Fr. Alvaro Corcuera, director general of the Legionaries, acknowledged some of the hurt in a newly released undated letter that states, the order is “living a time of pain and suffering.”

The letter was sent to the 65,000 predominantly lay members of Regnum Christi, a support group to the Legionaires. Corcuera did not specifically identify the actions of the Legionaries’ founder, but wrote: “It is true that we are going through much suffering and a great deal of pain. As in a family, these pains draw us together and lead us to suffer and rejoice as one body. This circumstance we are living invites us to look at everything with much faith, humility and charity. Thus we place it in the hands of God, who teaches us the way of infinite mercy.”