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Legionaries of Christ: Legionaries face restrictions in Baltimore
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Publication date:
June 27, 2008
Section:
G1. News 
Photos by CNS/Paul Haring: Archbishop O’Brien delivers the homily during his installation Mass at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Baltimore Oct. 1, 2007.Insisting on greater “accountability and transparency,” Archbishop Edwin O’Brien of Baltimore has demanded that the Legionaries of Christ, a controversial religious order, and their associated lay movement, Regnum Christi, provide a complete accounting of both their personnel and activities in the archdiocese.
O’Brien also barred members of both groups from engaging in one-on-one spiritual counseling with anyone under 18. He said the ban is motivated by concerns that the groups practice “heavily persuasive methods on young people, especially high schoolers, regarding vocations.”
Although O’Brien said he’s hopeful that the Legionaries and Regnum Christi will comply, he is prepared to bar them from the archdiocese if they don’t, he said. In fact, O’Brien told NCR in a June 11 interview that he had reached a decision to do precisely that, but was persuaded to stay his hand following appeals from three Vatican cardinals to give the Legionaries another chance.
With O’Brien’s action, Baltimore joins six other American dioceses in which the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi have been either banned or restricted: St. Paul-Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Baton Rouge, La., Richmond, Va., Fort Wayne-South Bend, Ind., and Columbus, Ohio.
The directives came in the form of a June 6 letter from O’Brien to Fr. Alvaro Corcuera Martínez del Río, superior general of the Legionaries. They cap what O’Brien described as a lengthy series of contacts between the Legionaries and the Baltimore archdiocese, communications that began under his predecessor, Cardinal William Henry Keeler, who resigned in last year at age 76.
An e-mail message from Jim Fair, communications director for the Legion of Christ, said that in their meeting O’Brien and Alvaro “were able to clarify issues and came up with concrete points that we will work on.”
“As you can see from the archbishop’s published letter, there have been serious issues regarding the Legion’s work. We are grateful for the opportunity to address these matters,” Fair’s message said.
In a two-page letter, O’Brien instructed Corcuera to appoint a Legionary priest who can serve as a liaison with the Baltimore archdiocese. That priest, O’Brien wrote, must provide:
* The names and ministries of all Legionary priests in the archdiocese;
* Identification of all Regnum Christi groups in the archdiocese, including their activities and methods of recruitment;
* Identification of all youth programs connected to the Legionaries or Regnum Christi, including their activities and recruitment methods;
* Identification of all other activities connected to the Legionaries and Regnum Christi, including their location and the frequency of their meetings.
O’Brien wrote that the priest-liaison should inform all pastors of parishes where groups connected to the Legionaries or Regnum Christi are active, and keep pastors informed about any changes in those activities.
Archbishop Edwin O'BrienWith a specific eye to work with youth, O’Brien directed that the archdiocese is to be informed of any summer programs for young people run by the Legionaries or Regnum Christi, including the names of participants. He also asked to be notified of candidates for the priesthood or religious life from the archdiocese who intend to enter a Legionary high school seminary or boarding school, saying that the information will be reviewed “with the parents and pastors of those candidates.”
“I want to ensure that encouragement of vocations is carried out in a way that respects the rights of parents in the upbringing of their children and the rights of young persons themselves to be able to make free and fully informed decisions about their futures,” O’Brien wrote.
Speaking with NCR on the margins of the June 12-14 meeting of the U.S. bishops in Orlando, Fla., O’Brien described his reservations about various aspects of the Legionaries and Regnum Christi.
“There seems to be a tendency to say, ‘We represent God. You can tell us anything, and you better believe that what we tell you is from God too. If your parents disagree, we know better. We’re in the God business, and they’re really not,’ ” O’Brien said. “This is a caricature, but it’s there.”
He expressed a mixture of skepticism and hope about how the groups will respond.
“I’ve always suspected the flaws in the organization are endemic to it. There’s no remedying them, because it’s so deeply ingrained,” he said. “This letter will prove the case. I hope I’m wrong.”
“[The Legion] does a lot of good work. It’s 96 percent good work, and 4 percent that’s almost a sect,” O’Brien said. “But if it’s a question of immoral or even illegal operations, even if it’s just 1 percent, you’ve got to address it.”
O’Brien also predicted that the Legionaries will be unable to undertake the necessary reforms without coming to terms with the accusations against Maciel.
“They have to squarely face it,” O’Brien said. “They need to be able to say, ‘The evidence seems to be that this man engaged in some activities that were less than honorable, and maybe even sinful.’ ”
John L. Allen Jr. is NCR senior correspondent. His e-mail address is jallen@ncronline.org.
* * *
Despite detractions, order has support
The Legionaries and Regnum Christi have long been a controversial force in Catholic life, in part due to criticism regarding alleged secrecy and intense recruiting practices, in part because of allegations of sexual abuse leveled against the founder of the Legionaries, the late Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado, by several former members.
Capping a decade-long investigation of those charges, the Vatican asked Maciel in 2006 to observe a life of “prayer and penance” and to withdraw from all public ministry. Maciel died in January 2008.
Despite these concerns, the Legionaries and Regnum Christi have attracted significant support from the Vatican and elsewhere in the church. Admirers point to their success in generating vocations to the priesthood, and to their unswerving fidelity to both Catholic orthodoxy and the papacy. Among other signs of favor, the Vatican has entrusted an international training program for newly appointed Catholic bishops to the Regina Apostolorum, a Rome university operated by the Legionaries.
Counting 750 priests, 2,500 seminarians and more than 70,000 lay members, the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi are currently active in more than 40 countries around the world.
National Catholic Reporter June 27, 2008
Archbishop O'Brien has
Archbishop O'Brien has articulated very clearly the concerns of many. We are grateful for his courage and feel that he is a guardian of the family and youth.
The Legionaries have minor
The Legionaries have minor seminaries that are mostly a thing of the past in the United States.
Archbishop O'Brien has directed that the Legionaries are not to engage in one-on-one spiritual direction with anyone under 18 but what is the archdiocese's position on these so-called minor seminaries which can really amount to places where young boys can be brainwashed by what amounts to a cult and these boys even groomed for future sexual abuse by God knows who.
Just because Maciel was let off with nothing more than a polite reprimand, there is no getting around the fact that the pope knew the extent of Maciel's sexual perversions. Why did John Paul II do nothing? Why has Benedict XVI done so little? How many others like Maciel are there in the organization?
Would it not be a wiser course of action to suppress the order based on their history especially given the testimony of a number of former Legionaries or have they become too big of a fund raising group for the Catholic Church?
What exactly does Bishop
What exactly does Bishop mean bys saying "4% thats almost a sect". So many people use the term sect or cult, but what does that mean exactly?
SMP Turlish's comment that "boys even groomed for future sexual abuse by God knows who" is so inflamatory, inaccurate, and bias it is not worthy of print or of comment on. Thousands of young men have attended Legionary schools and apostolic formation centers, I've never heard of one case in the US ever of inappropriate behavior.
Regarding Fr. Maciel. Again, these 9 accusers get a lot of attention. The man that has come forward and repented, apoligized for his false accusation, admitted he was "recruited" for the slam job on Fr. Maciel. WHY IS HIS STORY NOT PROMOTED, OR EVEN MENTIONED IN ALL THE ARTICLES WITH BIAS AGAINST FR. MACIEL. We all know in this sexual abuse scandal that there are many, many priests guilty as charged. Anyone with half a brain also knows that a certain percentage are falsely accused, for many different reasons. THAT IS A FACT.
How Fr. Maciel proves he is one of those falsely accused? Just as many, many founders of orders were falsely accused of this same behavior. (St Francis of Assisi one on many)
What a shame that one of God's greatest gifts to the Church in the 20th century, Fr. Maciel, is not better understood and appreciated. But then the masses, general public crucified Christ himself also. The folly of mankind.
Through Fr. Maciel and the Holy Spirit, he started in motion with great personal sacrifice (food, sleep deprivation, consumed himself entirely, left no wax on his candle as he strove to save every soul he could) an order that has given the world 800 priests, 2500 seminarians, several colleges, hundreds of schools, 70,000 better formed-educated-and active Catholic laity.
He is one of the greatest saints ever. Whether or not canonized ever by the Church, or appreciated by the nominal Catholics in the world.
I have six children. All of them have received 'spiritual direction' from Legionary priests, or the Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi. Ever talk was behind 'glass doored' offices (common practice-solid principles of the Legion)
or outside walking. I have never had one line of feedback that wasn't solid
Catholic theology 100%. What a gift it would be if more Catholics had the opportunity to be instructed by this exceptionally knowlegeable order!!!!!
God Bless us all.
Tom Maher
Michigan
810-813-8404
team.maher@gmail.com
PS: I meant to include this
PS: I meant to include this in my last post. I challenge you people who are
hiding behind your 'anonymous' no name posts as you pile on vicious rhetoric and continue to slander someones good name to either A) call me direct at my cell phone (810-813-8404)so we can continue this discussion. B) Or have the guts to list your name and number. It's like throwing rocks at innocent people from the middle of a crowd - gutless and chicken hearted. Anyone is welcome to call me seven days a week till midnight.
PSS: Regarding some of the dioceses who want the Legion out. Are we talking about the west coast diocese, that has 4 million Catholics, and ordain 2-3 per year? Maybe your right, maybe the Church should use their s'ystem' of cultivating, encouraging, supporting, nuturing priestly vocations. It's working so well! They really have it down. Maybe we should implement worldwide or nationwide their strategies that are failing so successfully. Lets really accelerate our priestly vocation crisis. Where is the courage and humility to say, we really aren't doing a very good job and see what they can learn from the Legionary norms, formation, and discipline instead of 'turf protecting'.
Lastly forgive me for being so blunt. I know the Legionaries well enough that they never fight back, argue, and try to defend themselves. They are too positive oriented. They have to much good to do for mankind to get caught up in silly bickering. They are too kind and charitable, yes.....another norm Fr. Maciel insisted on.
But I'm not a Legionary, so I can say what I believe. And I get real sick and tired of the unfounded and reckless rhetoric thrown around about them and Rev. Marcial Maciel.
Tom Maher
PO Box 3
Linden, Michigan 48451
cell: 810-813-8404
email: team.maher@gmail.com
Mr. Maher, it is extremely
Mr. Maher, it is extremely unwise to place personal information on a publicly viewable page of the internet. There are a LOT of sick, hate filled people on the internet, and you don't want them having access to that information.
At the very least take the @ out of your e-mail address before you get deluged with junk mail from bots searching comment sections.
Thank God Maciel is dead.
Thank God Maciel is dead. He was a child molesting pervert. May his soul rest in eternal hell!
Thomas Maher, I am sorry for
Thomas Maher,
I am sorry for the anxiety that all of this causes you. My heart goes out to you and you are in my prayers. I know where you are coming from because I was once in your shoes. Because of my positive experience I could not possibly believe the negative testimonies. I know now that the Lord allowed me to go through a series of trials in order to let me experience the evil first hand. He then led me to other Orthodox Catholics who are former members who had also experienced the evil. It was devastating to see what lies beneath the surface. It was by far the most traumatic experience of my life. But now that I know what I do I cannot remain silent. Where there is smoke there is fire. I view the Legion as a predator in the Church. The evil is so insidious that it could only be the work of Satan. We will hopefully learn an important lesson about discernment through all of this.
I wanted to reply to a few of your comments:
I know of several LC priests who have been accused of sexual abuse in addition to Fr. Maciel.
I have also been told that the 9th man who recanted his testimony was psycholigically manipulated by Fr. Maciel to do so.(threats, bribes, etc..)
That account of Fr. Maciel's heroic sacrifices is in reality a fabrication to trigger an emotional response much like a fictional movie. The integrated LC priests are masters of emotional manipulation. They play us like a fiddle and they joke about this with each other.
You say he is being persecuted like St. Francis of Assisi or even Christ Himself. So are you comparing our Holy Father to Pontius Pilate or the CDF to the fickle Jews who followed Him one minute and wanted Him crucified the next?"
The LC definitely do fight back in more ways than one. Most common is the use of a whisper campaign to ruin the reputation of anyone who criticizes the methodology. A well known example is the lawsuit they instigated against Regain.
Lastly, the reason why people do not reveal their identities is out of prudence. The Legion will do whatever it takes to quiet their detractors "for the sake of the movement."
The following is a very disturbing testimony:
I was a member of Regnum Christi for 7 years, 5 of them as 2nd degree. I left after serious disillusionment. I struggled with serious red flags for 3 years before I could finally make the decision to go inactive so I can empathize with the anxiety felt by the 10 members who met with the Archbishop. I feel that the evil of the LC is endemic to the very structure of the organization. The evil that I experienced was the same as others have experienced all over the country. Thank God for Regain! It is the LC priests that are the culprits. They use Nazi-like methods to psychologically manipulate members, especially members that they want to go inactive because they are beginning to catch on to the bigger picture. It is very traumatic. I complained about the "reporting system" that is used across the board and the lack of confidentiality in spiritual guidance. I was disturbed by the grave abuses of charity, the supposed queen virtue of the movement, that the LC priests were encouraging. From that point on a process of psychological abuse began to induce me to go inactive. The following is a summary of the abuse:
I was a member of RC for many years. I was very (100%) committed to it for a long time. I remember when I first heard stories about abuse in LC/RC. I had a panicky feeling that if these stories were true what would I do? If I had to let go of RC I don’t know if I would know who I was. My very identity was tied to this movement. So I did what every member who is inordinately attached to RC/LC does; I rationalized every gnawing feeling I had. I found a way to blame the accusers. I let the mesmerizing words I heard from the LC priests drown out the voice of my conscience. But God did not let my peace from this “coping mechanism” last for long. He began to gradually reveal the reality of the situation. I was living in an illusion. I really thought that LC/RC were a foundation in my life. I associated this foundation with Christ. What I came to find out through much heartache was that my faith in RC/LC was built on sand. Through a series of events my eyes were opened to the truth and I began to question and object. At that point I became not useful to them any longer. Once you become useless to them psychological abuse takes the place of the previous flattery that had been the Modus Operandi.One of the modern techniques(so much more is known about psychology) that is used today by evil is inverted psychiatry(psychological abuse to destroy minds). There are subtle threats to damage your reputation if you let the truth be told; you are purposely isolated from your close friends; the LC priests purposely try to stir up jealousy between you and your friends; the LC priests try to provoke outbursts of anger by stirring up your pride or vanity; whisper campaigns are started against you to undermine your influence as you are indirectly pressed to go inactive. The legionaries are trained in emotional manipulation. The know exactly how to say the bare minimum with just the right look or sigh to plant seeds of doubt or to steer your very dear friends away from you. At the same time they appeal to the pride and vanity of your friend with flattery to secure an inordinate attachment to them and this is another potential source of division between the flattered friend and the rejected member. These are just a few aspects of the MO that is part of the methodology of the movement. It is not just the weakness of the priest. This is the way the more integrated priests of the LC are trained to force the useless member out of the movement. Stories like this are common in all parts of the country.
When someone is considered “useless” to RC/LC it is usually because that person has begun to catch on to the bigger picture of what is going on simultaneously with all the “good fruits.” Their conscience has begun to be very bothered over the very uncharitable way seemingly holy priests, consecrated women, and other formators treat certain people and this member begins to question and object to these sins against charity (the supposed “queen virtue” of the movement). This causes a gradual disintegration for the disillusioned member. That is when the methodology of “promote to remove,” “press to release,” and “isolate” come into play. As if that is not enough, the psychological abuse goes deeper. At the same time the LC priests cover their tracks legally by publicly offering the secretly blacklisted member aids to persevere in their RC vocation so it seems to the rank and file members that everything is being done out of charity to help this person who is struggling with their vocation. What the rank and file members do not see are the psychological abuses that are going on simultaneously. On a side note, The blacklisted member has never been directly told that they are being “kicked out” so he/she is very confused as he/she tries to read between the lines. Talk about evil. Many accusations like these are being investigated by the vatican.
The best way to defeat this evil, I believe, is to cooperate with God in using our suffering for the good of the Church. We are so lucky to have the charism of redemptive suffering available to us.
God willing, as we, the victims of LC/RC, grow in true charity by offering up our suffering(in union with Christ especially in the Mass) for the very ones who inflicted this on us,God will act and all will work for the good(Rom 8:28). This suffering can also be used for penance for our own personal sins as a purification(purgatory). In the mean time we are given the opportunity to grow in the patience of God and true charity(love Him above all things and everyone else as He loves us). As we attend Mass and offer ourselves and our suffering with Him our hearts will begin to heal and we will be overcoming evil with good(Rom 12:21) Our suffering will not be in vain. It will be used for an eternal purpose. Our speaking out is very important as well. I found needed support from Regain as have many others. The isolation that is part of the psychological abuse of the legion is greatly overcome from the testimonies of Regain. The gates of hell will not prevail against the Church. Our Blessed Mother will help us to be a part of crushing the head of the serpent and to defeat him by “blood of the Lamb(Mass) and the word of their testimony”(regainnetwork).(Rev12:11)Let us unite together for this purpose. Thank you regain for letting us know that we are not alone!!!
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