Miles Christi
Essence and History of a New Religious Institute

Miles Christi is a Religious Institute that promotes the sanctification of lay people. It was founded in 1994, and was approved as a Religious Institute in 1999. This community began in Argentina, and has expanded to Italy and the United States.

The vitality proper to the Church, the Spouse of Christ, manifests itself in the formation of new religious communities, which seek to glorify God through the witness of a more perfect life. Among these religious communities that the Holy Spirit is raising up in the Catholic Church is Miles Christi.

Miles Christi is a Latin expression that means Soldier of Christ, or, in its collective sense, Militia of Christ. It is a congregation formed of priests and religious brothers, who together constitute a single family with a single spirituality. 

The aim of this Religious Community is to help lay people, especially university students, to pursue sanctity. The main methods of apostolate of this Militia of Christ are the preaching of retreats and of the Spiritual Exercises according to St. Ignatius, individual spiritual direction, and Catholic formation for the laity through classes, courses, and conferences.

Its religious members are formed in a spirit of complete fidelity to the Catholic tradition, and in an all-embracing submission to the Magisterium of the Church, most recently expressed in the Second Vatican Council and in the teaching of John Paul II.

Miles Christi has a special devotion to Mary under the title of the Mater Dolorosa, Causa Nostrae Laetitiae: Our Mother of Sorrows, Cause of Our Joy. As the Founder, Rev. Fr. Roberto Yannuzzi, has said: “Human life on earth is a continuous battle and cross. Let us then draw near to the suffering heart of the Mater Dolorosa, and in our tribulations she will teach us the science of perfect conformity with the will of God. She will help us to penetrate the mystery of the Cross of the Lord, the only true consolation and joy of the soul.”

A Short History
The origins of this Institute go back to 1984, when, on the 15th of August, the Solemnity of the Assumption of Our Lady into Heaven, Rev. Father Roberto Juan Yannuzzi, MC, S.T.D., an Argentine priest, received the inspiration to initiate an association of priests especially dedicated to the spiritual direction of souls, for the glory of God and the service of the Holy Church. Fr. Yannuzzi declared: “Our Lady has always been present, almost without our asking her. First of all, in the day of the grace of the foundation, which was the feast of the Assumption. Certainly I did not know that I would receive the grace for the foundation of the Institute on that day, but she apparently knew it very well.”

In the years that followed, one by one, spiritual children were being formed who would become the first partners in the militia. The first divine motion was reaping encouraging fruits, though not without the many crosses and difficulties which generally accompany the works of God and which constitute the habitual stamp of their confirmation.

Ten years later, Fr. Yannuzzi subjected what he believed to be the inspiration “of the good spirit” to the discernment of the Church, in the person of Most Reverend Carlos Galán, Archbishop of La Plata. On December 20, 1994, the Archbishop erected Miles Christi as a Public Association of Clerical Faithful in his archdiocese. A year later, he erected the Philosophical Academy of Miles Christi, since the Institute already had professors qualified for teaching the academic courses.

Thanks to the favorable reception by various bishops, Miles Christi has extended rapidly from its first house in La Plata to the following places: the Archdiocese of Mercedes-Luján (Argentina), where it has been entrusted with a parish near the Institute’s House of Formation; the Diocese of San Luis (Argentina), where it offers pastoral care at a University Student Center, provides assistance in the Cathedral, and offers its services in the Diocesan Seminary; and the Diocese of Porto-Santa Rufina (Rome, Italy), where it tends a parish in which the Institute’s students of Theology reside. Indeed, whenever possible, our students are sent to Rome to complete their theological studies, so that there they may receive the special stamp afforded by proximity to the Holy Father, and so that they may learn to value and experience the universality and Roman character of the Church. Miles Christi gives great importance to forming its members in complete fidelity to the Holy Father, the Roman Pontiff.

Most Recent Developments
Having fulfilled the requirements established by the Apostolic See, in February of 1998 our Father Founder presented the necessary documentation to the appropriate Roman Dicastery for the elevation of the Association into a Religious Institute. A pilgrimage to Lourdes was made to entrust the approval of the Institute to the maternal care of Our Lady.

At the same time, Bishop Galán made his evaluation and obtained positive results. He informed the Holy See of his findings, and after having received a favorable response from Rome, redacted and signed the Decree of Canonical Erection of Miles Christi. Thus one year later, on February 11, 1999, feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, Miles Christi was constituted as a new Religious Institute. After this approbation, a new Center for apostolic activities was opened in the downtown area of the city of La Plata (Argentina), becoming the fifth house of the Institute.

At the beginning of the year 2000, Miles Christi began to take steps to extend its apostolate to the United States. It was soon welcomed there by Cardinal Maida, the Archbishop of Detroit, Michigan. Three priests and two brothers of the Institute are now settled in the neighboring town of Plymouth, where they have begun their work of spiritual direction, preaching retreats, and organizing educational conferences and groups of formation. 

All during the year 2000, Fr. John Hardon, S.J., took a special interest in their apostolate, and offered the priests of Miles Christi much help and encouragement in pursuing the common goal of helping the laity to grow in sanctity through the spirituality of St. Ignatius. They have been able to work with him in offering the Spiritual Exercises according to the method of St. Ignatius. By the grace of God, they were able to be close to Fr. Hardon and visit him frequently during the last days of this holy and zealous priest, who did so much for the Catholic Church in the United States and in the world.

Miles Christi: a Religious Institute of Diocesan Right
It is a Religious Congregation like many others, such as the Passionists, Redemptorists, etc. The Code of Canon Law says that a Religious Institute is “an association in which the members emit public vows and live a fraternal life in common” (can. 607), in order to follow Christ, our divine Model, more closely. So the religious of this Institute consecrate themselves totally to God through the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.

That it is of Diocesan Right means that it was erected by the diocesan Bishop of the Principal Seat of the Institute, who in this case is the Archbishop of La Plata. For this reason, although conserving the autonomy proper to a Religious Institute, it still depends on the diocesan Bishop of the Principal Seat, above all for extraordinary events. 

This Institute has its own Constitutions, which are the supreme Rule by which all the religious, as well as the Superiors, are to be governed. The Constitutions of Miles Christi were submitted to the examination of two Roman Dicasteries: the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. The responses of both Dicasteries were positive. They were found to be in complete conformity with Catholic doctrine and with the spirituality of Holy Church. This recognition indicates the presence of a genuine charism, raised up in the bosom of the Church for the greater spiritual good of the men and women of our time. A recent document of John Paul II reminds us of the great value of these gifts of God: 

“The perennial youth of the Church continues to be evident even today. In recent years, following the Second Vatican Council, new or renewed forms of the consecrated life have arisen . . . . These new forms of consecrated life now taking their place alongside the older ones bear witness to the constant attraction which the total gift of self to the Lord, the ideal of the apostolic community and the founding charisms continue to exert, even on the present generation. They also show how the gifts of the Holy Spirit complement one another” (Vita Consecrata 12).

This judgment of the Holy See indicates that Miles Christi is a true path of sanctification for all those who enlist in our files as soldiers of this militia, and for all those who nourish themselves in various ways from the spirituality of Miles Christi through our means of the apostolate.

Mater Dolorosa, Causa Nostrae Letitiae, ora pro nobis!
Mother of Sorrows, Cause of Our Joy, pray for us!

For more information on Miles Christi, please write to:
Miles Christi Institute
P.O.Box 701200
Plymouth, MI 48170
infousa@mileschristi.org

Rev. Patrick Wainwright, MC, is a Miles Christi priest in Michigan.