The Director General of the Legionaries of Christ, Father John Connor, L.C., has appointed Father Alberto Simán, L.C. as territorial director of the territory of Mexico and Central America for a period of three years.
Jorge Fernandez Tijerina, Gerard Heaslip, Rafael Pacanins and Pablo Solis by means of a protocol sent to all the Legionaries of Christ in the territory on April 20.
The new government will take office as of July 1, 2020 and will have to ensure the fulfillment of the congregation's mission: “In their mission to form apostles, Christian leaders at the service of the Church, the Legionaries make present the mystery of Christ who gathers the Apostles around himself, reveals to them the love of his heart, forms them and sends them to collaborate with him in the establishment of his Kingdom”.
The territorial director has authority over all the members, houses and works of the apostolate of the Congregation in the territory; therefore, he should give solicitous personal attention to all the religious entrusted to him (Cf. CLC 182 and 186). The territorial director is also responsible for this (Cf. CLC#185):
- Implement the CEO's priorities;
- supervise, direct and accompany with solicitude the superiors and directors of apostolic works;
- to be close to the communities and members;
- to constantly know and analyze the ecclesial, cultural and social context of the territory;
- realistically evaluate the resources available to continue the apostolates and plan new apostolic activities;
- collaborate with the other leaders of the Regnum Christi Movement;
- to foster communion and to attend to relations with the bishops.
Number 188 of the Constitutions of the Legion of Christ states that “the territorial council collaborates with the territorial director in the government of the territory. This collaboration is expressed, above all, by giving its consent or opinion as determined by universal law or proper law”.
The territorial council consists of four members, appointed by the director general for a three-year term, and ceases when the territorial director's term of office expires.
Father Alberto Simán, L.C. will also be president of the Territorial Board of Directors of Regnum Christi in the territory of Mexico and Central America; together with Lorenza Sanromán, territorial director of the Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi and José Mateos, territorial director of the Consecrated Laity of Regnum Christi with the advice of the laity Teresa Alarcón and Fernando Fernández.
We thank Father Ricardo Sada, L.C. for his tireless work and dedication in the government of the Legion of Christ in the territory of Mexico and Central America during the last 6 years, as well as the fathers who formed his council. The Legionaries of the territory have benefited from his dedication and paternal solicitude.
We commend the new government so that the Holy Spirit may enlighten and strengthen them in guiding the territory for the good of the Church.
Brief portrait of the new government of the Legion of Christ in Mexico and Central America.
Alberto José Simán Dada L.C.
Born June 16, 1971 in San Salvador, El Salvador. He attended school with the Marists and Opus Dei in San Salvador. In 1993 he graduated with a degree in industrial engineering at the North Carolina State University in the United States and worked professionally in Miami, Florida, and San Salvador until 1998. He joined Regnum Christi in 1997. He was a collaborator during the 98-99 course in Hermosillo, Sonora. He entered the Legion of Christ in September 1999. He made his perpetual profession on October 3, 2004 and was ordained priest on December 22, 2007. He holds a degree in dogmatic theology from the Pontifical Athenaeum. Regina Apostolorum.
From 2002 to 2012, he collaborated in both the administration and the general secretariat of the Congregation. From 2013 to 2015 he was assistant to philosophers at the Legion of Christ formation center in Rome and, beginning in 2015, he served as rector of that center. In November 2018, he was assigned as delegate of the Territorial Director of Mexico and Central America for religious life.
Jorge Andrés Fernández Tijerina L.C.
He was born on May 28, 1962 in Mexico City. He entered the consecrated life of Regnum Christi in 1980, entered the novitiate of the Legion of Christ in 1981 in Salamanca, Spain. He made his perpetual profession on September 15, 1985. After studying philosophy at the Gregorian University in Rome and theology in Salamanca, Spain, he was ordained a priest on September 17, 1992 in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.
From 1992 until 2016 he exercised his priestly ministry as a Novice Instructor: 21 years in Monterrey, where he founded the Novitiate and 3 in Salamanca, Spain. Since 2016, he has been the director of the Regnum Christi section for gentlemen and professionals in the South of Mexico City and superior of the community of Fuego since 2017.
Gerard Pius Heaslip L.C.
Born on May 1, 1956 in Dublin, Ireland. He entered the novitiate of the Legion of Christ in 1974 in Dublin. He made his perpetual profession on December 27, 1982. He was ordained a priest on April 13, 1986 in Salamanca, Spain.
In his 34 years as a priest he has worked in various sections of Regnum Christi and in the ECYD. He was director of the ladies, men and youth section in Aguascalientes, director of the youth section in the south of Mexico City and assistant to the ECYD. He has also held management positions in schools of the Semper Altius Network. From 1986 to 1989 he was director of Instituto Cumbres Aguascalientes, from 1990 to 2000 he was director of CEYCA Primaria. From 2002 to 2005 he was principal of Cumbres International School Aguascalientes, from 2005 to 2009 of Instituto Oxford Mexico, and from 2013 to date of Instituto Cumbres Bosques in Mexico City.
Rafael Pacaníns Héreter L.C.
Born December 20, 1977 in Caracas, Venezuela. He entered the Legion of Christ on September 15, 1995. He was ordained a deacon on June 30, 2009. He was ordained priest on December 12, 2009.
Rafael has a degree in philosophy with a major in Anthropology and Ethics and a bachelor's degree in theology, both from the Pontifical Athenaeum. Regina Apostolorum of Rome, Italy.
He has carried out his apostolate mainly as vocation promoter, Director of ECYD and Director of Youth Sections of Regnum Christi. He supported as assistant to the General Secretariat of the Movement from 2003 to 2011. From 2011 to 2015 he held the position of Youth Section Director of Regnum Christi in the South of Mexico City and in October 2014 he was also appointed Local Coordinator of Apostolate of that area of the city.
From June 2015 to the present, he has been Territorial Delegate for the Apostolate for the territory of Mexico and Central America and Local Director of the West of Mexico City.
Pablo Solis Aguirre L.C.
He was born in Mexico City on December 16, 1978, into a Catholic family as the second of three brothers. Before becoming a Legionary of Christ, he earned a degree in industrial engineering from the Universidad Iberoamericana and worked at Procter & Gamble, Kraft, UAS and Red Misión.
He entered the Legion of Christ in 2006 at the Novitiate in Monterrey, Mexico, where two years later he made his first profession of vows. In 2008 he moved to Cheshire for a year of humanistic studies. In 2009 he traveled to Rome to collaborate in the general secretariat of the Congregation and obtained a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum. He made his perpetual profession in 2011 in Valencia, Spain, where he collaborated until 2013 as director of the Regnum Christi youth section. He returned to Rome to complete his baccalaureate studies in theology and to collaborate in the general secretariat of the Congregation.
He was ordained a priest on December 10, 2016 in the Basilica of San Giovanni Laterano. He began his priestly ministry in Mexico City as director of the youth section of the Universidad Anahuac Campus Norte. As of January of this year, after the merger of the two youth sections of Poniente, he began to serve as director of the youth section of the Poniente locality of Regnum Christi.
