Journey to... A New Cult

Some observations from a fellow blogger:
From Journey to a New Pentecost
The Legion of Christ and Southern Catholic College
7/21/09

Filed under Catholic Cults.

And when I mean cult, I don’t mean the ancient practice of forming a particular devotion to a saint. I mean this definition: “a religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader.”

Sorry If I offend anyone, but like an umpire in baseball, I call em like I seez em. Spiritual Movement? Not!

Three years ago I bought the book, “Vows of Silence”, by Jason Berry and Gerald Renner. I’m ashamed to admit that it’s still sitting on my bookshelf unread. But after reading Jason Berry’s article today, “Vatican investigates Legionaries of Christ,” it will be next on my must read list for the summer (I’m in the middle of “What Happened At Vatican II“)....

This scandal has everything, folks: sexual abuse, abuse of power, drug addiction, clergy having children out of wedlock, misappropriation of donors’ funds, bribery, clericalism, cronyism, lying, secrecy – the usual stuff that scandals are made of. The only thing missing is murder. While I was reading this section of Berry’s article, I thought I was reading a Catholic history book about Church scandals of past centuries....

The last paragraph of, Jason Berry’s article leads me to believe that the Vatican has no intention of disbanding the Legionaires after the Apostolic Visitation is completed:

Last week in Atlanta, a small liberal arts school, Southern Catholic College announced that it merged with the Legion “to attract students from across North America,” the SCC president Jeremiah J. Ashcroft stated. “This expanded reach and support greatly enhances our ability to achieve our mission to prepare moral and ethical leaders who will enlighten society and glorify God.”

I can only conclude that a Church that has witnessed so much imbecility by some of its members and has survived for over 2000 years, must have special protection from God.