The Way of the Cross on missions in Chile.

Who in Regnum Christi hasn´t heard of Paca, the Chilean…? Her full name is María Paz, and back in the late 1970s, she was just finishing high school at Villa Maria Academy in Santiago Chile.

Thanks to a friend, "La Paca" got to know the Movement in Mexico, and when she returned home to Chile she gathered a group of her friends to tell them about her experience. Teams of Regnum Christi grew so fast that by 1978 a pair of Legionaries, Fathers Mariano de Blas and Gustavo Izquierdo, traveled from Mexico every two or three months to give spiritual guidance and formation to these young women.

A year later, two Mexican young women, Mercedes de la Torre and Ángeles Martín Colea, each offered God one year of their life to work on establishing and consolidating the young women´s section in Chile. They became the first Regnum Christi "Coworkers." Thus Regnum Christi was born in Chile, thanks to a few dozen young women whose zeal for souls and love for Christ  bore such abundant fruit. In July of 1980, the Legionaries of Christ arrived to establish themselves in the Chilean capital of Santiago, and since then the Movement has grown at a steady pace..

In 1981, the then-archbishop of Santiago, Cardenal Raúl Silva Henríquez, asked the Legionaries to take on the management of the Zambrano Institute. With over 100 years of history behind it, the Zambrano Institute has been an important factor for all of society in the field of education. The congregation took on the commitment and named Fr Héctor Galván as the director. Since then, the school has remained in the care of the Legionaries of Christ.

The "Colegio Cumbres" (Cumbres School) was inaugurated on March 10th, 1986 under the direction of two consecrated women of Regnum Christi: Maleny Medina and Fidelma Grealy. Who could have imagined what the fledgling school would become over the years?

Today in Santiago, the Legion of Christ has the Cumbres School in Las Condes, Everest in La Dehesa, and Highlands in Colina. In Buin, the Legion runs the San Isidro School, and in Rancagua they manage La Cruz Academy, as well as Finis Terrae University in Santiago.

Several apostolates have been established by members of the Regnum Christi Movement. In the area of evangelization, they carry out apostolates such as the School of the Faith, Youth and Family Missions, and NET, which is dedicated to the human and Christian formation of children between the ages of 6 and 10.They also started Familia Unida, whose purpose is to provide guidance and formation to married couples so that they can form healthy families rooted in moral values.

In the area of Christian charity and social work, Regnum Christi members- with the help and support of the Legion of Christ- have established the Helping Hands Foundation, an institution that carries out various works of charity. These charitable works include: ANSPAC (an apostolate that promotes the integral advancement of women), the Social Participation Project (an apostolate that teaches students to live Christian charity, specifically towards the poor and socially marginalized), Angel for a Day (an apostolate that fosters solidarity and service by offering volunteer activities that reach out to needy people, especially children), and three "Mano Amiga" Helping Hands Schools, which provide a quality education to almost 3,000 students from poor families: Mano Amiga of Recoleta, Santa Teresita del Niño Jesús in La Pincoya, and the Fernández León in Llo-lleo. Construction will soon begin on a fourth Helping Hands school in Colima.

Mailing Address:
Legionarios de Cristo (Legionaries of Christ)
Av. Suecia 826
Providencia
Santiago
Chile

Web sites:
www.Generacionempresarial.cl
www.Escueladelafe.cl
www.uft.cl