Álvaro Corcuera

In 1969 at the age of 12, Álvaro traveled to Ireland along with a few other young students as part of the founding group of the Legion's Irish language academy, now called Dublin Oak.

In 1981, recalling his stay in Dublin, Corcuera wrote: “The novices’ example, along with the unforgettable experience of being close to the founder Father Marcial Maciel and the other priests living there at the time, had a decisive impact on me.

The opportunity to serve the different priests’ masses and above all just to be near the founder helped me to see with great enthusiasm the possibility of having Jesus Christ so close and giving him to others all over the world.”[citation needed] On June 27th, 1971, Álvaro Corcuera became one of the founding members of the youth group of ECyD (Experiences, Convictions and your Decisions, formerly officially translated as "Education, Culture and Youth Development" although the original Spanish meant "education, culture and sports").

It is a great gift.”[citation needed] That year he began studying for a degree in educational sciences at Anahuac University (Universidad Anáhuac) in Mexico City, and graduated in 1979.

Álvaro and several other consecrated members of Regnum Christi volunteered as aides for Pope John Paul II's first visit to Mexico in January 1979.

A year later, when asked about his motivation to make the decision, and he replied: “I discovered the main reason in the tabernacle, where you hear Christ’s call: “Come, follow me”.

In two letters dated in October 2012, both he and Cardinal Velasio De Paolis announced that he would be taking a sabbatical until the next General Council is convoked in late 2013 or early 2014.

He was doing so for health reasons, but at the time it was not known he was seriously ill. Cardinal De Paolis is the papal delegate for the legion named in 2009 after an apostolic visitation concerning sexual misdeeds by the former head of the order, Marcial Maciel.