Sunday, August 16, 2009

Reflections on a Wild Week

By Landon Cody

It is no secret to readers and bloggers faithful to Exlcblog that this has been an eventful week in the news about Marcial Maciel, his many victims, and the entire Legion of Christ.

Excuses, excuses, excuses: they do harm.

The revelation of the existence of Maciel's children, one over the age of 28, and now at least the product of two illicit "relationships", debunks some of the explanations that die hard Legionaries of Christ and members of the Regnum Christi have boldly, if not stupidly, put forth.

Of the many excuses for Maciel's monstrous behavior, it is now clear that any head injury or subsequent surgery was not the cause of his many wanderings from the vow of chastity that he imposed on others with his characteristic draconian theatrics. The injury occurred in 1985, four years after the birth of Raul, one of the men suing Maciel's estate in Mexico. Another ludicrous theory, that of Maciel having his bodily fluids stolen while in some hospital, is quite unlikely, since it would have had to have happened between 3 and 6 times and have had to have been used to impregnate between 2 and 5 women. Ms Lucrecia Rego seems to think that these women seduced our poor priest, a mere human creature like the rest of us. Well, Fr. I-Have-Never-Said-no-to-God must have been pretty irresistible to women: he has a son, Cristian, who was conceived when the codger was 70 years old. There is no need to make up such a ridiculous script: this soap opera already has plenty of jaw dropping twists and turns on its own.

While I have no beef with individual members of the Movement, I find this type of adherence to absurd excuses to be both immature and illogical. Unfortunately, the excuses are not innocent. The effect that they have on the faithful followers of Maciel is crippling, while these poor souls look for any way to continue in the cult-like spell of this con man. Children are especially vulnerable and may begin to fear situations such as brain injury or hospital stays, and have a pathological response to the persons involved in such common occurrences. The psychological well-being of adults who refuse to face realities and instead spin fairy tales to explain the actions of others (we are not speaking of the "charity" of avoiding casting stones at others here) and to cover up scandal is also in jeopardy.

Charism, methodology, spirituality and identity

Just how does the Legion of Christ think they can pull the wool over the eyes of their own members by saying that the charism and spirit of the Legion are centered only on Christ and have nothing to do with Maciel? A subterfuge cannot mask years and years of positive reinforcement in the form of directed and scheduled meditations, conferences, indications, spiritual reading, constant reference in homilies and talks, inclusion in the liturgy of the hours, feast days celebrating his person, topics of conversation, comparisons with his life history, quoting his works and talks, melting in his presence, cherishing any sign of favor from him....

The unfortunate part of all of this disaster is the fact that the day to day rules and regulations in the Legion and the Movement, the spirituality focus, and the identifying characteristics of the "Legionary Type" are rooted in the pathological behavior of a man who created an institute where he could exercise complete power and control with no oversight or accountability, and live a life diametrically opposed to that of the gospel. The key is that the very institute and its rules and way of life was what permitted him to live this life on the margin of clerical respectability while using the typical modus operandi of an abuser: the search for complete power and manipulation. At the same time, the mirror image of this depravity of control became the Legion of Christ: an institute designed with a centralized, top to bottom control structure that Maciel micro managed and taught his successors to micro manage, complete with more rule books and norms and detailed minutia than any other order, congregation, or religious institute in the history of the Catholic Church.

Beyond the scope of the rules and norms, there are so many practices which many members and ex members have fallen victim to and which have become standard operating procedure in the Legion. This is not to say that these practices are applied to every case--there are some exceptions--but the outlandish behavior of superiors over the years falls into too many patterns to simply discount it as "rogue" or "exceptional", especially in the face of reports that such activities have their roots in orders and indications from the now besmirched founder.

It is now quite obvious that a very young and ambitious Maciel began his venture in the 1940s with small children with the aim of having a group of totally controlled minors he could abuse. The fact the the Legion of Christ continues the system of seminary "high schools" or apostolic schools, where they do take children in as young as 10 years old, should raise much more concern than it does among thinking people. Even today, these young kids are not in a healthy environment: they are micro supervised, not allowed privacy, isolated from family and friends, not taught how to positively express sexuality, indoctrinated in the life of Maciel and his writings.... Why these institutions have not been abolished is as mind blowing as the fact that some parents still think that they are doing God's will by giving over the responsibility of raising their sons (and daughters in parallel Regnum Christi consecrated schools) to a religious congregation. No papal stamp of approval of a congregation, no "predilection" of a pope provides criteria enough to allow anyone to relinquish the responsibility of a parent's vocation to raise one's own children.

The command center and enablers: more than shared responsibility

Much has been made of the fact that there are those in the Legion who knew or at least should have known about Maciel's illicit behavior. There is ample evidence that those who were in control of communities and those who followed Maciel -- tending to his obsessive needs -- did indeed know of his actions. There is no problem naming names here, as far back as Rafael Arumi, who certainly knew there was something amiss with the young apostolic boys in Rome (there to do their last years before the novitiate) who were coming and going at all hours much too frequently to and from Maciel's rooms and the infirmary.

In more modern times, the major superiors were privy to odd behavior and should have had tighter reigns on the finances that Maciel employed with no oversight or accountability: Octavio Acevedo, Hector Guerra, and Anthony Bannon come to mind. Currently, the Legion has been placing less than qualified men in these positions: someone like Scott Reilly is certainly not intelligent enough to be held to the same standards of responsibility.

Then there is the inner circle of power so often cited: Luis Garza Medina, Alvaro Corcuera, and Evaristo Sada Derby (Sada Derby is said to know so much of what Maciel did that an exlegionary recently quipped that Sada Derby was probably to blame for Maciel's having children since he might have forgotten to buy him his condoms).

Another tight circle was comprised of those who attended to Maciel hand and foot: his so called "personal secretaries" which, over the years, have included John Devlin, Felipe Castro, Bernardo Skertchly and Rafael Moreno, among others.

Another unfortunate group, maybe somewhat less guilty of being complicit, is comprised of victims of Maciel's abuse who continued in the Legion of Christ as priests, some of whom, credibly, have become abusers themselves.

All in all, there is no small number of those who share responsibility and enabled this man to commit such crimes (or at least breach a serious duty to know of the crimes and to fail to act on knowledge of the crimes). This responsibility extends also to allowing the entire Legion to become a macrocosm of the perverted power and manipulation style of Maciel himself.

What now?

I don't honestly know.

Are there priests who are really trying to be holy and serve God in the Legion? Yes, without a doubt. Is the Legion, for all of this, the place where they can fulfill this mission properly? I tend to doubt that.

Are seminarians really free to discern a vocation in the midst of this frenzy of revelations and continued control? Definitely not.

Should young men approach the sacrament of holy orders while the Legion situation is unresolved? Sadly, I think it would be a mistake to do so.

Would it be enough for the church to tell the Legion to renounce Maciel? Well, the pope has ordered them to abolish the private vow of "charity", code word for not criticizing superiors. And it is a fact that this order has only been given lip service. The vow is gone, but the practice remains with repercussions for anyone breaking the letter of the defunct vow, rooms being searched for indications of any critical material, correspondence being read to prevent any communication of any of the latest news of Maciel's life or of the investigation (and at the same time, superiors are saying that anyone can talk to the investigators freely!) Does it do any good for a doctor to tell an chronic alcoholic that he or she needs to give up drinking?

Whatever is to be done, the patient is indeed very ill and contagious.

Aspirin and cold compresses are not going to be an effective cure.

42 comments:

Anonymous said...

http://semanal.milenio.com/node/1011

Anonymous said...

And another one:
http://semanal.milenio.com/node/1016

Anonymous said...

Despite many years of trying to undo my legion brainwash- certain things stick. Especially this phrase from #222 of Maciel's bullshit Constitution(s):
energico y diligente en ejectuar. Energetic and diligent in execution.

Where's your energy and diligence, boys?

I know how to move forward: send everyone under 18 home. Turn those centers over to the local bishop who can sell it to pay for sex abuse payoffs.

Lump everyone else back in their OWN damn country. Send the Mexicans to Mexico, the Irish to Ireland and bring all the Americans back.

Invite holy and solid non-LC priests in as rectors and start the detox program. Put in TVs, books, newspapers. Give people free time- real free time for hours a day. Don't want to swim? that's okay. Don't. Don't want to play soccer because it's a shit sport for girls and foreigners? Me neither- let's play tackle football!!!

Drop all the LC crap. Green books, red books, yellow books, MM rosary style, MM act of contrition. Study the lives of the Saints. No more team balance. No more Encounter with Christ (I have an hecho de vida- our founder is a fuck. Discuss).

After 2 or 3 or 4 MONTHS in detox- see if any want to stay. See if some spirit of "refoundation" starts to brew. Send the rest back to their diocese.

Turn over the extra centers to the diocese. If Fr. X really loves this school and wants to stay on, let him incardinate in that diocese and stay on if the Bishop is OK.

Scrub the name and history of the LC and MM from the minds and souls of everyone and everything.

And send the big 3- Corcuera, Garza and Sada to jail. Or line them up and let everyone take turns repeatedly kicking them in the balls.

Me first.

-9 years of lies

Anonymous said...

Can you tell me what "MM rosary style" is? I'd hate to think I am praying the rosary his way, and if I am, I will change my ways at once!

Anonymous said...

Hail Mary, Holy Mary
Hail Mary, Holy Mary
Hail Mary, Holy Mary

Amen.
Time to have some sex! Evaristo, where's my fake mustache?

Anonymous said...

That sent me into tears of laughter. I am still giggling. Thanks for bringing your humor to this terrible scandal. God bless you!

Anonymous said...

Hey, Mr 9-years: you are one angry man! I too am hopping mad, but there is something I can do about it. And like you, my problem has much to do with "Donny Clod", ehem, Fr Donal Clancy. I am a Legionary here in Rome and for the last year he has been trying to abuse psychology to get me diagnosed as some type of sociopath. But it is the LC methodology, "demonize the enemy", for the Legion must always have an enemy. I am his propitiatory goat this year.
I have an idea: if you or anyone else out there want to get a file together on this wretch, I will personally present it to Mons Versaldi when he visits in September, and we could have him finally put out to pasture. I am convinced that he is mentally unbalanced, corrupt, and a corrupting influence on the whole community, brothers and fathers. He needs to be put on ice, for the good of the Church and the Legion. If you have any information you want to share... yes I know this is sensitive... but know that you can pass through me, I will make sure it gets to where it can do some good. To get in touch with me, just write to:

a7316fr@yahoo.com

I go by the pen-name of Edmond Ritter, but we can get to real names and phone numbers once we verify each others identites.

Best to you 9-years. I am praying for you that you may heal. "Edmond Ritter"

Anonymous said...

Mr. Ritter, for the good of the Church and YOUR OWN GOOD stop trying to look for "the good of the Legion" and GET OUT. Protect your documents. You have my prayers, and many more people's.

Anonymous said...

"It is now quite obvious that a very young and ambitious Maciel began his venture in the 1940s with small children with the aim of having a group of totally controlled minors he could abuse."

Landon Coady, I have to disagree with this. It MAY be the case that his original intention was corrupt, but it is at least as likely, if not more so, that he started out with good intentions and became corrupted as time went by.

I agree with everything else you say but I just wanted to point this out to you because this unsupportable point may turn LC/RC members who come here for help away. The same goes for the picture to the right of the blog. I did laugh myself at it, but remember, if somebody thinking of exiting comes to this blog searching for information, that photo may cause them to dismiss what is otherwise an excellent blog.

Exlcblogger said...

It is well documented in the book, Vows of Silence, and by Jose Barba and Alejandro Espinosa that Maciel began abusing boys from the very first months of the foundation, including, but not limited to members of the de la Isla family.

I am not new at this and make no statements whatsoever that have not been well documented in the past. This is not a new science. The proof has been around for a very long time. It is only now being believed. Think the myth of Cassandra....

Anonymous said...

If somebody dismisses this blog because of one hysterically funny photo, well, they probably aren't ready for the whole truth yet. The truth of Maciel's evil (and the horrible effect it has had and will continue to have on our Church) is MUCH uglier than that photo is.

Start researching the facts on Maciel. Cassandra's website is a good place to start. It's well documented that not only was he a power-seeking pervert from the start, but plenty of people in high places in the church hierarchy knew about it. The ability to raise money covers a multitude of sins, apparently.

What's that they say? Truth is stranger than fiction? Somebody needs to write the book on this story and sell it to Ron Howard----this is MUCH more of a blockbuster than Da Vinci Code could ever be, in no small part because this story of sex, abuse of power, and Vatican intrigue is actually true.

Anonymous said...

It's possible that Maciel had mixed motives from the start, and maybe even mixed motives all along. Perhaps some sick aspect of his mind allowed him to compartmentalize his intellectual assent to Catholic Faith from his life of continuous sexual predation, embezzlement and double life.

So what? The depravity and systematic duplicity has been there from the beginning. The man was perhaps the greatest fraud the Church has seen in centuries. He had nothing of sanctity about him, and he was not a vehicle for any sort of charism or foundational graces.

Apart from the scandal and disgrace, Maciel's legacy to the Legion and the Movement is literally nothing. He left them no spiritual resources to draw upon.

Thanks be to God, this tissue of lies is being torn apart, and the corrupt institutions he establishes are in the process of being erased from the earth.

Jeannette said...

The way Maciel was dismissed from several seminaries and refused admittance to others indicates a big big problem early on. There's no reason to doubt that Maciel had omnisexual proclivities right from the get go.

Anonymous said...

Yes, thanks for what is not bad advise: get up and leave the Legion and save my soul. But as an LC priest of many years, you don't just get up and leave a community. Any priest must fit into the eclesial environment, and that fitting in doesn't happen automatically. There is no such thing as a generic priesthood, you are either a priest with this dioceses, X, or that one, Y, or with this religious community or the other one. If I get up and leave, I may have to lose this priesthood which I love. The Catholic priesthood is who I am. So if I leave, I am taking the real risk that I may lose my priesthood in the future, or at the very least be forever a misfit in dioceses where I cannot connect because of the liberalism or what not of the place. Conclusion: I am here in the LC for at least 3 years, while I feel around to see where if anywhere God may be calling me. I hope the Titanic does not sink too fast!
Another thing: though it is absolutely true that what MM did is evil in the highest degree, there simply is no denying that some things are very very good here. I confidently say that the LC Pontifical University in Rome is the best right now in the city. Oh, the Gregorian and St Thomas may have the reputation, but for instilling solid Catholic Doctrine, I put this place over any other. And I have been to the Santa Croce of Opus Dei, to the Greg, to St Thomas. All are fine. But this is the best. Bishops of the World: here is the place to send your seminarians! Now this may scandalize some readers of this blog, but realize that the Pontifical University Regina Apostolorum of the LCs is not run directly under the LC government, but that Fr Paolo Scarafoni, not unlike Fr Thomas Berg, has many from outside helping run the place. We have the best professors from all over, if not permanently on the staff, then as frequent visitors who give courses. To mind come names like Stanley Jaki and Russell Hittinger, the US legal scholar, whose course on St Thomas's Theory of Law from the Summa I had the priveldge to attend some years back (and got a good grade too!). People: this Catholic UNiversity is great, not just good.
But MM is evil? Yes, but he is also dead. So while I have great sympathy for the outrage and scandal you are going through, and I too with you, I hesitate to throw out all the baby with the bath water. I am open to the possibility that radical surgery by Benedict XVI, and another miracle of the Holy Spirit, will save this mess. In the mean time, I will do the part I can, my "latrine duty" if you will, to throw the black waters and filth out of here.
Thanks for your concern about me and I will count on your prayers. Anyone, therefore, who can help me put a file together on Donny Clod, do not hesitate to write to

a7316fr@yahoo.com.

Yours in Christ, "Edmond Ritter"

Anonymous said...

Dear Edmond Ritter:

You've brought up a topic that has haunted many ex-LCs over the decades. Maciel sent us to psychiatrists who immediately prescribed drugs as if we where mentally ill. All we wanted to do was leave the Legion. My suggestion to you is to get out now before they send you on a forced sabbatical to break down your personality, will power, and determination to leave. I know from experience.

Pete Vere said...

I don't think we can fairly compare Fr. Paolo Scarafoni to Fr. Thomas Berg, as their immediate reaction to news of their founder's double-life could not have been more opposite.

Whereas Fr. Berg apologized to Fr. Maciel's victims and called upon Regnum Christi members to offer up prayers and reparation for these victims, I believe Fr. Scarafoni stated that the victims were owed nothing from the Legion.

Has Fr. Scarafoni since retracted his initial reaction?

Anonymous said...

Mr. Ritter, how can you waste your time in propaganda about that 'fantastic university' (it wasn't one last time I checked)and invite bishops to send people over there... Sick. Your mind is not clear at all. And I do hope the Titanic sinks swiftly.

Anonymous said...

"It is well documented in the book, Vows of Silence, and by Jose Barba and Alejandro Espinosa that Maciel began abusing boys from the very first months of the foundation, including, but not limited to members of the de la Isla family.

I am not new at this and make no statements whatsoever that have not been well documented in the past. This is not a new science. The proof has been around for a very long time. It is only now being believed. Think the myth of Cassandra...."

I have no evidence to rebut what Exlcblogger says here and I have no interest in doing so. I can well believe that the abuse was present from the very start.

However, that still does not support the claim that you made that "It is now quite obvious that a very young and ambitious Maciel began his venture in the 1940s with small children with the aim of having a group of totally controlled minors he could abuse." You simply cannot know what maciel's intentions were. They MAY have been corrupt from the very beginning; they may have been mixed or they may have been pure and became corrupted very quickly. All of these options are plausible. But my point is that even if the abuse started in the first months, you simply cannot infer from this that the whole congregation was started with this sole intention.

Why do I insist on this? It's certainly not to defend maciel. I have never had any liking for him and I have never been a member of LC or RC (although my wife was a so-called consecrated for some years). I make this argument because over-reaching like this undermines the usefulness of this blog. This is the same reason why I think you should remove the photoshopped picture from the sidebar. Yes, I personally find it funny. But we can be sure that there are LC and RC members who are upset and very sensitive that are searching blogs like this to try to find information that they are not being told internally. When they see such a flippant approach to such a very serious subject they will immediately dismiss this blog and the useful information contained here. How do i know this? Well, it's because that's what happened to my wife with other sites in the past. It's also what i do for a living. I am not new to the issue of marketing and persuasion. I can guarantee you that over-reaching with your points, and taking a flippant approach with that picture, serve no useful purpose except to appeal to those who already see through the Maciel charade.

I know that many who use this blog have been badly hurt by Maciel and his works. But you have a choice - you can indulge in that hurt or you can allow the blog to act as a vehicle to help those in denial to begin to see the light. This latter purpose is undermined by over-reaching in your comments and by using that (admittedly humourous) picture.

Anonymous said...

Edmond Ritter said -
"People: this Catholic UNiversity is great, not just good."

The ends to not justify the means...if this "great" university was created out of the lie of Maciel (because of money, deceit, etc) that is problem.

I just left RC and I have to say that the lives of the Pharisees are coming to my mind as I keep reading and hearing how great LC and RC are and that is why we have to keep going despite the fact that our leadership has lied.

Humility says we are nothing without our Lord and none of these schools, educations, conservative teaching mean nothing without truth and honesty. We need brave LC and RC who are willing to stand up and speak for truth no matter what the consequences - even if this whole thing falls to the ground. God is in charge of this - not us.

Anonymous said...

Edmond Ritter replies:

I think exLCblogger is within reason affirming that MM planned all along to create his "earthly pleasure palace", and my reason for this is 1) Alejandro Espinosa's book, El Legionario, which states this explicitly based on his conversations with MM and his sordid experience with him; and 2)the modus operandi defined in a report written by an FBI agent, Kenneth V. Lanning. I have the 4th edition of September 2001, which I pulled off the internet. It's full title is "Child Molesters: A Behavioral Analysis". It's not easy reading, but just perusing it you can see that pederasts have a one-track mind that plans for their future "meals", really it's quite scary, and this sort of MONSTER is what "founded" our congregation! Have you ever read Franz Kafka's story, "Metamorphosis"? Well, that's what my February 4th -- after the great revelation of his illegitimate daughter was made to us LCs -- was like: I woke up to find oneself converted into a giant insect who in the story is killed by his horrified wife who beats the main character to death with a broom (if I remember the story right). Well, we LCs won't get out off the hook so easy! Finally, 3)Ferdinand Gonzalez's great scholarly book, "Marcial Maciel", all in Spanish, is written by an expert in sociology and psychology, and concurs with this view point. It is almost unbelievable, I know, that someone should think like this, but this is the reality of the pederast! I saw in the US news via internet some weeks ago a piece that said that police had broken up the plans of a pederast to marry with the purpose of reproducing so as to have child meat in the future. I can't cite it because I did not care enough to read it: for me, after the hard readings I've been doing since Febrary 4, this is all passe. Yes, this is simply the nature of the beast. No surprise here. Now it seems from the news that MM sexually abused some of his own children. Please, do not be surprised if he did, and don't be surprised if he had not planned it all along before they were born or conceived. This is standard modus operandi of the pederast. I personally, would need someone to prove to me that he had not planned it this way.

Thanks for the observation. I appreciate the fact that you are trying to think well of MM, which shows that you are a just man trying to be just. I don't believe I have sinned with my apparent cynicism. Pederasty is diabolical. That's it.
"Edmond Ritter"

Anonymous said...

Edmond Ritter replies to the use of drugs and psychiatry in the LC. Yes, my friends, mixed in with the LC "spirituality" is this bit of Stalinist methodology to get rid of enemies. Thanks be to God that I read Fernando Gonzalez's book,"Marcial Maciel", p 243 etc, the chapter narrates the history of how this was introduced into the pedagogy of the Legion. I cannot say too much here, but if you want to know more and can read Spanish, check out Gonzalez's book. Psychiatry is very much loved and used by the Legionaries to regulate the reality in the community. The Vatican knows, and the Vatican will be reminded. Pray for us all the same.
"E Ritter"

Anonymous said...

"But you have a choice - you can indulge in that hurt or you can allow the blog to act as a vehicle to help those in denial to begin to see the light. This latter purpose is undermined by over-reaching in your comments and by using that (admittedly humourous) picture."

I would certainly never claim to know the intentions of the owner of this blog, but I am puzzled by your suggestion that somehow he needs to "allow" this blog to "help those in denial to see the light". Why? Does every blog about the LC/RC movement need to be utterly sensitive in its wording just in case a person in denial happens to browse by?

Just from my brief time on this blog, I have been under the impression that this is a place where exLCs (and others hurt by the "movement") can express themselves freely. Anger is a very real and necessary part of the healing process for most people. Censoring it just in case some naive, kool-aide drinking RCs happen to wander in seems ridiculous and NOT healing for those who are still very angry. There are plenty of other websites on the Great Fraud that was Maciel and is still the Legion. I would venture to say that LC/RC members who decide to turn off the internet just because of this particular site really aren't that interested in finding out the truth after all.

We're all grownups here. I think we can handle some flippancy. Humor is also key in healing, after all.

Anonymous said...

Peter Vere: about a comparison between Scarafoni and Berg. You are comparing with a microscope, and maybe you have the instruments to do it. I don't. All I know is that personal contact with Paolo is very positive and my antennae pick up that he is not a kook and like me, does the little he can do bring our confused brethren around. I could easily be wrong. But I can say this much for Paolo Scarafoni: he is here in Rome in the heart of the beast where the disinformation and pressure is greatest, while Thomas Berg is in NYC, in his own building, relatively far from the disinformation and social and psychological pressure. You don't know what it is like! So while I acknowledge Thomas Berg as a great priest and am grateful for his timely and even brilliant testimony, especially in his interview with Sandro Magister -- he told us LCs what we need to hear and is not being said by our superiors -- I do not think you should be quick to discredit Fr Paolo.
"Edmond Ritter"
PS

Anonymous said...

About the LC University: I stand my ground on my "propaganda", which is absolutely sincere. The university is its own institution, and must conform to the curricula established by the Vatican. There is nothing to justify the erroneous belief that it is somehow normed by "Legionary spirituality". It is relatively easy to "save", if it comes to that. In the event that the Legion is suppressed, the University will continue, run by some other organization, NGO or company. And I believe it will turn a profit. If it goes public, the first thing I'll do when I have some cash will be to buy stock in it!
"Edmond Ritter"

Exlcblogger said...

While I respect the opinions of all who comment, I feel no obligation to fulfill anyone's expectations of this blog except my own.

A perusal of past posts on exlcblog will make this quite evident.

-Landon Cody

Anonymous said...

Mr. Ritter doth protest too much.
And he seems to have an inordinate amount of time to participate here. Have his superiors asked him to do so? Agit-prop leninist style to confuse issues? Trying to get students for his 'marvellous' university? (it is NOT a university, anyway).

Anonymous said...

Peter Vere: One more thing about Scarafoni. I have not followed that discourse very much as my interest is more directly that of MM and how he has influenced in the LC spirituality, with a view to being able to understand and discern the reality I am living in. But if Scarafoni comes out and simply says, as an official spokesman of the Legion, "We are sorry", the legal ramifications that follow may be far beyond the scope of what he is authorized to say. He therefore is in the midst of a legal as well as moral bind. Does he not have to wait for Fr Alvaro Corcuera to say something first in this regard? Otherwise he oversteps his authority. Ah, but that is moral turpitude: moral value always trumps economic security. Counter that now with: he is morally and religiously bound to obey by public vow. It gets complicated quick. It's very simple for me to condemn the satanic perversity of Maciel, big deal! Who cares about Ritter's opinion? I think that all of us, Legionaries and the world, are interested in the Official Legion's judgment on the matter. What does the Legion answer?
Nothing. True to the psychological dysfunction inherited from her "founder" (I prefer to say "organizer"), the Legion "dissociates", incapable of moral judgment because its "collective conscience" (of those at the top) has been fractured by the trauma of living with the amoral Maciel, in the moment of truth, the Legion balks like an idiot child. It is too sick to say "non licit". We do not have the leadership of sound mind and heart that can do it, Peter. We stand frozen. We need the Church's help.
"E Ritter"

Johnny said...

Edmond Ritter,

I think your priesthood could be lost staying in the Legion depending on what happens. Don't assume that it will not be challenged where you are at. This story is not over and you are assuming that things will continue on as they have in the past. To change would be require a great trust in God's providence. To allow fear be the reason for a decision is not true freedom. If your relationship is properly grounded in Christ than you have nothing to fear

You are right in saying that the dioceses are a challenging place. I will say that things have improved tremendously over the last 20 years. I am sure there are a lot of Ex-RC members who would be very supportive of you and would love to have you in their diocese. I would suggest finding a diocese that has a group of solid young priest who can give you support and if possible a good bishop although that is secondary. You have the opportunity of having some great personal relationships with lay persons and other priest.

Even with all the difficulties that are present in the diocesan priesthood there is a freedom in living in an environment that is transparent. I have to say I am happy to deal with all the ignorance and lack of faith in the pews because it is what it is. You will experience a much fuller expression of the priesthood by administering all the sacraments all the time. You will not be dealing with a select group of people but all sinners and you will find great affirmation in it. We have a great diocese if you are interested please let me know if you are interested.

Anonymous said...

Mr Ritter laughs aplenty. May I ask which Legionary superior you are? May I ask if YOU have permission to be on the internet unfiltered!!!

Pete Vere said...

Monsieur Ritter:

If Fr. Paolo is in the heart of the beast, running the LC's top institute of higher learning in Rome, then he bears all the more the responsibility for telling the truth, despite any personal discomfort it might cause.

Especially when being in the heart of the beast, as you describe it, didn't stop Fr. José María Antón, LC from speaking the truth, admitting on the American Papist blog that he had spoken to a former LC seminarian who had been sexually abused by Fr. Maciel. Nor did it stop Fr. Anton from apologizing to Fr. Maciel's victims, instead of dismissing them as none of the LC's concern as Fr. Paolo appeared to do.

Therefore, if Fr. Paolo wishes to rehabilitate his image and reputation among North American Catholics, he needs to apologize to Fr. Maciel's victims for the pain his comments caused, as well as to Catholics for the embarrassment his comments brought upon the Church.

And yes, I do know what it is like, having been one of the first canon lawyers and orthodox Catholic journalists to listen to Fr. Maciel's victims and take up their cause. For which I was subjected to all sorts of spin and pressure at the time.

Finally, while I can appreciate your sincerity and wish to see things reformed in the Legion, I think your comments demonstrate the confusion of which other commentators are warning you. On the one hand, you claim the Pontifical University Regina Apostolorum the greatest university in Rome for instilling Catholic doctrine, and on the other, you describe it as the heart of the beast.

As Our Lord states in the Gospels, a house divided against itself will fall.

Pete Vere said...

Folks, while I appreciate the anger many of us feel over this sordid spectacle - I feel it too - can we please curb the personal barbs against Mr. Ritter?

If he is a fraud or an internet troll, he will expose himself.

On the other hand, if he is who he says he is, we need to engage his arguments as he's in a position to help bring justice to Fr. Maciel's victims, as well as clarity to others within the LC/RC.

Let us not shy away from asking hard questions in the service of truth, but let us do so in charity.

Anonymous said...

God bless you Johnny, for your advise, which seconds that of many close and trusted friends. My "Mr Ritter laughs aplenty" entry above was not directed to you but to the funny man who thinks I protest too much. He must really be Donny Clod, reining me in. He calls me back to community life, to be with the other zombies, well behaved. There we can talk "Legion-talk", which means to talk about anything except what we should be talking about: what is our "spirituality"? What does it mean to be a Legionary? How if possible can this Congregation be save? Should it be saved? All this is forbidden talk, mind you. Not for children like me, like us.
It is enough to drive a man insane not to talk about these fundamental questions but sit like little children and have the "adults" (the superiors) decide for us and without consultation what our future will be. This blog has helped me for a little while act like an adult. Thanks so much!
Well kiddies, superior is calling me back to our games. Thanks for the relief you company afforded me for an hour or so (I type fast).
God bless and bye bye! E Ritter

Anonymous said...

I am a Legionary, letting off steam, confused and no doubt contradictory. You are therapy for me. Thank you all, and you, Peter, for your understanding. Your moral position is I believe the correct one. It takes the grace of God, sanctity and moral heroism of which I doubt I am capable to be in the position of a Scarafoni and do exactly the correct thing. I have had my fights too and am having them here. Therefore, I hesitate to judge. May the Church mercifully and justly bring light to our confusion. Believe me, I want the Legion to change and become "normal", a home for us. Not what it presently is: yes, a sect. But now superior really is calling... I am off. God bless, E Ritter

giselle said...

Mr Ritter: you say, " But I can say this much for Paolo Scarafoni: he is here in Rome in the heart of the beast where the disinformation and pressure is greatest."

Thus the greatest university in Rome is the source of pressure and disinformation. Odd combination. Also, you admit to the "demonic" element of pederasty, and feel bound to your LC priesthood -- any chance that there's a connexion?

Remember, you're a priest forever. Time away from "the Beast" would allow you time to discern and detox -- God wants you free and will find a use for your priesthood. To believe that it has to be tied to the work of a pervert indicates a lack of faith, IMHO.

Anonymous said...

You said:
"But as an LC priest of many years, you don't just get up and leave a community."

and:

"So if I leave, I am taking the real risk that I may lose my priesthood in the future, or at the very least be forever a misfit in dioceses where I cannot connect because of the liberalism or what not of the place."


You don't get up and leave a community? Yes, you do - you can do what Fr. Berg did. You come to Achbp Dolan, who obviously knows a LOT by now, and you walk into his welcoming parishes, here, in NY, where good, solid orthodox priests are valued.
Fr. Berg's doing great, in a parish north of NYC and we are THRILLED to have him. No misfitting. No lost priest hood. A precedent has been set. It works.

If being a priest is who you are, be one where you have real freedom to truly be one.

No lost priesthood, a bishop who has by now heard it all... and will support you....no excuses.

Recovering from RC said...

Perhaps "E. Ritter" is not American. If that's the case, would he have trouble joining a Diocese in the States? Just wondering, because I am very worried about "my" Legionary, who is Spanish.

Anonymous said...

I just want to kick Corcuera, Garza and Sada repeatedly in the balls.

Clancy I'll make him boil water for my tee and keep returning it saying "no es muy caliente, hermano" over and over again until the fuck dies of a stroke en el comedor. Then I will piss on his corpse. Alleluia.

-9 years of lies

Anonymous said...

Someone who tells you that Regina Apostolorum is one of Rome's best pontifical universities will soon be assuring you that the best institution of higher learning in the United States is Southern Catholic College.

Anonymous said...

And to Fr. or Mister Jack Tripper or Ed Roper or whatever your pen name is- I appreciate the invite to email you.

But when what you believed to be true turns out to be false- when what was right is now so wrong- there is no way in hell I could ever trust a legionary priest again. Sorry Father. Your name is mud.

You want to protect your priesthood? Get out- because no one will give you a second thought when they realize you are an LC. No one will trust you. Not with their money and espcially not with their kids or their souls.

Whitewashed sepulchre the legion is- full of dead mens bones. parted hair, clean fingernails, shine shoes raping young girls and funneling money to mistresses and bastard children. I'd rather a dirty franciscan or a gay diocesan over a spit-shined LC. At least I know where they stand.

Get out Ed Norton. Get out. Get out. Get out. Get out. Get out. You going to let Corcuera send you a carta que te mande a Peru? Why? To raise money for his scandal? To find vocations for a fraud and a lie?

You called me an angry man. I wish I were only angry. The words has not yet been written nor the emotion expressed, not by Shakespeare nor by Joyce, to begin to encapsulate what I- what we- feel. I was angry Ed- now what am I?

Get out. Get out of the lies. Of the shit. Of the filth. Just get out.

-9 years of lies

Anonymous said...

Your absolutely right, Mr 9-years.
I am mud, an insect, shit. And it's not too much fun. How does it feel to be an ex-mud, and ex-insect and an ex-shit? Kind of shitty I bet? I know. I am there.
And I wish you were not there still, so many years after leaving the shit pit, but you are, aren't you? You still have been violated. You are still in need of healing. Now that Bitch, Clod, will keep on hurting people, because that's what he likes to do. It does not matter one whit whether the Legion is suppressed or thrown straight into hell. If Clod is a functioning priest on earth, he will still be hurting people, and liking it. Don't write to Ritter's mail box. That's logical from your perspective. But do write to Chaput, and put some sense into your pain by making it bring forth fruits of justice. Ask around for a good canon lawyer who can help you put together an incisive case against the Legion and Clod. Look especially at everything that the Pope and Church has forbidden: the fusion of internal and external forums, that is part and parcel of Legion methodology, and is diametrically opposed to common sense justice. The listening in on phone calls. The opening of letters. And the mockery of your personal values. I'll tell you one particularly outrageous violation of my values. Clod listened in on a phone call I made to my dad and mom. They are old. I talked to them in a tenderish voice, like a dad who tucks his little boy or girl to bed (for they were in bed about to go to sleep, so I "tucked them in"). And sure enough, next morning at breakfast, that contemptable Whore the Clod mocked my voice, ridiculizing my love for my parents. Oh, no big deal, I did not kill him, but I would not have had trouble doing it. You and I know that he likes to draw out from us in spiritual direction what we love, and then shit all over it. But this is just another bit of the sacred methodology of the Legionary formation learned on the knees (and in the bed?) of the Pederast-Founder. He wounded you for how many years? You are still suffering after how many years? 1) Get a psychological counselor to learn to heal the pain. 2) Keep Clod from hurting more people by reporting him to Chaput. 3)Sue the Legion for the cost of the counseling! Probably all the victims of the Legion should join together in a common law suit. I am also outraged by this, and have suffered it too. I have benefactors paying for my analyst because I don't want the LCs to know who it is. They may chase him down to harass or bribe him. So there you go. I am your fellow shit.

God bless you, and pardon my speech. I do not wish to offend but sometimes... well you know. ER

giselle said...

Thank you, ER. We all have tremendous insights now. You've managed to personalise in a profound way the evil that must be plucked out by the roots and burned. Prayers and warm wishes.

Anonymous said...

So many kids! Why didn't he use a condom? Oh, right, that's a sin...