Secret Constitution of Legion of Christ
In spite of teaching almost
perfect Catholic Doctrine, the testimony of many ex-Legionaries and my own
investigation has determined them to be a very destructive cult and not much
different than Moonies or those who went to their death in Jonestown. What makes a cult is total control over its subjects: control over every action, all
knowledge, all movements and in short, over the very
free will of the victim. I have
documented the abuse in: Cult - http://www.unitypublishing.com/NewReligiousMovements/Leagonaires2.html
The daily reading of its founders letters by all members is also documented,
but one thing I never could get my hands on was the secret Constitution or what
most orders call – The Rules of the Order.
The Rules of most orders are simple 5 to 10 page documents explaining
the specifics of the apostolate and published for all to see. From these rules I can learn a great deal
about an order. Because of these rules I will soon be promoting what I consider
the best new religious order of my lifetime.
For five years I have tried to
get a copy of the Constitution but never did even from ex-members and now that
I read section 417-1,2 of this document I understand why.
This is a very long document
and if you take the time to read the entire thing but do not have experience in
cults, you might conclude that they promote and teach nothing but good sound
doctrine and a strong prayer life. But
if that were true then why was the founder (and many of its superiors) convicted
of homosexual and pedophile acts strongly violating all religious vows and
Catholic Doctrine? The answer is that LC
uses the outward signs of good (sound doctrine, holy Liturgies, properly
dressed priests, holy words, massive prayers) to draw people in and then to
totally control their free will. Once
the will is controlled they can do whatsoever they want with their followers
just as the slave owners did before the Civil War.
If you read the entire
constitution you will see that every minute of every day of every year is controlled
so that there is no free time, no privacy, no independent reading and spies
everywhere.
Consider this: Section 411 commands that members must keep
their rooms open at all times. Sections
388 to 390 commands that the members separate from families and can only visit
them with other members and sometimes only every seven years. Section 50 does not allow a member to go
anywhere alone and denounce his free will.
Sections 59, 274-1-7 commands control of all personal property, even of
the dead – 195-2. One entering this cult
all other vows to man or God are void – 81.
Speaking against the order or anyone in it is forbidden even if very
sinful acts – sections 210-1-2. And anyone doing this will be reported to the
superiors: Sections 71-2, 266-1,2, 668-1,2,3, 669-1,2.
Your free will is replaced by the order,
160-1 and throughout the document it is stressed the total obedience to
superiors. In 297-1 they command “total surrender of their judgment and will”
to the order and this is repeated in 300,307 and 314. As a brainwashing method this document has to
be studied everyday all their life: 168-2,171-2,177,183-1,302,303 and 418. A cult takes total control of your free will
and most often uses good to do evil.
CONSTITUTIONS of the LEGION OF CHRIST
PART ONE:
THE PURPOSE, NATURE AND PATRONS OF THE CONGREGATION
The purpose of the Legion of Christ is to sanctify her
members by the profession of the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience and the
observance of these Constitutions. Her purpose is also to build Christ's Kingdom
in society in the spirit of Christian justice and charity, through prayer, the
apostolate and a wide dissemination of Catholic doctrine, as these
Constitutions specify. This is to be
done, as best suits different times and places, in the following ways:
§1. Form select groups of leaders in the various
branches of society especially the working class, intellectuals, the industrial
community and other various professions, and train them for a person-to-person action to permeate the life of
society deeply with Christian spirit.
§2. Found educational and teaching
institutions: elementary and high
schools, colleges, universities and technological institutes, postgraduate
schools and research centers.
§3. Promote the human and Christian purposes of
the family and its values, with counseling centers and family apostolates.
§4. Disseminate the treasure of Catholic doctrine
and make it always accessible to all through schools of the faith that train
teachers of the faith and by founding editorial and publishing houses for the
research and dissemination of Catholic teaching.
§5. Open centers for reflection, prayer and
study; sports and cultural clubs; centers for formation and specific apostolic
action, and convention centers.
§6.
Generate apostolates to imbue the media (e.g.
cinema, radio, television, the press, etc.) with Christian spirit. Since the media play such a decisive role in
informing and forming the individual conscience and public opinion, the Legion
of Christ should give them primary importance as instruments of apostolate, and
use them all to the fullest insofar as it can.
§7. In the spirit of justice and charity of the
Gospel, set up apostolates for the promotion of the
entire human community, especially of the groups most in need spiritually,
morally and materially. Take every
possible step to ensure that this promotion and aid do not take on the
slightest connotation of class struggle regardless of the circumstances. On the contrary, make every effort to radiate
the spirit of unity, peace, justice and love that Jesus Christ teaches us in
the Gospel.
|n2. Priests are the members of the
Mystical Body most loved by the Heart of Jesus Christ and most involved in continuing
his redemptive work in the world. With
the approval of the General Director and the consent of his Council, the Legion
may take on apostolates for the care and perseverance
of diocesan priests.
|n3. The Legion excludes no form of apostolate. With due regard to n.1 above, the General
Director with the consent of his Council, is to select the best forms of
apostolate for each time and place. However,
he must never compromise the purpose,
priorities and methodology set forth in these Constitutions.
|n4. |p |p §1.
Our religious should foster true devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This consists in genuine piety, in personal,
manly and passionate love for Christ who is the example, way and life of the
soul, and in His imitation by the practice of all the virtues.
§2. They should value this
devotion as a very appropriate means to grow in holiness and to establish and
extend Christ's Kingdom in the world.
|n5. §1. They should refrain from directing churches and other
public oratories, unless, in the prudent judgement of
the General Director, it would serve a greater good.
§2. They
should not dedicate themselves to pastoral care in parishes. However, for serious reasons the General Director
with the consent of his Council may permit the acceptance of parishes in
exceptional circumstances.
|n6. Regarding communities of women
religious or similar communities of women:
§1. Our religious are forbidden:
1) To give them spiritual direction,
retreats or spiritual exercises.
2) To
minister as ordinary confessors to the whole community or any one of its
members.
§2. Nevertheless:
1) In isolated cases,
never habitually, the Territorial Director may permit a Legionary to give them retreats or spiritual exercises.
2) Only priests who are at least 40
years old may be appointed as extraordinary confessors, and then only rarely. These priests should never meddle in the
internal and external discipline and governing of the community.
3) The Rector or
|n7. The purpose of the Congregation may
not be changed without authorization from the Holy See.
|n8. The Legion of Christ is a
congregation of pontifical right. It is
clerical in nature, and consists of only one type of member, namely priests and
students for the priesthood.
|n9. §1. The uniform of the Legionaries is
the black cassock and cincture.
§2. The uniform may not be
changed without the consent of the General Chapter and the authorization of the
Holy See.
|n10. In the Gospel Jesus Christ teaches
the universality of God's Kingdom and proposes fellowship of life. As a visible sign of this and in order to
foster unity and charity in the Legion, our formation centers and apostolate
centers are to be integrated by members of different nationalities. This will also bring greater uniformity to
our formation and a greater enrichment of our members by living together and
sharing our diverse cultural heritages.
|n11. §1. So that all Legionaries can have
more constant, attentive and fruitful contact with the sources of the Legion's
doctrine and spirituality, Spanish
will be the official language of the Congregation.
§2. It is to be used
especially in the General Chapters of the Congregation.
§3. Consequently, the Major
Directors should see that all our religious become sufficiently fluent in
Spanish from the first years of formation.
|n12. The Congregation is dedicated to the
Sacred Heart of Jesus and to Our Lady of Sorrows. It recognizes
PART TWO
DIFFERENT STAGES OF LIFE IN
THE LEGION
Par.2 Chap.I
Chapter I: ADMISSION TO THE CONGREGATION
Art. 1. - General Directives
|n13. Any male Catholic may be admitted to the
Congregation if he is free of lawful impediment, is motivated by the right
intention and is qualified to take on its commitments and carry out its
specific apostolates.
|n14. §1. The General Director and the Territorial Directors are
to be careful to admit only those candidates who are of the required age, are
healthy, and have the right disposition and sufficient maturity to
undertake the lifestyle of the Congregation.
§2. Their health, disposition
and maturity are to be confirmed, by experts if necessary, fully respecting the
inviolable right of every person to protect his own privacy.
Par.2Chap.IArt.2. -
Impediments to admission
|n15. As stated in Canon Law, a candidate
is invalidly admitted to the Novitiate:
§1. If he is under seventeen years of
age;
§2. If he is married;
§3. If he is bound by vow to an
Institute of consecrated life or belongs to a Society of apostolic life
safeguarding what Canon Law states in this case;
§4. If he enters the
Congregation by force, through grave fear or deceit, or if the competent
Director accepts him under the same conditions;
§5. If he
conceals his membership in an Institute of consecrated life or Society of apostolic
life.
|n16. As stated in Canon Law, the General
Director and the Territorial Directors may not admit a candidate to the
Novitiate:
§1. If he is a secular cleric,
without consulting his Ordinary, or if he has debts he cannot pay;
§2. If he has legal accounts to settle or is involved
in business matters that could cause the Congregation legal suits or problems;
§3. If he is barred from the priesthood by any canonical irregularity
or impediment.
|n17.
By the authority of these Constitutions, a candidate may not be
admitted:
§1. If he belongs or belonged to an Institute of religious life, to a
Society of apostolic life, to a Secular Institute or to a community resembling
a religious community, even if only as a candidate;
§2. If he is over forty years old;
§3. If he has sinful habits that seem virtually impossible to amend and
correct;
§4. If through insufficient control of his affections he tends toward
improper friendships, or is prone to anger and sadness, or if he has a harsh or
arrogant character;
§5. If he is given to strange devotions that can lead to error and
confusion;
§6. If he has a habit of backbiting;
§7. If he is mentally ill;
§8. If he has poor intellectual ability, or is inflexible in his judgements.
§9. If he is inconstant and weak-willed;
§10. If he cannot acquire
and exhibit complete trust in his
superiors;
§11. If he is a diocesan priest or seminarian,
notwithstanding n. 16, 1. of these
Constitutions.
|n18.
Only the Holy See can dispense from the impediments of Canon Law.
|n19. §1. Only the General Director with the
consultative vote of his Council can dispense from the impediments proper to
the Congregation.
§2. Nevertheless, he should not be too lenient when judging the
seriousness of these impediments, especially those in n. 17, §1 and §11. He should consider them carefully and
prudently, as the discernment of vocations and the good of the Congregation
warrant.
|cPar.2Chap.IArt.3. - Conditions necessary for
admission
|n20.
The General Director and the Territorial Director, with the consultative
vote of their Councils, have the authority to admit candidates to the
Novitiate.
|n21.
As stated in Canon Law, each candidate must submit his baptismal and
confirmation certificate and proof of his
|n22.
§1. Before being accepted, each candidate should undergo psychomedical testing of his personality, abilities and
aptitudes.
§2. Vocation
recruiters should be very careful and investigate each candidate's family and
personal background, and his religious, moral, intellectual, social and
physical qualities. They should send a
thorough, clear and objective report to the General and Territorial Directors.
|n23. A candidate should have or be able to
acquire the following qualities, which are very important for his religious
perfection:
§1. Above-average intelligence
and sound doctrine;
§2. A firm, tenacious will;
prudence in his decisions and decisiveness, courage and constancy in carrying
them out;
§3. Love of spiritual
perfection and of all virtues, especially obedience, humility, chastity and
charity; burning,
passionate zeal to build Christ's Kingdom and save souls; love for the Congregation;
§4. A magnanimous heart and
hatred for backbiting and hollow observances;
§5. Sociability,
good physical appearance, discretion, friendliness and good health.
|cPar.2Chap.IArt.4 - Examination of the
candidates
|n24. The Territorial Director himself or his
delegate should examine each candidate before he is admitted to the
Novitiate. After him the Instructor of
Novices should do the same.
|n25.
The examiners named above should skillfully and prudently question each
candidate about the impediments. If they
find an impediment they should suspend the investigation and submit the matter
to the General Director's decision.
|n26.
If the Territorial Director and the Instructor of Novices differ about
any candidate:
§1. The Territorial Director or his delegate and the Instructor of
Novices should each send his opinion of the candidate in writing to the General Director.
§2. The General
Director should consult his Council and appoint a third examiner with
experience, with a deep knowledge of the Congregation and of the human heart.
§3. With the opinion of the third examiner in mind, the General Director should
decide before God what seems best for the Congregation and the triumph of
Christ's Kingdom.
|n27. Any candidate
who neither has nor is able to acquire the qualities listed n. 23, should not
be admitted. For this reason, no inquiry
that will help reveal the true fitness of a candidate should be overlooked.
|cPar.2Chap.II – CANDIDACY
|n28.
Before entering the Novitiate the candidates are to have a trial period
which is ordinarily held in the
|n29.
§1. Students from our Vocational Centers who desire to enter the
Novitiate have their candidacy for three months at the
§2. All other candidates have their candidacy for at least two months in
the Novitiate, but separate from the Novitiate community. In countries where there is no Novitiate the
candidacy is held wherever the Territorial Director indicates.
|n30.
§1. Candidacy is to start with a day of spiritual retreat.
§2. Throughout the candidacy there should be monthly retreats as well as
a spiritual talk and practical exam every Sunday.
|n31.
§1. Above all, the
candidates are to be made aware that they are to respond to God's call by
professing the evangelical counsels, so that not only dying to sin but also
renouncing the world they will live only for God and consecrate
themselves to serve the Church and all people.
§2. They are to be
carefully instructed in the principal virtues of the Legion, which are charity
toward others, humility, chastity, renunciation
of one's own judgment and will through obedience, and in their duty
to strive through prayer and action to sow and strengthen Christ's Kingdom in
the souls of all people.
|n32.
The candidates should observe the Legion's norms regarding journeys,
contact with their family, use of the media and habits of dress.
|n33.
§1. Before being admitted to the Novitiate, any candidate who desires to
embrace the life of the Congregation should ask the General Director in writing for admission,
through the Territorial Director. These
petitions should be kept in the general and territorial files, and in the files
at the
§2. Before
beginning Novitiate, the candidates who have been judged as qualified should do
spiritual exercises for eight full days and make a general confession of their past
life, if their confessor thinks it prudent.
|cPar.2 – Chapter III – NOVITIATE
|cPar.2Chap.IIIArt. 1. - The
|n34
The General Director, with the consent of his Council and prior written
authorization from the local Ordinary, has the authority to establish a
|n35.
In the establishment of a
|cPar.2 Chap.III Art.2 Art.
2. - Requirements for the Novitiate
|n36.
The Novitiate begins with the reception of uniform according to the
Ritual of the Congregation or in another way defined by the General Director
with the consent of his council, as long as the date it begins is accurately
recorded. It should last two years.
|n37.
§1. According to Canon Law, for the Novitiate to be valid:
1) The novices should be at least seventeen years old;
2) It should last for twelve months;
3) It should be held in the
§2. As stated in Canon Law, the General Director may permit a group of
novices to live for a time in another
|n38. The General Director, with the
advice of his Council, may transfer a novice to another Center of the
Congregation without interrupting his Novitiate. This should only be done rarely and for serious
reasons, such as illness or a special and urgent apostolic activity, and last
only a short while, with due regard for what is stated in n. 39.
|n39.
According to Canon Law and with due regard for what is stated in n. 37,
§1.3 and §2:
§1. Absence from the community or
the
§2. Absence in excess of fifteen days should be recovered.
|n40.
§1. Although it is not a requirement for canonical validity, the
Congregation requires a two year Novitiate.
§2. The General
Director alone can exempt a novice from his second year, but only seldom
and for serious reasons.
§3. What is stated in n. 39 is not applicable to this year.
|n41.
As time goes on, if a prudent, well-founded doubt arises about the
fitness of a candidate already admitted to the Novitiate, and his unsuitability
is proven by sound evidence, the
Instructor of Novices with the consent of the General
or Territorial Director should kindly and gently guide him to serve God in
another state of life.
|n42.
§1. A novice may
freely leave the Congregation or be dismissed for any just reason by the
General Director, once he has heard the opinion of his Council.
§2. Once the Novitiate is finished a novice should be admitted to
profession if he is judged apt for it. Otherwise he should be shown kindly and
delicately that it is best he return to the world. If there is doubt concerning his fitness, the General Director may give
him more time to prove himself, though no longer than six months.
|cPar.2Chap.IIIArt.3. - Duties of the Instructor of
Novices and his Assistants
|n43.
§1. The Instructor has the right and duty to care for the formation of
the novices. Governing the Novitiate is
his sole responsibility and no
one can rightfully interfere in Novitiate affairs under any pretext except for
the General Director, the Nuncios and the Territorial Director.
§2. A novice is subject to the Instructor of his section for everything
regarding the internal governance of the Novitiate. For the community activities of a Center
everyone should punctually abide by the rules and schedule of the Center.
|n44.
The principal obligation of the Assistants is to guide the novices in
their external discipline with great charity and with the example of their
religious observance. Therefore they should be docile instruments of the
Instructor in whatever calls for their collaboration.
|n45.
The Instructor and Assistants as they reasonably combine being firmly
demanding with kindness and give examples of Gospel simplicity and of respect
for the personality of each individual novice, are to correct and rectify to
the detail the novices' defects, and channel and fortify their good
inclinations.
|n46. §1.
The
Instructor of Novices should explain the Constitutions and rules of the
Congregation to the novices every day. Occasionally, for a good reason one of the
Assistants may substitute him.
§2. This
explanation should include all the numbers of the Constitutions and the Rules
in their entirety during the first year.
§3. This
explanation should be repeated in its entirety during the second year, in order to ensure a deeper knowledge and
appreciation of the Constitutions in the novices.
|cPar.2Chap.IIIArt. 4. - Formation of the novices
|n47.
The formation of the novices is to be eminently Christ-centered so that
in all and above all else Christ the Lord is the standard, center and model of
their entire religious, priestly and apostolic life. The formators
should:
§1. Encourage the novices to live their day motivated by a fervent desire
and firm resolution to know Him, love Him and imitate Him especially in the
most outstanding aspects of his life - his absolute and unconditional
surrender to his Father's will; love for all men to the point of dying for
them; love for prayer, the cross and sacrifice; tireless preaching of the
Kingdom of God and a tender love for our Lady, the Blessed Virgin.
§2. Stress
especially that the novices clearly grasp and accept that their Christian and
Legionary vocation is essentially and specifically to be apostles and preachers
of the
|n48.
During the novitiate the novices are to:
§1. Renounce empty observances and disordered sentiments,
and root themselves solidly in a religious spirit.
They should accustom themselves to prayer and meditation so as to achieve
intimacy with God, and give themselves manfully to Him through constant
self-denial.
§2. Foster ardent love and fidelity to Christ's Church. They should
develop a fervent zeal to have all men achieve their temporal and eternal
salvation in Christ, and to adhere to the Gospel's call to perfection by the
diligent exercise of the virtues
according to the spirit of the Congregation.
§3. Strive to know and esteem the excellence of their divine vocation. They should seek to know the mind and aim
of the Congregation through the study of the Constitutions, responsibly and
methodically making them their own.
§4. Read every day from the Sacred Scriptures, principally the New
Testament, so that by reading and meditating on the Word of God they acquire
the lofty science of Christ.
§5. Receive instruction in liturgical life, the abundant source of the
Church's vitality, and nourish themselves on it.
§6. Learn to observe and love religious discipline until it becomes an
internal attitude, so that they accept
the authority of the superiors out of deeply held principle and
supernatural motivations and use their freedom, initiative and collaboration
correctly to become more like Christ in his life of sacrifice for the
redemption of the world.
§7. Engage deeply in some apostolic work such as catechism, open
seminars, youth clubs and similar activities even outside the
|n49.
§1. Man himself is the material with which the Holy Spirit works by means
of grace to form the image of our Lord Jesus Christ in his soul. Therefore, the
formators are to take extraordinary care to see that
the novices acquire a solid and integral human formation.
§2. Above all this formation should address:
1) The proper order between their instinctual realm, their sentiments
and emotions, and their spiritual faculties of will and intelligence;
2) The balance of their temperament;
3) The soundness and firmness of their character, to free them from
fickleness in fulfilling their baptismal commitments and those they will take
upon themselves by professing the vows of evangelical perfection.
§3. The formators are to strive to help the novices
also acquire the habit of sincerity, and to form them in firm and manly
self-control, in discretion and in courtesy.
§4. Conscience is a person's core and it guides his natural
activity. Therefore, the formators should
be extremely attentive to see that the novices form correct and mature
consciences that are God-fearing, capable of detecting sin, always open to
doing good and to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit, and that they avoid
insincerity, ambivalence, falseness and hypocrisy which are so contrary to the
spirit of Christ.
|n50. All the novices are to
be equally submitted to trials especially those that demand the renunciation of their own judgement
and will. In this way they are to create in themselves habitual attitudes
of abnegation, making their will one with God's in spite of the protests of
their pride and sensuality, and to train themselves to follow Christ by dying
every day to their own passions and to the old man.
|n51.
§1. Each year the entire community of novices is to spend a month in
work and service outside the
§2. This work should always be agricultural and should take place in
areas that do not endanger the novices' vocation.
|n52.
After the first semester of Novitiate each novice is to be interviewed
by the Territorial Director or his delegate about his intention and desire to
continue in the Congregation and to profess his religious vows when it is time
to.
|n53.
§1. They are to have daily adoration of the Blessed Sacrament solemnly
exposed throughout the day. Each of the novices should do one half- hour turn
of adoration.
§2. In Novitiates with smaller numbers of novices the Blessed Sacrament
is to be reserved once all the novices have done their adoration. The Blessed
Sacrament should then be exposed again during evening prayer.
|n54.
While the novices' freedom to go to any duly authorized priest for
confession is always to be preserved, the following norms are to be observed:
§1. According to the norms of Canon Law one or more ordinary confessors
are to be named, depending on the number of novices.
§2. Whenever possible the
ordinary confessors are to reside in the
§3. Over and above the ordinary confessors, one or more extraordinary
confessors are to be named to whom the novices have free access.
§4.
At least four times a year the novices are to have access to an extraordinary
confessor who does not reside in the
|n55.
§1. During the first year of Novitiate the novices are to dedicate some
time to the study of classical humanities under the prudent care of the
Instructor and without detriment to their religious formation.
§2. These studies are to be intensified during the second year.
|cPar.2Chap.III Art. 5. - The rights of the novices
|n56.
The novices enjoy all the privileges and spiritual graces that have been
granted the Congregation. If a novice dies before his profession he has the
right to the same suffrages as are prescribed for the professed.
|n57.
During Novitiate no one should receive Holy Orders.
|n58.
§1. If a novice falls seriously ill and in the doctor's opinion is near
death, even though he has not finished the Novitiate he can be admitted to religious
profession by the Territorial Director, by the Rector of the Center or his
substitute at the moment.
§2. As far as possible the profession should be made according to the
formula used in the ordinary profession, but without specifying the time for
which it is made.
§3. If a novice who makes his profession in these circumstances recovers
he should continue in the Novitiate for the time laid down in the Constitutions
and repeat his profession. If he dies he receives a plenary indulgence.
|cPar.2Chap.IIIArt.6. - The possessions of the novices
|n59.
If during the course of the Novitiate a novice were to renounce or
pledge his possessions in any way, this renunciation would be invalid as well
as illicit.
|n60.
§1. Before his first profession a novice should transfer the
administration of his possessions to whomever he wishes and freely dispose of
their benefits with due regard to n.274 of these Constitutions.
§2. If he fails to make this transfer since he has no possessions but
later acquires them, or if he makes it but afterwards acquires more possessions
for any concept, he is to make or remake the transfer and disposal mentioned
above and in the manner explained above, despite the profession he has made.
§3. Written
authorization of the General Director is required to change this transfer and
disposal for a just reason, or to effect any other management of
temporal possessions permitted by these Constitutions.
|n61. §1. There should be no fee for the
expenses of the Candidacy or Novitiate.
§2. If a novice leaves the Congregation before professing, any
belongings he brought with him and have not been used up should be returned to
him.
|cPar.2Chap.IV – RELIGIOUS PROFESSION
|cPar.2Chap.IVArt.1 - Requirements for profession
|n62.
In accordance with Canon Law for his temporal profession to be valid a
novice must:
§1. Be at least eighteen years of age;
§2. Be freely
admitted by the General Director with the deliberative vote of his
Council or by the Territorial Director with the deliberative vote of his
Council if he has been
delegated this faculty;
§3. Have finished a canonically valid Novitiate;
§4. Make his
profession expressly and freely;
§5. Have his profession received by the General Director, the
Territorial Director personally or through a duly appointed delegate.
|n63.
§1. The Territorial Director and the Nuncio are to interview the novices
in the second semester of their second year of Novitiate and at the same time
as the Instructor of Novices
send to the General Director the list of those they regard
as suitable or not for religious profession.
§2. If the Territorial Director has the power to admit to temporal
profession according to what is determined in n. 69, 1 and 2 he should send
through the Nuncio the list of the novices he has admitted to profession along
with a complete report on each of them.
|n64.
§1. Before temporal or perpetual professions the novices or religious
are to send a written petition
of admission to the General Director, or to the Territorial Director
depending on the application of n. 69, 1 and 2. These petitions are to be kept
in the general and territorial files and in the files of the Center.
§2. The General or Territorial Directorate should send letters of
acceptance to those accepted.
|n65.
§1. Once he has finished the Novitiate a novice should make his temporal
profession for a period of three years in the
§2. At the end of these three years he should renew his profession for
another three depending on the judgement of the
General Director. The General Director may shorten this period.
Once it is over he is to make his perpetual profession.
§3. If the religious has not achieved the level of spiritual maturity
required for perpetual profession after finishing the periods determined in n.
1 and 2 of this number, he
is to renew his profession for one, two or three years
depending on the prudent judgement of the General
Director.
§4. The period of temporal profession
should not extend beyond nine years.
|n66.
Should the General Director decide to apply n. 65.3 and defer the
perpetual profession of a religious due to a positive doubt about his
suitability or because of his limited progress in
the exercise of virtue, the Rector or
|n67.
When the term of his temporal profession is up a religious is to either
make his perpetual profession or return to the world. But also within the span
of his temporal profession the General Director with the consent of his Council
may ask him to leave the Congregation if he is not considered deserving to
profess the vows.
|n68.
According to Canon Law for a valid perpetual profession it is required
that:
§1. The religious be at least twenty- one years of age;
§2. There was a preceding period of temporal profession of at least
three years;
§3. The religious has been freely admitted by the General Director with
the deliberative vote of his council;
§4. It be expressed and free;
§5. It be received by the General Director or
his duly appointed delegate.
|n69.
§1. Only the
General Director has the power to grant admission to temporal profession, its
subsequent renewals and perpetual profession. He needs the consent of his Council in the
case of first and perpetual professions, and its consultative vote for the
renewals.
§2. The General Director can
delegate to the Territorial Directors the power of admitting to temporal
profession or to the subsequent renewals but not to perpetual profession. A Territorial Director with this delegated
power needs the deliberative vote of his Council in the case of first
professions and its consultative vote in the case of renewals.
§3. The General Director is to delegate this faculty only to Territorial
Directors who have shown great discernment of vocations and of the human heart.
§4. All
deliberation about
admission to profession should be settled at least a month before the
profession is made.
|n70.
§1. Novices who are to be admitted to their first profession should:
1) Be suited to live religious life in the Congregation, to carry out
some form of her specific apostolate and be full of passionate zeal for the
salvation of souls.
2) Know the spirit of the Congregation. They should have a growing
appreciation for the greatness of their vocation and be sufficiently founded in
the practice of virtue.
3) Have good physical health and the required mental health and balance.
4) Should have developed all the qualities listed in n.23.
§2. Those who indulge in
slander, secret-sharing, winning others' affection for themselves or forming
splinter groups that destroy the unity or charity of the community should on no
account be admitted to profession.
|n71.
§1. So that all our religious will fulfill the ideal of sanctity and
apostolate to which God has called them as it is described in these
Constitutions to which they have committed themselves, and so that mediocrity will be
totally banished from the Congregation, those who are to make their
perpetual profession should:
1) Be an example for both their Superiors and peers in their fulfillment
of even the smallest precepts of the Constitutions, Rules and valid traditions
of the Congregation and in the daily practice of virtue, so that they may be
reasonably expected to behave likewise in more difficult events.
2) Avoid religiously small defects. If on occasion they do fall they should
receive correction and penances humbly and with a spirit of faith and try to
correct themselves.
3) Have the
necessary qualities to carry out some specific apostolate of the Congregation.
4) Be men of deep and solid
interior life, moved by living faith and genuine and active apostolic zeal.
5) Be men whose criteria, words and actions are one with the spirit,
doctrine, methodology and apostolic activities of the Congregation.
6) Have sufficient capacity for team life so
that living together and fraternal collaboration come naturally to them.
§2. Under no
circumstances should religious who tend towards slander, suspicion, secret-sharing,
and winning others' affection for themselves, and who would thus destroy the
unity and harmony of the community, be admitted to profession.
|n72.
§1. The Rectors and Superiors of the Centers are to consult their
Councils and send to the Territorial Director the list of candidates for
perpetual profession from their Center, along with their evaluation of them and
that of their Council members. Copies
are to be sent to the General Directorate.
§2. With the consent of his Council the Territorial Director through the
Nuncio is to present to the General Director the list of candidates for
perpetual profession from his Territory and send in his own evaluation.
|n73. With absolute reserve the
General Director should gather reports on all those who are to be promoted to
perpetual profession through the Investigation and Information Committee of the
General Technical Advisory Team, and forward them to his Council members,
asking them for their deliberative vote.