“May this Chapter open you to a time of hope.” Pope Leo XIV receives the delegates to the 2026 General Chapter of the Legionaries of Christ in an audience.
- The Pope received the Chapter Fathers in the final phase of the Chapter.
- This meeting with the Holy Father encourages the Congregation to continue the path of renewal and service to the Church that it has undertaken.
- Fr. Carlos Gutiérrez, LC, the new director general, attended, along with his council and all the chapter fathers.
Vatican City, February 19, 2026 – This morning Pope Leo XIV received the General Chapter of the Legionaries of Christ in a private audience in the Consistory Hall of the Apostolic Palace. Also participating in the meeting were Cardinal Fernando Vérgez, LC, president emeritus of the Governorate of Vatican City State, and Monsignor Brian Farrell, LC, secretary emeritus of the Dicastery for Christian Unity.
During the audience, Father Carlos Gutiérrez, LC, the new general director of the Congregation, reiterated the Congregation’s love for and fidelity to the Holy Father. In addition, he gave Pope Leo XIV an image of the Virgin of Sorrows, patron saint of the congregation.
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In opening his address to the fathers present, the Pope referred to the timing of their meeting in the final phase of the Legionaries’ 2026 General Chapter. “I am pleased to receive you in the final phase of your General Chapter. As in the life of every religious institute, this is a time of grace, since it constitutes a privileged moment of community discernment and listening to the Holy Spirit, who continues to guide its history and sustain the mission entrusted to its congregation, in fidelity to the charism received as a gift from God for the whole Church.”
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The Holy Father noted that this “is also an opportunity for you to recognize yourselves as heirs to a charism which, through different paths and historical expressions — sometimes painful and not without crises — gave rise to the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ, united by the same spiritual roots and a common apostolic passion. This shared memory does not look only to the past but also urges us to constant renewal in the present, faithful to the Gospel.”
Leo XIV also spoke about the charism, emphasizing that it is a “gift of the Holy Spirit. Every institute and each one of its members are called to embody it, personally and in the community, in a continual process of deepening their identity that situates and defines them within the Church and society.” He pointed out that “This journey, in turn, constitutes a valuable contribution to the Church as a whole and, in a special way, to the spiritual family of Regnum Christi.”
In his address, the Holy Father also referred to three essential themes: authority, consecrated life, and mission. He indicated that “consecrated life, called to be adept at communion, creates spaces where the Gospel is translated into tangible fraternity. In these days, without doubt, you have had a genuine experience of communion between brothers of diverse cultures and backgrounds, different generations, and between those who exercise responsibility for governing and those who serve daily in communities and missions.”
The Holy Father noted that “one of the fundamental tasks of religious governance is the promotion of fidelity to the charism. Therefore, it is necessary to reinforce a style of governance characterized by mutual listening, co-responsibility, transparency, fraternal closeness, and community discernment. Good governance, instead of focusing everything on itself, promotes subsidiarity and the responsible participation of all the members of the community.”
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He also affirmed that “Your mission consists of offering this visible witness of mutual listening and the common pursuit of God’s will, both for your communities and for those whom you meet on the way as you fulfil your mission.”
At the end of the audience, the Holy Father imparted the apostolic blessing to the Chapter Fathers, which he extended to all the Legionaries of Christ. The Pope also greeted each of the Legionaries who attended the audience.
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An encounter in the context of communion and renewal
This audience, granted by the Pope to the General Chapter, represents a moment of profound communion with the Church for the Legionaries of Christ. It is a further step on the path of comprehensive renewal that the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi have been following in close collaboration with the Church since 2009. During this time, the Church—as Mother and Teacher—has guided the Congregation, with the support of Popes Benedict XVI and Francis, encouraging the Legionaries of Christ to continue on the path of conversion, and in their mission of evangelization at the service of the Church with humility and fidelity.
Further information about the Congregation’s renewal process can be found here.
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The day before the audience, Father John Bartunek, LC, North American territorial vicar of the Legionaries of Christ and a delegate to the General Chapter, shared his thoughts on the audience. “I’m really looking forward to seeing the pope, to being with him and being able to kiss the ring of the fisherman. As a convert to the Catholic faith, anytime I have a chance to be with the Holy Father and to express my faith in Christ working through him, it’s a gift. To do it together with all my Legionary brothers in the middle of our chapter, to hear what he has to say to us, is a real grace.”
The full text of the Holy Father’s address during the audience is below:
TEXT of the Audience:
This morning, in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father Leo XIV received in audience the participants in the General Chapter of the Legonaries of Christ.
The following is the address delivered by the Pope to those present:
Address of the Holy Father
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Peace be with you.
Your Eminence, Your Excellency, dear brothers,
I am pleased to receive you in the final phase of your General Chapter. As in the life of every religious institution, this is a time of grace, because it constitutes a privileged moment of community discernment and listening to the Holy Spirit, which continues to guide your history and to support the mission entrusted to your congregation, in fidelity to the charism received as a gift from God to the Church as a whole.
It is also an opportunity for you to recognize yourselves as heirs to a charism which, through different paths and historical expressions — sometimes painful and not without crises — gave rise to the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ, united by the same spiritual roots and a common apostolic passion. This shared memory does not look only to the past, but also urges us to constant renewal in the present, faithful to the Gospel.
The charism is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Every institute and each one of its members are called to embody it, personally and in the community, in a continual process of deepening their identity that situates and defines them within the Church and society. This journey, in turn, constitutes a valuable contribution to the Church as a whole and, in a special way, to the spiritual family of Regnum Christi.
The diversity of forms, styles and accents in living out the charism received does not weaken unity, but enriches it, like the “polyhedron, which reflects the convergence of all its parts, each of which preserves its distinctiveness” (Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii gaudium, no. 236). For this reason, one must not fear plurality, but rather welcome it and discern it, and enable it to express itself so as to respond more transparently and faithfully to God’s call. Just as in a family every member has his or her own identity and mission, so too among you the plurality of gifts manifests the fruitfulness of the Spirit and strengthens the common mission.
As has been recalled, charism is a gift of the Holy Spirit; it is He who distributes his gifts (cf. 1 Cor 12:11), and he does so for the renewal and edification of the Church. As Saint Paul says, “To each is given a particular manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Cor 12:7). For this reason, charisms should be received with gratitude and consolation (cf. Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium, no. 2). Remember, therefore, that you are not masters of charisms, but their custodians and servants. You are called to give your lives so that this gift may continue to be fruitful in the Church and in the world. Therefore, this Chapter invites you to continue to ask yourselves how to live today, with creative fidelity, the charismatic intuition that gave rise to your religious family.
A General Chapter is also a moment to evaluate the progress made and to discern, with the help of the Holy Spirit, the path to be travelled. For this reason, you have considered the exercise of governance and authority in the institute as one of the central themes. Authority, in religious life, is not understood as domination, but as spiritual and fraternal service to those who share the same vocation. Its exercise must be manifested in the “‘art of accompaniment” which teaches us to remove our sandals before the sacred ground of the other (cf. Ex 3:5). The pace of this accompaniment must be steady and reassuring, reflecting our closeness and our compassionate gaze which also heals, liberates and encourages growth in the Christian life” (Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii gaudium, no. 169). Authority in religious life likewise serves to animate community life, focusing it on Christ and guiding it towards the fullness of life in Him, avoiding any form of control that does not respect the dignity and freedom of people.
In the same way, one of the fundamental tasks of religious governance is the promotion of fidelity to the charism. Therefore, it is necessary to reinforce a style of governance characterized by mutual listening, co-responsibility, transparency, fraternal closeness and community discernment. Good governance, instead of focusing everything on itself, promotes subsidiarity and the responsible participation of all the members of the community.
Consecrated life, called to be adept at communion, creates spaces where the Gospel is translated into tangible fraternity. In these days, without doubt, you have had a genuine experience of communion between brothers of diverse cultures and backgrounds, different generations, and between those who exercise responsibility for governing and those who serve daily in communities and missions.
Your mission consists of offering this visible witness of mutual listening and the common pursuit of God’s will, both for your communities and for those whom you meet on the way as you fulfil your mission.
“Missionary unity should not be understood as uniformity”.[1] It is not a matter of eliminating differences, but of having the capacity to harmonize diversity to the benefit of everyone, accepting divergences as wealth and discerning together the paths that the Lord proposes to us.
This process requires the humility to listen, the inner freedom to express oneself sincerely, and the openness to accept common discernment. It is an inherent requirement of every vocation lived in community.
The Church today is experiencing an intense call to synodality, that is, to walk, listen and discern together. The General Chapter is, by its very nature, a synodal exercise in which all are called to offer their experience and sensitivity in order to build the future of the institute together.
Dear brothers, I urge you to continue to live with an attitude of prayer, humility and inner freedom. Do not pursue particular or regional interests, nor seek mere organizational solutions, but above all the will of God for your religious family and for the mission that the Church has entrusted to you.
May this Chapter open you to a time of hope. The Lord continues to call and send, to heal and purify; therefore, your task is to discern how to respond faithfully to the present that God places in your hands.
Entrusting this new stage of your congregation to the maternal protection of Our Lady of Guadalupe, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing. Thank you.
___________________________
[1] Message for the 100th World Mission Day, 8 January 2026.
Fr. John Bartunek was ordained in 2003. He has taught moral theology at various ecclesiastical institutions at the graduate and undergraduate levels, and has authored many books, including the Gospel companion, The Better Part, and Inside the Passion, the only authorized behind-the-scenes look at the film, for which he provided on-set spiritual support. His online retreat guides are available in multiple formats at RCSpirituality.org. Fr. John currently resides in Atlanta, where he is serving as territorial vicar for the Legionaries of Christ.