On February 4, 2026, the General Chapter of the Legionaries of Christ Carlos Alberto Gutiérrez López, L.C., was elected as new general manager Who is the priest called to accompany the life and mission of the Congregation in this new stage? In this interview he shares his vocational history, his pastoral experience and the vision with which he assumes the service of authority at the head of more than 1,300 priests and religious in formation.
A native of Hermosillo, Sonora (Mexico), Fr. Carlos is 51 years old; he joined the Legionaries of Christ in 1999 and was ordained a priest in 2009. Throughout his ministry he has served in Chile, Italy, Colombia, Venezuela and Mexico in pastoral, formation and government tasks. He holds a degree in industrial engineering from the Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey and has studied philosophy and theology at the Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey. Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, in addition to a master's degree in psychology by Divine Mercy University. Prior to his election, he served as territorial director of Northern Mexico, after having also served as community superior in Bogota, territorial advisor in Venezuela and territorial director of Colombia-Venezuela from 2018 to 2022.
The first thing we want to do is to thank you for your “yes” to this mission that God has placed in your hands. With a service of authority of this kind, you give yourself a visibility that, in these early days, makes many wonder who you are. What can you tell us about yourself? How do you present yourself?
I present myself as a priest who seeks to be a brother among brothers, committed to sharing hope and faith in Jesus. My desire is to remain precisely that for all Legionaries: a simple brother who gives support and builds, together with everyone, a more united Legion and Regnum Christi.
I consider myself a person who does not know how to work alone; wherever I have had to work, I have always tried to work as part of a team, sharing responsibility and joining forces with other brothers and sisters.
What does it mean to you to assume the service of Director General at this particular moment in the history of the Legion of Christ?
It is a mission that excites me, but it also makes me keep a due respect for the greatness of the assignment. When I realized that I could be chosen, my first thought was to God, to ask Him that, if I was chosen, I would be His instrument to carry forward His Legion wherever He wanted me to go.
I also did it with the awareness that I would not be alone, but that I could count on the support of all my Legionary brothers. And this is what I want to continue to ask of you: that you accompany me with your prayers and your generous dedication every day, wherever the will of God has you.
In my heart, every time that fear or doubt has arisen in the face of a new mission, I have clearly heard God put this thought in my heart: «do not hinder what God wants of you».
Let's go back to the beginning of your vocational story: How did you get to know the Legion of Christ and how did you decide to say “yes” to God in the Legion of Christ?
I was a member of Regnum Christi since I was in college. I studied industrial engineering at the Tecnológico de Monterrey. I always liked very much the preaching of the legionary fathers; I was attracted by their preparation and formation.
When I finished my career, after a short time of professional work, I decided to go as a collaborator for a year. I had to work in Santiago de Chile and it was precisely there where I received the call.
During that year I came to know Christ more in prayer and discovered more about Regnum Christi and the Legion, until I heard the call to follow Him.
In your pastoral experience, what has been the greatest lesson learned?
I think the strongest lesson I have learned is to let God be the protagonist. When I have wanted to get in the way, things don't work out the way they should, and when I have let Him act, He has worked His miracles.
Also at other times God has made me see that being a priest is already the greatest responsibility I have; all other commitments are just chores.
This service, as general manager, will be a great opportunity to try to live this lesson every day, because the disproportion between the mission entrusted to me and my capabilities is such that only God can carry it out.
What role do you see for the Legionaries in accompanying families, young people, educational works and the apostolates of Regnum Christi in the coming years?
During the Chapter we reflected a lot on the mission of the Legion and of each Legionary within Regnum Christi and its works. I am sure that the Holy Spirit will continue to inspire many Legionaries to make the charism a reality in their apostolate and in the hearts of so many people with whom we come in contact.
I am convinced that God took advantage of this Chapter to blow a new wind in our apostolates, but in a special way in the holiness of life of each Legionary, because it is precisely from that holiness that He will do great things.
In today's world, how can we be credible witnesses to the Gospel, especially after the journey of institutional renewal?
One of the themes we discussed at the Chapter was the way in which God has used our history to give us a more purified Legion in constant conversion.
I believe that we have to be witnesses of a Gospel that fills us with hope and, therefore, launches us on mission, projects us and encourages us not to remain closed in.
In this sense, the private audience we had with the Holy Father Leo XIV was an enormous gift: he invited us precisely to have that apostolic passion and to continue to live our charism as a gift that God gave to the Church.
What grace or light of the Holy Spirit do you ask for in order to serve Regnum Christi in this new period?
I ask for the gift of offering my service of authority with the love and simplicity with which Christ himself offered it. Simplicity and prudence are very necessary when making important decisions.
You have been elected Director General of the Legion of Christ. What message do you send to the Legionaries?
I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers, your messages, your details. I would really love to be able to assure each one of you that I feel you are my brother and that you can count on my sincere effort to be an instrument of God in the service of his legionaries.
What message would you like to send to the Regnum Christi family?
I want to renew my desire to continue working in communion, as a family within the Church. I want to walk together with them, making the charism and values that unite us more real every day.
Personally, I have always felt at home with the members of Regnum Christi and I deeply value the support and unity we share in our common mission.
For me, Regnum Christi is the path that God put in my life to get to know Christ more closely and to be able to follow him as a friend, as a Friend. Regnum Christi is the family that God has always wanted to give me and in which I have lived very beautiful years as a priest and throughout my life.
Cover image credit: Legionaries of Christ
