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PDF versionLegionaries letter outlines recent changes
by Tom Roberts on Sep. 02, 2009
Just saw this letter posted on the website of life-after-RC, subtitled Making sense of the Church after experiencing the Regnum Christi Movement, the lay arm of the religious order, the Legionaries of Christ. The letter outlines changes underway in the embattled religious order.
Pursuing the truth about the late Fr. Marcial Maciel, the order's founder who was finally disciplined by Pope Benedict XVI after years of accusations that the priest had sexually abused his own young seminarians, was a long and tedious ordeal. It was made even more difficult because the late Pope John Paul II ignored the accusations and lionized Maciel and gave special honors to his order.
Sadly, it was only when it was proven that Maciel had also fathered a child that the church and the order got serious about investigating the depth of the deception and dysfunction of the Maciel enterprise.
The recent letter is a welcome sign that the order has begun confronting some of the ugly truths about Maciel and what those truths mean to the order, which was so bound to his personality. The illusion of a saintly Maciel was revered by Legionaries who now must deal with the reality of his double life.
However, if the process of the investigation and the introspection the order must be going through at the moment are thorough and honest, the order may in the end glean some valuable insights for the entire church.
Why is it that during the
Why is it that during the Holy See's investigation of the Legionaries of Christ, LC priests are still being made pastors in some dioceses, are still accepting men into their seminaries and are still opening or taking over existing schools?
Shouldn't these kinds of things be put on hold until the investigation's work is done and the report submitted?
Well, that is of course, if that report hasn't already been written and the decision made.
Sister Maureen Paul Turlish
For the same reason that the
For the same reason that the sisters in the US aren't stopping their apostolates for the duration of that visitation, for the same reason that seminaries didn't shut down during that visitation.
The majority of priests in the Legion are blameless and should not prevented from exercising their ministry. The ones who did assist in the cover-up of Fr Maciel's misdeeds should be punished and the Legion needs reworking (perhaps even re-founding as suggested by some of their own (now former) members.
ht
Good point! The rotteness of
Good point! The rotteness of the Legion is contained in one man (Maciel) while the problem with the American nuns is widespread. Sr Joan Chittister is a good example of heretical & disobedient nuns found in the leadership Conference of Women Religious. JPII (instant saint) did nothing to discipline her & her superior for their disobedience. As a matter of fact nearly all the Benedictine nuns in America supported these two outlaws. This shows how far the rot of heresy & disobedience has infected American liberal convents! It's time to interdict these convents!
I'm not sure if you're being
I'm not sure if you're being comic, ironic, sarcastic or just bombastic. If we were praying together - and as one Apostle suggested, we should "pray always" - knowing that Jesus told us that he would be there in our midst, and understanding prayer as our listening to God and God listening for our response in, with and through Jesus in the unity of the Holy Spirit, I would have to excuse myself. When I pray alone and even more when I pray with my sisters and brothers, forgiveness, thanksgiving and joy pervade. Words of failed discipline, accusations of the rot of heresy and disobedience, and the threat of interdiction are are not part of the sacramental life that our Father offered me at Baptism nor that our Brother and Savior Jesus showed me how to live and nourishes me with at his table, and not mentioned in any of the gifts and fruits that the Holy Spirit filled me with at Confirmation. And everytime I approach the sacrament of Reconcilliation, I sincerely ask that our Father forgive my trespasses - which I know, acknowledge and admit - as I forgive those who trespass against me and whose sins only our Father knows. After you and the Holy Trinity have finally judged Marciel, Sr Joan Chitister, the Conference of Women Religious, JPII and nearly all the Benedictine nuns in America, if it's all right with you, I'll again gladly and hopefully pray with you and let forgiveness, thanksgiving and joy pervade. Paz y Bien, Rolando.
I'm just being myself and God
I'm just being myself and God will judge me as I am for good or ill. Paulte is a truth speaker and a problem solver. I'm not one to stand around and sing kumbaya with everyone under the sun as you apparently are. I've been around the non-judgmental types like yourself and found them wanting. I look at situations in a Church sadly needing reform and I see what is wrong and I speak the truth about that. That's the bottom line here. The heresy of modernism is widespread in the Conciliar Church!
paulte on Sep. 04, 2009. And
paulte on Sep. 04, 2009.
And exactly what disobedience are Sisters Joan and Christine guilty of? Standing up to injustices and inconsistencies perpetrated by the Catholic Church? In the area of women's issues, the history of the Catholic Church is filled with not only attempts, but actual degrading practices in keeping them subservient. And its sacramental practices are full of inconsistencies.
Priesthood:
Pope John Paul II (not an instant saint, not by a long shot), taught that it was not within the power of the Church to ordain women---because Jesus did not ordain women. But he didn't know who was at the Last Supper. No Pope from St. Linus on down was there. Oh, the Gospel writers said who was there? Not really. John states that Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. Well, women were among Jesus' disciples--there was no number given in John's Gospel as to how many had their feet washed. It speaks about Peter's protest against having his feet washed---but no number of participants at that Last Supper was even given.
If the Church's contention that only the 12 Apostles were present---than that excludes Mark and Luke's presence at the Last Supper. What about Matthew? He was a tax-collector and was not trained in the exactitudes of Jewish law. Yet, his gospel is filled with references to Jewish law. His gospel was written by a disciple of Matthew's---who was trained in the law. But that disciple was not present at the Last Supper, either.
Women can't be priests---but how was it that Benedictine Abbesses in England were validly able to ordain men as Benedictine priests? And they did. All religious orders (especially women's orders) keep meticulous chronicles of their activities and their orders' activities. The Benedictines are no exception to this. The chronicles of the Benedictine women fills volumns and volumns from past centuries to the present---and Abbesses in England---from the 13th-15th centuries did, from time to time, ordain validly, men as Benedictine priests.
Women can't be priests. Yet in the sacrament of matrimony, it is the woman who confers the sacrament of matrimony upon her husband (and he confers the sacrament upon his wife). The priest is the official witness of the Church. He does not confer this sacrament upon the two.
The Benedictine order has seen Popes come and go---and it is the oldest of continuous orders in the West. No Pope is going to try to discipline this order. John Paul II understood this very well--knew he didn't have a legal leg to stand on.
Let the Vatican clean out the rot in its own closets first, the blindess to cardinals, arch/bishops duplicity in covering up the sexual abuse of youth/children around the world first. Let them get down to their own clean up before they loose all the credibility that they have.
Sr Christine was instructed
Sr Christine was instructed by Rome to tell Sr Joan to be silent on the issue of women's ordination (priestesses). Sr Christine did not comply with Rome's directive & neither did Sr Joan (at least the implied (to her) command from Rome). And for you to be talking about abbesses ordaining priests is a bit much. I will concede that back then abbesses had religious & temporal power. They may have been able to assign priests to positions but not to ordain them. And no religious order can be placed above the papacy! Get real!
I have the greatest respect for St Benedict always and the Benedictines prior to the time Weakland was put in charge of them. That's when they went into decline. I even thought about joining them as a youth. Now whenever I work in my backyard, I remember the words of St Benedict, "to work is to pray." Also he allowed his monks to have a glass of wine now & then. I always have a glass of wine when I complete my yard work! Thanks for the advice St Benedict!
Digging in my memory bank, Sr
Digging in my memory bank, Sr Joan was going to speak at some women's ordination confererence. Rome ordered the prioress to tell her not to go. Bear in mind that JPII had ordered a silence on the issue of priestesses in the Catholic Church. I'm pretty sure that Sr Joan said she had no intention of skipping the conference. Whether she actually went, I don't know. Sr Christine conveyed the Roman info. She did not order her not to go.
Of course the vow of obedience is something of a joke in these orders anyway. How can you be disobedient to a collective leadership? In any event, both Sr Joan & Sr Christine were guilty of disobedience to Rome. Also, all of the Benedictine nuns in America save at leat one & maybe two supported the two outlaws. It's too bad people have such short memories on these issues. Then people wonder why Rome is now having a visitation! I guess Germans have more maxie than Poles!
you have absolute truth about
you have absolute truth about your statements? Proof? Not just your feelings about something you know nothing about?
Dear Sister, You are clearly
Dear Sister,
You are clearly biased. There are a good number of good folks (the najority, fortunately) in the LC. We pray the current investigation will expose what needs to happen for the good of the church. Remember, plants grow better when pruned, but we should not chastise all the good work these folks do for the founder's faults.
"However, if the process of
"However, if the process of the investigation and the introspection the order must be going through at the moment are thorough and honest, the order may in the end glean some valuable insights for the entire church."
I pray that this may become a reality!
In northern California we are
In northern California we are still trying to make sense of the monster, Garrido, who kidnapped and abused a child for 18 years and fathered children by her.
'The worst case we ever heard' is the cry. However,it is not much different than the Mariel case. Why is there no horror in the Church about Marciel? Why the 'let's move on' calm investigation? no pics of the horror pens in the back yard? Maybe because of a successful Vatican cover-up? some paper should post their pics side by side..
"It was made even more
"It was made even more difficult because the late Pope John Paul II ignored the accusations and lionized Maciel and gave special honors to his order."
For this reason alone, John Paul II's dossier to begin the canonization process should sit on a shelf in the Vatican and gather dust for at least 500 years! cf. Jason Berry: VOWS of SILENCE: The ABUSE OF POWER in the Papacy of John Paul II, as well as www.vowsofsilencefilm.com/
Thank you for your post
Thank you for your post Craig. Pope John Paul II's record on child sexual abuse was so dismal that his cause for sainthood needs to be put on hold until all the documents from his pontificate are a matter of public record.
Steve
cashelguy2 and Craig, Here,
cashelguy2 and Craig,
Here, Here! It's so forbidden in many circles to express doubts about the Great JP II. I have no clue how this Church could possibly be considering a facilitator of child abuse -- for SAINTHOOD?
John Paul the Great Enabler!
John Paul the Great Enabler!
Two women cops in Berkeley
Two women cops in Berkeley 'smelled' the evil of Garrido and did an investigation that led to his arrest and rescue of the victim and the children... I thought Pope John Paul II was a saint but now I ask , 'How could he miss the smell of evil emenating from Maciel'? Garrido had only a wacky wife who protected him.. Maciel had money, a wacky movement and the Vatican protecting him.. I have known saintly people who can 'smell' evil..
I also agree that JPII should
I also agree that JPII should not be a candidiate for canonization at all. I think he was a holy man but that is not enough for canonization when the candidate is a Pope. How could he have been so clueless about Maciel and all the abuse that went on during his reign? There is also the question of the non-excommunication of the evil pro-choice politicians in America during his reign. He also distorted the Church's teaching on the death penalty which is my main objection to him. I agree wholeheartedly with Pope Pius XII (last real totally Catholic Pope) on the death penalty.
An investigation into the
An investigation into the Legion must also delve heavily into who were Maciel's financial supporters and whether the Legion was used for money laundering. Maciel was a psychopathic narcissist involved with some of the twentieth centuries worst fascists and political criminals.
To this day the Legion is accepting serious money from Eric Prince and Blackwater. Blackwater is itself fending off allegations of a child sex ring and engaging in their own crusade in Iraq.
The Legion scandal is much wider than Maciel's sexual proclivities. Concentrating on that aspect only allows other worms to stay hidden.
It is always prudent to
It is always prudent to follow the money. I'm sure that will happen as part of the investigation of who knew what when.
I've been a supporter of the
I've been a supporter of the Legion but the whole Maciel affair boggles the mind! I still think the order is worth saving but they sort of need a "root canal" removing every single vestige of Maciel and starting again. They can't just cover over Maciel's evil. It's worse than people realize since new allegations claim that Maciel fathered up to six kids out of wedlock. Two are suing the Legion over inheritance rights. Apparently these have tapes which show that Legionary higher ups knew about this. Even with their weird fourth vow (speak no evil of a superior), conscience has to trump the vow. Someone in the order should have informed Rome of Maciel's hijinks!
Several priests in the order
Several priests in the order DID inform Rome on Maciel, beginning in 1954 and 1956, but they were ignored.
See the original sworn statements in two different files safe to open:
http://www.regainnetwork.org/let/fedE.pdf
http://www.regainnetwork.org/let/FerE.pdf
Repeated communications with Rome by Maciel's victims were also ignored. Detailed charges in 1976 (sent via a US bishop through diplomatic pouch from the nunciature in DC to the Vatican), plus additional letters sent in 1978 and 1989 directly to JPII.
Then the canon case itself was filed in 1998, another letter hand delivered to Ratzinger by a Mexican bishop in 1999 (Ratzinger thought it a "delicate matter" since Maciel had done so much good for the Church) --- it goes on and on.
Ratzinger did reopen the canon case after it had been deep-sixed by curial leaders, but ended up with a face-saving, mealy-mouthed invitation to Maciel in 2006 to pray and do penance, without saying for what. And that was four years after he slapped the hands of a reporter who asked about Maciel, saying "now is not the time."
It has never been time for justice for Maciel's suvivors. The head of the congregation for religious orders is a longtime Maciel supporter; the visitation team is highly suspect in its membership, and LC leaders run around with disgusting spin (like this letter) unable to spit out the plain simple truth: Maciel was a manipulative fraud, and lifelong sexual abuser.
The Legion's website still quotes Maciel about the importance of minor seminaries, those convenient sources of his victims:
http://www.legionariesofchrist.org/eng/articulos/categoria.phtml?lc=id-1...
The "spirit of the Founder" was also invoked at the recent vows ceremonies in Cheshire. This is sick, just sick, to watch supposed adults dance around the facts. What emotional needs dominate such behavior?
I'm referring to recent new
I'm referring to recent new charges of about up to 6 illegitimate children of Maciel. Someone in the order had to know since there were attempts to gain inheritance rights by two of these alleged children. Some of the higher ups had to know and must be disciplined now.
As I said above, nothing short of a root canal on Maciel will do. The problem with the order is that it is grounded in a cult of the personality of the founder. The same is really true of Mother Theresa's sisters (Missionaries of the Poor) as well. It is not uncommon in some religious orders and the psychic change necessary when the founder is found out is traumatic for the members of the order. Luckily, this Maciel thing is the exception to the rule. Some founders were a little odd or eccentric but nothing like this. In any event, the cult of personality be it of Maciel, Mother Theresa or JPII is not a healthy thing.
The Legion of Christ is not
The Legion of Christ is not the only widespread Catholic movement since the 1970s that had a strong stench of coverup of sinful and/or serious criminal acts by many of its top or local leaders, but since when has there been a climate of openness, honesty & integrity among Vatican bureaucrats or the Cathoic hierarchy as a whole???
To whom were the whistleblowers supposed to go to? Which leaders had a track record of standing up for justice, integrity & honesty WITHIN the Church???
Which groups were favored by successive popes or Bishops since the time of John XXIII?? -- Far too often it seemed to be the powerful, the ruthless & the expedient ones, who were most willing to paper things over & pretend that ALL Church behaviors were now infallible...
Granted that there were a few famous historical apologies -- even centuries late -- but what was done to prevent NEW errors of similar magnitude??
Thousands of years of world history has shown that the more that power is concentrated in the hands of the few, then the more likely it is that the status quo will NOT be used for the welfare of all, especially the vulnerable...
It is time to close the
It is time to close the Legion down as a criminal organization!
The Legion of Christ will be
The Legion of Christ will be suppressed by the end of this decade. It never should have been allowed to exist in the first place. It is just another dark chapter in the right wing element's attempt to control the universal church. It not only failed, it proved to be a pathological theology and a criminal organization.
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