The Legion´s first foundation in Germany began on the feast of Pentecost in 1988, when Fr Eamon Kelly, LC, Irish by birth, found a warm welcome in the diocese of Eichstätt with Bishop Dr. Karl Braun, who would afterwards be named archbishop of Bamberg. Fr. Kelly got a small apartment in Ingolstadt, where he established the first relationships with bishops, priests, and interested lay people. He soon became known as the “gypsy of God.”

On the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the congregation, January 3, 1991, Fr Kelly and the first five German-speaking novices (who had started their novitiate in the United States) carried out the foundation of the novitiate of Germany, which had its provisional headquarters in Rome. Thanks to the generous support of the bishop of Aachen, Bishop Klaus Hemmerle, in August of that same year they were able to move the novitiate to German soil, setting up in what had been a house of "Caritas Essen" in Roetgen, in the region of the Eifel. Because of the constant increase in the number of novices during the next few years, the house would soon become very small for the needs of the community. Thanks to the help of the archbishop of Cologne, Joachim Cardinal Meisner, the novitiate was able to move in 1995 to Bad Münstereifel, where they found ample space in a building that until the 1990s had been a girls’ boarding school run by the Ursuline sisters.

On January 1st of the year 2000, the first Legionary of Christ from Germany, Fr Albert Gutberlet, was ordained a priest. Since then, the number of priests from Germany has increased to ten, as well as some novices and religious who are in their period of formation.

It is not only the religious congregation that was established in Germany during those years. Regnum Christi was also established at the same time. In the year 2002, the Movement held its first Youth and Family Encounter in Ingolstadt with His Excellency Walter Mixa and around 1000 participants. The next Youth and Family Encounters were held in Düsseldorf (2003), Salzburg (2004), Stuttgart (2005) and Würzburg (2007).

Along with the retreats, spiritual exercises, conventions, and summer camps offered through the Movement, the first Regnum Christi apostolates were also developed. In the year 2001, the first ECYD clubs were founded. Two years later, the apostolate FAMILIA began, along with the Project NET, at the service of the Church and of the new evangelization.

In the year 2004, the first Regnum Christi center for apostolate was opened in Düsseldorf. Two years later the Everest kindergarten opened its doors as the first Regnum Christi school in Germany.

The constant growth of the Legionaries of Christ and of Regnum Christi in central Europe led to the creation of a new territory in February of 2007. In addition to Germany, this new territory encompasses Poland, Hungary, Austria, Yugoslavia, and the Netherlands. Fr Sylvester Heereman, LC, was named the first Territorial Director with his headquarters in Düsseldorf.

The history at a glance

1988
Fr. Eamon Kelly, L.C. comes to Germany for the first time and finds a warm welcome in Ingolstadt from the bishop of Eichstätt, Karl Braun.
1991
The novitiate was founded in Germany in Roetgen, near Aachen, upon the invitation of Bishop Klaus Hemmerle.
1995
The novitiate is moved to Bad Münstereifel (diocese of Cologne) because of the need for more spacious installations, thanks to the support of Bishop Joachim Cardinal Meisner.
2000
Fr. Albert Gutberlet, the first German Legionary of Christ, is ordained.
2001
Foundation of the first ECYD clubs.
2002
First Youth and Family Encounter in Ingolstadt.
2003
Beginning of the FAMILIA apostolate and of the project for children, NET.
2004
Foundation of a center for apostolate of the Legionaries of Christ in Düsseldorf.
2006
The “Everest” Kindergarten is inaugurated in Düsseldorf.
2007
Foundation of the territory of central Europe with headquarters in Düsseldorf.

Contact Information:

Bad Münstereifel
Noviziat der Legionäre Christi
Linnerijstraße 25
53902 Bad Münstereifel

Düsseldorf
Legionäre Christi
Kieshecker Weg 240
40468 Düsseldorf
eMail: info.de@legionaries.org

The Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi on the Internet:

www.legionaerechristi.org
www.regnumchristi.org
www.cywn.net
www.freunde-von-net.org
www.berufungen.org
www.everst-duesseldorf.de