June 1, 2012. Fr. Agostino Montan, C.S.I, shares the following letter to the Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi.

The letter is also available in pdf format.

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Rome, June 1, 2012

Dear Consecrated women of Regnum Christi,
Today, June 1 2012, the general government of the Regnum Christi feminine branch of the Third Degree officially begins its service. You already know their names:

- General Coordinator*:	Rodríguez Díaz, Gloria
- 1st Councilor:	Fernández González, Luly
- 2nd Councilor:	Ávila Diaz-Rubín, Mari Carmen
- 3rd Councilor:	Errázuriz Sotomayor, Paula
- 4th Councilor:	Pirie, Mary Patt

For all those who have the beautiful reality of Regnum Christi in their hearts, including the consecrated women, today is a day for joyfully thanking Our Lord and renewing our trust in him.

After a period of uncertainty that has included its share of suffering, the feminine branch of the Third Degree is taking a new and important step along its pathway.

For the first time, it has a general government. Besides being a sign of unity for the group of consecrated women, it is called to promote the Third Degree’s fidelity to the charism of Regnum Christi, and to animate its spiritual life and apostolic commitment. 

In continuity with the preceding norms, the Third Degree had its Regulations, promulgated on Pentecost Sunday, May 27 2012. While remaining provisional, they are a point of reference for regulating the internal life of the members.

Members of the feminine branch of the Third Degree see clearly that they form part of the charismatic family Regnum Christi; but they’re also conscience of having been given a just autonomy, particularly for their internal governance, since they have their own specificity within the Church.

We need to thank the Pontifical Delegate, Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, for the love, intelligence, and prudence with which he is guiding Regnum Christi’s path of renewal in its different branches.

I wish to extend a sincere thanks to the General Coordinator, Gloria Rodríguez, and to her council, Luly, Mary Patt, Mari Carmen and Paula, for accepting their assignments. I am sure that we will sustain their important service with our prayer.

My gratitude also goes to all of you, consecrated women of the Third Degree. You have lived this period in a spirit of prayer and interior purification. You have sought to verify God’s plan for yourselves and the Third Degree. When your companions, who have accompanied you along your way, have requested dispensation from their promises, you have not remained indifferent. The new government and the territorial Coordinators have begun an attentive reflection about this occurrence. The discernment to follow, which will involve everyone’s participation, will serve to renew the formation processes and configure the characteristics of Regnum Christi consecrated life. 

Dear consecrated women, in a way that I could say is almost unanimous, you have expressed your approval of the persons called by the Cardinal to form the new government. In conferring these positions, we proceeded in a similar way to when appointments were made for the Legionaries. In the first place, the results of the consultations were taken into consideration. Furthermore, we had in mind the directives of the Code of Canon Law (Can. 626; 624 §2) as well as the indications from the document The Service of Authority and Obedience (2008), where it enumerates the responsibilities considered important in the service of authority (#25). I repeat: your acceptance was almost unanimous. Taking into account that a government is evaluated by how it governs and by how it succeeds in getting things done, I believe that we can look forward with well-founded confidence.

The new government will make known the appointments to come. It will also mention the stages and deadlines for the various questions that will be addressed. Inevitably, the complex work awaiting you requires patience and a progressive maturity. For my part, I can let you know that the commission to review the Statutes will be established soon. The work to come is important and will involve each and every one of you. We will strive to give a unanimous identity to an experience that is a gift of the Spirit to his Church. As a reality, Regnum Christi is at the same time one and manifold. One through the identity of spirituality, mission, and the call to perfection; manifold because it includes a diversity of vocations, services and ministries, all oriented toward the achievement of the Kingdom of Our Lord.

Let us renew our confidence in each other. Let us overcome a one-sided vision of the other and the realities in which we are immersed. Let us pause over the demanding text of Saint Paul to the Galatians: “Now the works of the flesh are… hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy […]; the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (5:19-22).

The Holy Father hopes for a positive path of purification and of conversion, which has as its goal the conforming of ourselves to our Lord Jesus Christ.

I wish to assure you that, according to the indications given by the Holy Father, Cardinal De Paolis will continue accompanying you along your pathway.

May the Mother of our Savior accompany us and sustain us.

Fr. Agostino Montan
Josefino del Murialdo

NB: During the month of June, there should be a community encounter of prayer with the theme: “We give thanks to God for the gift of Regnum Christi. May the Lord direct his fatherly gaze to the feminine branch of the Third Degree and grant wisdom and charity to those in authority.”

(*Translator’s note: in the English language it is difficult to find an apt word for the title responsable general. General Coordinator was chosen for lack of a better term.)