consecrated Men of Regnum Christi in Mexico. From 1987 to 2000 he worked as an assistant to the general secretary. He received his bachelor’s degree in theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome and holds a licentiate in philosophy and a doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University, also in Rome. He was ordained to the priesthood on December 24, 1988. After his ordination he began his career in academia: serving from 1991 to 1992 in the International College of the Legionaries of Christ (then affiliated with the Pontifical Gregorian University), and then from 1993 to 2013 in the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, of which he was rector from 2007 to 2013. From 2004 to 2014 he served as Regnum Christi adult section director in Brussels, Belgium. Afterwards he was director of the Sacerdos Institute from 2014 to 2016. Currently he is the rector of the European University of Rome. On February 7, 2020 he was elected by the General Chapter of the Congregation as general councilor.
Job Description
The general council collaborates with the general director in the governance of the Congregation. It collaborates above all by giving its consent or opinion in accordance with the prescriptions of universal and proper law. The general council comprises six members, elected by the general chapter for a six-year term. The council ceases when the general director’s term is over. The councilors can be reelected for additional terms. The general director can delegate faculties to the general councilors for a specified time or ad casum to help him in his governance of the Congregation.
Duties:
The general director must obtain the consent or listen to the opinion of his council in all the matters established by universal or proper law. In accordance with universal law, the consent of the general council is required for the general director to do the following:
- Establish, transfer or suppress a novitiate;
- Grant a novice permission to do his novitiate in another house of the Congregation;
- Grant a religious in perpetual vows permission to transfer to another religious institute;
- Grant a religious in temporary vows an indult of departure;
- Grant a religious in perpetual vows an indult of exclaustration, but not for more than three years;
- Petition the Holy See to impose exclaustration on a member of the Congregation;
- Readmit a novice or religious who legitimately left the Congregation.
Fr. Gerardo Flores, LC
General Councilor
Biography:
Father Gerardo Flores de la Fuente, LC, was born on February 21, 1972 in Puebla, Mexico. In 1990 he entered the novitiate of the Legionaries of Christ in Cheshire, CT, USA, where he also studied humanities from 1992 to 1993. He completed his ecclesial studies at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome, Italy, where he also completed a licentiate in philosophy. From 1995 to 1999 he worked with the formation of minor seminarians in Monterrey, Mexico. He made his perpetual profession on August 15, 1998 and was ordained to the priesthood on December 24, 2003. After his priestly ordination he returned to Mexico where he continued to work with the formation of minor seminarians in the minor seminaries of La Joya in Mexico City, León, Monterrey and Guadalajara. Since 2015 he has overseen the renewal of the minor seminaries of the Legionaries of Christ, and since 2017 he has served as the safe environment coordinator for minors and vulnerable adults. On February 7, 2020 the General Chapter elected him as general councilor.
Job Description
The general council collaborates with the general director in the governance of the Congregation. It collaborates above all by giving its consent or opinion in accordance with the prescriptions of universal and proper law. The general council comprises six members, elected by the general chapter for a six-year term. The council ceases when the general director’s term is over. The councilors can be reelected for additional terms. The general director can delegate faculties to the general councilors for a specified time or ad casum to help him in his governance of the Congregation.
Duties:
The general director must obtain the consent or listen to the opinion of his council in all the matters established by universal or proper law. In accordance with universal law, the consent of the general council is required for the general director to do the following:
- Establish, transfer or suppress a novitiate;
- Grant a novice permission to do his novitiate in another house of the Congregation;
- Grant a religious in perpetual vows permission to transfer to another religious institute;
- Grant a religious in temporary vows an indult of departure;
- Grant a religious in perpetual vows an indult of exclaustration, but not for more than three years;
- Petition the Holy See to impose exclaustration on a member of the Congregation;
- Readmit a novice or religious who legitimately left the Congregation.
Fr. Michael Brisson, LC
General Councilor
Biography:
Father Michael James Brisson, LC, was born on February 22, 1977 in Hartford, Connecticut, USA. He entered the Legionaries of Christ in 1995. He did his novitiate in Monterrey, México, and his humanities studies in Cheshire, Connecticut. He did four years of apostolic internship on the East Coast of the United States promoting Regnum Christi and raising funds for the formation of priests. He recieved his licentiate in philosophy from the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, where he also did a year of theological studies from 2006 to 2007. In 2007 he was named territorial secretary for the New York Territory and vice rector of the territorial directorate community, while he completed his theology studies. He was ordained a priest on Decemer 12, 2009 in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. As his first assignment he was named superior of the territorial directorate community in New York and director of the Regnum Christi men’s and women’s sections. From 2010 to 2013 he was local coordinator of apostolate for New York and superior of the Legionary community in Thornwood, New York. From 2013 until the present he has served as territorial secretary for the North American Territory, superior of the Legionray community in Cumming, Georgia, and chaplain for the Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi in Atlanta.
Job Description
The general council collaborates with the general director in the governance of the Congregation. It collaborates above all by giving its consent or opinion in accordance with the prescriptions of universal and proper law. The general council comprises six members, elected by the general chapter for a six-year term. The council ceases when the general director’s term is over. The councilors can be reelected for additional terms. The general director can delegate faculties to the general councilors for a specified time or ad casum to help him in his governance of the Congregation to do the following.
Duties:
The general director must obtain the consent or listen to the opinion of his council in all the matters established by universal or proper law. In accordance with universal law, the consent of the general council is required for the general director to do the following:
- Establish, transfer or suppress a novitiate;
- Grant a novice permission to do his novitiate in another house of the Congregation;
- Grant a religious in perpetual vows permission to transfer to another religious institute;
- Grant a religious in temporary vows an indult of departure;
- Grant a religious in perpetual vows an indult of exclaustration, but not for more than three years;
- Petition the Holy See to impose exclaustration on a member of the Congregation;
- Readmit a novice or religious who legitimately left the Congregation.
Fr. José Cárdenas, LC
General Administrator
Biography:
Father José Gerardo Cárdenas Jiménez, LC, was born on July 1, 1957 in Monterrey, Mexico. He entered the novitiate on September 15, 1974 in Orange, Connecticut, USA. He made his perpetual profession on December 22, 1982 and was ordained to the priesthood on December 24, 1985 in Rome. In 1986 he took part in the foundation of the Legionaries of Christ in Brazil. From 1987 to 1990 he served as instructor of novices in the Novitiate of Brazil. From 1991 to 2001 he served as assistant to the territorial director of the South America territory. From 2002 to 2012 he was territorial director of Chile and Argentina. He also served as territorial administrator of Brazil. The 2014 General Chapter of the Legionaries of Christ elected him as general administrator. The 2020 General Chapter reelected him to this office.
Job Description:
The general administrator has the mission of helping to oversee the patrimony, audits, finances, and legal matters related to the Legion’s works, as well as the development and oversight of budgets.
Duties
- Develop the necessary systems for performing his proper duties, especially systems for accounting, auditing, budgeting, financial consolidation and human resources; also developing norms and policies for the legal, financial, budgeting, human resources, construction, information technology and auditing processes.
- Coordinate the development of financial projections and budgets of all institutions and territories.
- Supervise the implementation of approved budgets, policy compliance in the territories, and account auditing.
- Direct the operation of general information technology accounting systems, budgets, centralized administration of personnel and information, and fundraising.
- Safeguard the economic resources, real estate of the Legion, the information about personnel in the different branches, accounting and financial information, and IT assets.
- Provide formation and training to territorial administrators.