Regnum Christi | Legionaries of Christ

05 Aug 2021
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Fr. Anthony Bannon dies at age 74

In the early morning hours of August 5, 2021 the Lord called our dearest Fr. Anthony Bannon, LC, home after health complications arising from cancer. Fr. Anthony Bannon, LC, was born in the “Old Sod,” Dublin Ireland, on April 25, 1947. His Mom and Dad had six children: Fr. Anthony and his five sisters. One of his sisters, Patricia Bannon, is a Consecrated Woman of Regnum Christi currently serving in Chile. Fr. Anthony felt the Lord’s call to be a Missionary in Latin America and joined the Legionaries of Christ’s novitiate in his sunny-cloudy hometown of Dublin on September 14, 1964.

Fr. Anthony made his first religious profession on September 15, 1966, and his perpetual profession on April 2, 1972. He was ordained a priest on December 24, 1975, by Cardinal Eduardo F. Pironio, then Pro-Prefect of the Congregation for Religious Life and Secular Institutes, at Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine in Rome, Italy.

Fr. Anthony obtained a MA (Licentiate) in philosophy from the Gregorian University in 1970 and his BA in Theology at the Angelicum University in 1975. As an intern he served as a dean of students at the Cumbres Institute School and at the Irish Institute school, both in Mexico City.

Just after ordination on December 24 1975, he returned to Mexico for 3 months, but was soon called to an extraordinary mission by his superiors and traveled to the Unites States of America, on April 1, 1976, to serve as the Apostolate Director for the Legionaries in the United States and the rector of the Novitiate for the Legionaries of Christ in Orange, CT. At the time, Legionaries had foundations in New York, NY, Hamden, NJ, Washington DC, and Detroit, MI, which Fr. Anthony helped direct.

On June 4, 1982, the Legionaries of Christ in formation moved from Orange, CT to their current location in Cheshire, CT. On Easter Sunday 1988, Fr. Anthony was named Territorial Director (Provincial) for the Legionaries of Christ in the United States and Canada. Time was on his side, and the fruit of his faith and hard work helped the Legionaries of Christ to flourish in North America. Fr. Anthony also helped to start the foundations for the Legionaries of Christ in Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, and South Korea. While in the United States, he helped guide many young men in vocational discernment to the priesthood and religious life as well as to future holy marriages.  

After many years of service, on Dec 8, 2004,  the Legionaries of Christ appointed a new Territorial Director for the United States and Canada. Fr. Anthony had served as the territorial director of North America from 1988 to 2004, and the territorial director’s assistant for religious life in North America from 2005 to 2008. He was the superior for the apostolate community in Dublin, Ireland, from 2011 to 2013 and went to Mexico City in 2014 to be the men’s section director for lay members of Regnum Christi until March 2019.

Fr. Anthony participated in all the General Chapters of the Legionaries of Christ from 1990 to 2021. He was also a member of the Central Commission for the Revision of the Constitutions since its inception in 2010.

He is the author of the Three, published by Circle Press:

A page has been set up to leave your condolences for Fr. Anthony’s family and brother Legionaries. Link to page.

In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to the Fr. Anthony Bannon, LC, Memorial Endowment to provide scholarships for Legionaries of Christ seminarians. Click to donate.