Legion of Christ - Apostolic Visitation

Apostolic Visitation

On March 31, 2009, the Legionaries of Christ and the Vatican announced that Pope Benedict XVI has ordered an Apostolic visitation (a type of Vatican directed investigation) of the Legion of Christ. The Legion of Christ has acknowledged that its founder fathered a child and is also responding to claims that the founder molested seminarians. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, said church leaders will visit, investigate, and evaluate all seminaries, schools and other institutions run by the Legion worldwide. The announcement of the unusual investigation was posted on the Web site of the Legionaries of Christ March 31, 2009 along with the text of a letter informing the Legionaries of the pope's decision.

Vatican authorities named five bishops from five different countries, each one in charge of investigating the Legionaries in a particular part of the world. Their report was given to the Holy Father in late April 2010.

Ricardo Watti Urquidi, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tepic, Mexico, is in charge of the Vatican's oversight of the Legionaries in Mexico and Central America, where the congregation has 44 houses, 250 priests, and 115-120 seminarians; Charles J. Chaput, Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, is in charge of the Vatican's oversight of the Legionaries in the United States and Canada, where the congregation has 24 houses, 130 priests, and 260 seminarians; Giuseppe Versaldi, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Alessandria della Paglia, is in charge of the Vatican's oversight of the Legionaries in Italy, Israel, the Philippines, and South Korea, where the Legion has 16 houses, 200 priests and 420 religious seminarians (in Italy itself there are 13 houses, 168 priests, and 418 seminarians); Ricardo Ezzati Andrello, Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Concepción, Chile, is in charge of the Vatican's oversight of the Legionaries in Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil and Venezuela, where the Legion has 20 houses, 122 priests and 122 religious seminarians; Ricardo Blázquez Pérez es:Ricardo Blázquez, formerly the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bilbao and now the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Valladolid, both in Spain, is in charge of the Vatican's oversight of the Legionaries in Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, Holland, Poland, Austria, and Hungary - the rest of Europe outside Italy- where the Legion has 20 houses, 105 priests, and 160 seminarians.