History

The Legion of Christ was founded in 1941 and received Canonical Approval from the Roman Catholic Church in 1948. The Church’s Decree of Praise was issued in 1965, making the order a Congregation of pontifical right, and approval of her Constitutions was first granted by the Holy See in 1983.


In the United States, the first house was established in 1965 in Woodmont, Connecticut. Today there are Legionary communities in California, Connecticut, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Wisconsin, and Washington D.C.  

The novitiate in Woodmont, CT (1967)

Since 1982, the Congregation has a novitiate in Cheshire, Connecticut. In 1991, the Legion of Christ College of Humanities was established in order to provide schooling and education for legionary brothers in their first four years of formation towards the priesthood. After four years of undergraduate education, the students are awarded the Associate in Arts degree in Humanities.               
                                                                             

The Legionaries of Christ Novitiate and College of Humanities