Rome, Italy. January 31, 2011. Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, the papal delegate for the congregation, has created the Outreach Commission, as announced in his October 19, 2010 letter.

The members of the commission will have two fundamental tasks. In the first place, they will listen to the people who are requesting a response from the Legionaries of Christ because of Fr Marcial Maciel or in relation to him. Then they will write a detailed report which they will submit to the papal delegate. With the help of his advisors, he will then make decisions about what the Legion of Christ should do in each case.

To ensure objectivity and impartiality in the commission’s work, Msgr. Mario Marchesi, one of the papal delegate’s personal advisors, will lead it. Four additional members will make up the commission: Fr Florencio Sánchez, LC (chaplain of the Francisco de Vitoria University in Madrid), Fr Eduardo Robles-Gil, LC (Regnum Christi section director in Mexico City), and two external experts: Fr Silverio Nieto Núñez, a priest from the archdiocese of Madrid, a former judge and magistrate who now directs the Civil Juridical Service of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference; and Dr Jorge Adame Goddard, a titular researcher at the UNAM Juridical Research Institute and a law professor at Panamerican University in Mexico City.

Those who wish to be heard by the commission can write to the following address, briefly explaining the situation they would like to present:

Mailing address:
Outreach Commission
c/o Legionari di Cristo
Via Aurelia, 677
I – 00165 Roma

E-mail: acercamiento@legionaries.org

The decree constituting the commission stated that it would deal only with cases having a direct relation to the person of Fr Marcial Maciel. It will not intervene in cases awaiting decisions from civil or ecclesiastical courts.

When he presented the Outreach Commission to the Legionaries of Christ, Fr Álvaro Corcuera, LC, emphasized that its purpose is to “continue facing with seriousness and responsibility our recent history as regards Fr Marcial Maciel’s conduct and the implications and consequences it has had on some people. Insofar as it is humanly possible, we want to close this chapter in its more painful aspects, seek reconciliation, and allow justice and charity to prevail.”

At the same time, the general director of the Legionaries of Christ encouraged everyone to pray for this commission’s work so that it may be sustained by God’s grace and truly do good to the affected people and their families.