Mexican priest Father Carlos Alberto Gutiérrez has been elected the new director general of the Legionaries of Christ for the 2026–2032 term to “continue the path of renewal” of the congregation founded in Mexico.
Gutiérrez was chosen at the general chapter of the Legionaries of Christ, which has been meeting in Rome since Jan. 20. He succeeds Father John Connor, LC, an American.
Gutiérrez, 51, was born in the city of Hermosillo in Sonora state, Mexico. He has been a member of the congregation since 1999 and was ordained a priest in 2009.
Throughout his pastoral work, he has served in Chile, Italy, Colombia, Venezuela, and Mexico, where until recently he served as territorial director for the northern region of the country.
Gutiérrez holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and theology from the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum and a bachelor’s degree in industrial and systems engineering from the Monterrey Institute of Technology. He also earned a master’s degree in psychology from Divine Mercy University in Virginia.
The new director general served as an assistant in Regnum Christi’s youth ministry known by its Spanish acronym ECYD (Encounters, Convictions, and Decisions) program, in Santiago, Chile, for three years.
He has also served as an assistant to the general secretariat, assistant to the territorial director for apostolate in Colombia-Venezuela (2009–2012), superior of the community in Bogotá, territorial councilor for Venezuela, director of ECYD in Monterrey (2014–2015), coordinator of the general area of family and youth ministry, and territorial director of Colombia-Venezuela (2018–2022).
In pursuit of transparency, care, and service
According to a statement from the congregation regarding Gutiérrez’s election, the general chapter entrusts him with “the mission of continuing the path of renewal undertaken by the congregation for many years under the guidance of the Church and promoting the service of evangelization to all people, in order to be a community that reaches out to the existential peripheries.”
The statement notes that “the new government is continuing in the pursuit of an institutional culture of transparency, care, and service to all people, and communion in the Church.”
The general chapter of the Legionaries of Christ has been meeting since Jan. 20 and is comprised of 60 priests from 13 countries. In the coming days, they will address the election of the general councilors and the general administrator, as well as “reflect on various aspects of the life and mission of the Legion of Christ.”
Regnum Christi Federation
The Legion of Christ is a religious congregation of pontifical right founded in 1941. Today it has two bishops, 1,033 priests, and 273 religious and novices worldwide.
It is part of the Regnum Christi spiritual family, which has undertaken a process of profound renewal and reform following numerous cases of sexual and abuse of power within the congregation, primarily involving the founder of the Legionaries of Christ, Marcial Maciel.
The new statutes of the Regnum Christi Federation were definitively approved in February 2025, defining it as a “spiritual family and apostolic body” with four vocations: Legionaries of Christ, consecrated laymen, consecrated women, and lay members, who share a common charism, spirituality, and mission.
At the same time the general chapter of the Legionaries of Christ is meeting, the general assembly of the consecrated women of Regnum Christi is being held in Rome, where they reelected Nancy Nohrden as director general. The general assembly of the consecrated laymen is also taking place, whose new leader will be elected in the coming days.
On Jan. 28, Pope Leo XIV received in audience the participants in these meetings and encouraged them to clarify their identity, convinced that a clearer awareness of their own vocation would allow them to proclaim the Gospel with greater fruitfulness.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
