For Atlantans Present and Future Who Are Wary of LC/RC

From Life-After-RC combox comment:

It will be difficult to find a church/school in Atlanta that does not have at least a mild RC infestation (although it gets a little easier every day!) For schools, Queen of Angels/Blessed Trinity, Holy Redeemer, and Our Lady of the Assumption are all filled with enough Pinecrest refugees that you will be safe. St. Jude the Apostle never really bought into the whole LC/RC thing, but that school is particularly hard to get into. Pinecrest and Holy Spirit are RC schools.

LC got its foothold in the Atlanta area in All Saints parish and it remains a stronghold. Avoid St. Monica's in Duluth, Mary Our Queen in Norcross, St. Andrew's in Roswell, and St. Brendan's in Cumming.

Good luck to you and your family.

A Quick Link to Life-After-RC Testimony

This is the testimony of an RC member who repeated the mantra "OK, but that is not my experience" whenever a bad thing was said of the RC.

Now a lesson has been learned. The testimony is incisive, if sad, since it means the crumbling of a lot of personal walls, and the dismantling of a personal altar of spiritual experience. And that is never easy.

That Was Then. What About Now?

This was posted on a blog yesterday. To be completely honest, this was originally posted in the source (Phatmas) back in early 2006.

Could we hear from TicksterB now? (UPDATE: not calling anyone out, rather it is important to see how attitudes and opinions can and have changed in the past few years, both as a result of the latest news and as a result of time passing after someone leaves.)

Monday, July 27, 2009

Experiences with Legion of Christ and Opus Dei

By TricksterB in the Phatmass Phorum, Home of the Vatican Stairs Fan Club.

I would like to tell you about my experience with the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi. It is long, but, humbly, I think it is worth reading.

I joined Regnum Christi in 1999 shortly after my older brother entered the Legion to study for the priesthood. I can honestly say that I didn't know much about the Legion or Regnum Christi at the time, but with prayer (NOT pressure), I knew it was the right thing to do. Since that time, I have always had a Legionary spiritual director, and I have always loved them. Even though I went to a Catholic school, I can attribute the fact that I learned the truth of my faith from the Legionaries. Unfortunately, I know many people who went to my highschool who have since fallen away from the church, and I don't see any reason why the same thing would not have happened to me but that the Legion was present in my life. Through good and bad, they have been there for me, always compassionate, understanding and charitable but never afraid to point me toward the straight and narrow.

During my sophomore year of college at the United States Military Academy, I decided the leave for a year to be a coworker. I wanted to give a year of my life to Christ and only him. Embarking on this journey, I quickly learned that if one gives God an inch, He will ask for a mile. Also, I realized that my plans, which seemed so perfect, are not necessarily God's plans. Within weeks of leaving West Point, I heard, very literally, loud and clear, God calling me to join the Legion. Much to my dismay because I did not want to be a priest, I went to the candidacy program two weeks later. After two months in the candidacy (also known as postulancy as noted by some others in this forum), I received my cassock and entered the novitiate.

There seems to be some concern about this short period of candidacy, but there should not be. It is a discernment program after which no one is ordained and no vows are professed. Also, please be careful with the use of the word "licit". This candidacy, short as it may be, is not illicit by any means. The Legion of Christ is a fully approved congregation of priests within the Church, so this short period of candidacy has the Church's blessing and seal of approval. After the candidacy, the candidates who are accepted simply enter the novitiate which lasts for a period of two years. The novitiate period is spent acquiring habits of prayer and the spiritual life, general habits of religious life, and more specific habits of Legionary religious life. It is also worth noting that the two years of novitiate in the Legion is longer than in most other congregations. Therefore, this extended period before the first profession should more than make up for the short candidacy program.

After 18 months in the novitiate, through much prayer and with the help of my superiors and spiritual director, I discerned that God is not calling me to be a priest. There are several reasons that I came to this conclusion, after which received full support from everyone who knew about my situation. Additionally, as soon as I returned home (9 months ago) I was welcomed by the Legionaries who live and work near my home. I was given a new spiritual director, and we speak regularly. I also have a girlfriend and am in college. I am a normal young man. I have not been brainwashed or desocialized, and I have never been pressured into anything.

I have also had some experience with Opus Dei, and I love them. The priests of this prelature are holy men who love the Church and Christ. The lay members are also very zealous for their faith. I have also heard only good things from Legionaries about Opus Dei. In fact, I know that the founder of the Legion, Fr Maciel, received much help from St Josemaria Escriva during the foundation. There is no enmity between these two groups. They are simply two separate organizations in the Church striving to build Christ's kingdom on Earth.

If you have read this far, God bless you. I want to make one final remark: I am eterally grateful and indebted to the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi for the man I am today. Without them, I would be lost. Through them I have established a deep, personal, passionate love for Christ and the Church. I only ask one thing: out of charity, if you do not have personal experience with the Legion or Regnum Christi, please keep what you have heard to yourself to prevent false stereotypes. "Repeat all the good that you hear and only the evil that you see with your own eyes."

Response to this post by Morostheos: I was also a coworker in Regnum Christi and have never heard anything but positive things about the relationship between the Legion of Christ and Opus Dei. Actually, I was told that in Chicago, the leaders of Opus Dei there were instructed to do all they could to help the Legion and Regnum Christi get started there, and if has been my experience that they have done so. The missions of The Legion/Regnum Christi and Opus Dei are very similar, so it makes sense that in charity they would help each other out.

Extreme Makeover: Legion Edition

Once again, The Exorcist does a much better job than most in getting to the point. Exlcblogger can't help but copy the entire post here.

There is just so much more to this than merely business as usual for the Legion of Christ and the Regnum Christi, and those who use this platitude are not only fooling themselves, they also perpetrating an injustice with those young people whose parents are stupid enough to let them join this mess this summer.

Take over, Fr. Karras:

There was a time when it was severely frowned upon to refer to writers other than the Founder in our preaching, spiritual exercises and private reading. We were instructed to quote him often, to dedicate certain meditations to his person, virtue and vocation. We were to read his letters during adoration and as part of the liturgy of the hours. We were to engage in studies of our own spirituality much like Jesuits have studied Ignatius and Salesians have studied Don Bosco.

Now? Not so much.

For those of us who have lived through it, it is nothing less than mind-boggling.

Recalling the years and years of our lives as LCs during which EVERYTHING was centered on the person of Fr. Maciel now feels like trying to remember the hallucinations of a distant psychotic episode.

Every word, every gesture, every commentary, every scrap of paper scribbled on by ‘the Boss’ was a treasure, an unforgettable connection between the inspired, saintly Founder and his intrepid, although still imperfect, co-founders.

For a long time the most piercing motivation the superiors could give us to live with greater fidelity the infinite rules and regulations of the order was: “Think of how Nuestro Padre suffers with even the slightest infidelity of his co-founders!”

He was our ideal... the true “legionario tipo” that we all so ardently aspired to imitate.

I cringe to think of it now.

Those same green books that I so dutifully worked my way through, volume after volume, taking time to memorize favorite passages and copy special phrases into my own spiritual journal... now make me physically nauseous when I try to read their pages.

A letter from the early 80’s encouraging a LC priest to be ‘authentic’, to open himself entirely to the Legion through his superiors, to never wear ‘masks’ and always be transparent...

This from the master mask maker himself!

Line after line on the subject of chastity, on maintaining priestly dignity and decency when dealing with women, on offering the sacrifice of ourselves with a pure heart to Christ...

When did he think this stuff up? While he was lying in bed, enjoying a post-coital cigarette next to some young concubine, dreaming of the army of holy priests he would someday offer the Church?

Or how about those fabulous letters warning us of the dangers of ‘particular friendships’, those devilish ‘maría–remedios' waiting to seduce us at every turn, importuning us to have confidence only in our superiors (i.e. report everything you see, no matter how innocuous, to Big Brother)...

Yet behind it all he camouflaged his own turbid proclivities and allowed his unrestrained deviance to ruin so many young lives!

How sick does it get, man?

All those heavy one-liners of Nuestro Padre that were constantly repeated as a litany of motivation to eager and gullible ‘co-founders’ now sound hopelessly vapid and cynical:

“fiel hasta morir en la raya” Yeah, right. Just like NP.

“de una sola pieza, al pié del cañón” Spare me the irony.

“amor et dolor vita mea” You put lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig.

“el Legionario se es o se despide” Finally, some candid advice...

“nunca he dicho ‘no’ a mi Señor Jesucristo” If that’s the case, who has?

“soy por la Legión que Dios me quiere” Syntax is no longer the main problem with this one...

“mi vida por Cristo” Whatever.


All of this is not just the venting of a guy who, like many others, was deceived and betrayed about the core truth of his vocation.

It is vitally important as a point to be considered by the visitation.


The spirituality of the LC, such as it is, is embedded in the writings of the Founder. His thoughts and his words are conserved in endless books, pamphlets, recordings and videos. In the LC we have often prided ourselves on how completely EVERY aspect of our lives has been defined and detailed by the Founder.

The double life of Fr. Maciel as inspired spiritual guide/fraud and sexual predator has totally negated his credibility. Nothing he has said or written to the LCs or the RC members can be believed or taken seriously. Who he was taints all he wrote. There is no separating the teachings from the life of the teacher when it comes to the all-consuming, conscience-binding religious vocation.

The writings – all of them, from the Constitutions to the Salterio – are as fraudulent as the life that produced them.

From now on, there will be an 800 pound gorilla in the room every time his letters are read during meals in spiritual exercises, every time the Constitutions are read and commented on in community, every time the wishes and words of the Founder are half-heartedly tossed around as motivations.

In essence, the visitation has to expunge every last vestige of the Founder from the Legion’s spirituality.

But would a ‘Legion’ devoid of Fr. Maciel’s thought and teaching still be the Legion of Christ?

Therein lies the challenge: to remake a religious congregation into something totally removed from its Founder, while at the same time salvaging the vocations, apostolates, houses of formation and charitable works associated with it.

Peace.

Algo Mas

"Los Legionarios de Cristo están bajo sospecha papal desde el pasado 31 de marzo. Benedicto XVI ha ordenado "una visita apostólica" -investigación en argot eclesiástico- a este grupo. Su fundador, el mexicano Marcial Maciel, ya muerto, fue sancionado en su día por abusos sexuales repetidos sobre seminaristas. Sin embargo, el juez vicario del Vaticano, Filippo di Giacomo, estima que estas nuevas pesquisas son "algo más" que lo destapado en su día sobre Maciel. "
Published in El Pais de Madrid. Read it here in Spanish.

Wikipedia has its own specific article on the mess

Sexual abuse scandal in the Legion of Christ

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

"The sexual abuse scandal in the Legion of Christ is a major chapter in the series of Catholic sex abouse cases in various Western jurisdictions"

Cassandra Strikes Again!

Pity, Cassandra that no one believed you

But then again you were lost from the start

Now we must suffer and sell our secrets

Bargain, playing smart, aching in our hearts

Sorry Cassandra I misunderstood

now the last day is dawning

Some of us wanted but none of us would

listen to words of warning

From the ABBA song, Cassandra

Read the complete article by Cassandra Jones on spero news here.

Legion of Christ delays explanation of Rev. Maciel

More than a month has passed since revelations that the Legion of Christ's founder, Rev. Marcial Maciel, may have fathered a child, the LC appears to delay a response due to an internal debate over its "charism." He is also accused of paedophilia.

More than a month has now passed since the February 3 revelation that Rev. Marcial Maciel, founder of the Legionaries of Christ, fathered a daughter. The Legionaries immediately admitted it officially and claimed to be surprised at the discovery of inconsistencies in their founder’s life. But this was only a provisional response that avoided specifics out of concerns for privacy and suggested that a fuller accounting was being prepared. That fuller accounting is now delayed and the reasons why are emerging. Church officials must reconcile two divergent views on the question whether the Legionaries have a “charism” and a “mission” given to them by God and already acknowledged by the Church.

A promise of “materials to inform the Church and the public about all of this” was first made on February 13 by Rev. Owen Kearns, publisher of the Legionary National Catholic Register. Some inside the Legion and the Vatican expected these to be issued on February 24 and the Catholic News Agency was told so.

The statement could be expected to address specifics, at least in general terms: Was the daughter’s mother a “mistress” or was the child conceived in an act of statutory rape, another instance of Father Maciel’s pedophilia? Is there another child? Was money embezzled or misused? Is Father Maciel’s sexual abuse of his seminarians now officially admitted to? Will Father Maciel’s public accusers, whom the Legion calumniated for years, be acknowledged and apologized to? What are the consequences of Father Maciel’s sins on the life of his institute?

These questions are painful enough for the Legionaries to answer honestly, especially since for 12 years in public they only ever defended their Founder with untruth and evasion. But the statement would also begin to lay out for the order a path on which to continue in a post-scandal future and that will need the approval of Catholic Church authorities. The Church will not now allow the order to decide its future entirely on its own.

VATICAN: APOSTOLIC VISITATOR FOR THE LEGIONARIES OF CHRIST SOON

VATICANO: PRESTO VISITATORE APOSTOLICO PER LEGIONARI DI CRISTO (STAMPA)

(ASCA) - Citta' del Vaticano, 6 mar - A metterlo nero su bianco e' stato da ultimo, nella sua edizione odierna, il quotidiano argentino ''Clarin', uno dei piu' autorevoli di tutta l'America Latina: la Santa Sede starebbe per inviare un ''visitatore apostolico', ovvero un ispettore ufficiale, per valutare la situazione del movimento dei Legionari di Cristo, fondato da p. Marcial Maciel e tra la realta' piu' dinamiche e in crescita dell'intera Chiesa cattolica. P. Maciel, morto nel 2008 a 87 anni, era stato oggetto quando era ancora in vita, di numerose e fondate accuse di pedofilia, tanto che papa Benedetto XVI lo aveva condannato ad una vita di solitudine, preghiera e penitenza, senza pero' permettere che il processo canonico contro di lui giungesse a termine. Nelle ultime settimane, poi, e' giunta la notizia che p. Maciel avrebbe condotto per anni una doppia vita, con una figlia, ora 22enne, che vive in Spagna, frutto di una lunga relazione con una amante al cui mantenimento economico provvedeva lui stesso. Notizie che hanno scosso profondamente i Legionari (e il movimento laicale ad essi legato, Regnum Christi) mettendo in discussione il carisma del fondatore, centrale per l'identita' della congregazione. Un trauma cosi' forte che persino numerosi membri dei Legionari, soprattutto Oltreoceano, hanno invocato l'intervento della Santa Sede. Fra questi p. Thomas Berg, direttore del Westchester Institute for Ethics and the Human Person in Usa, che in una lettera pubblica ha chiesto esplicitamente l'arrivo di un visitatore apostolico. ''I superiori dei Legionari hanno fallito, e fallito miseramente, nel rispondere adeguatamente a questa crisi'', scrive. In molti infatti fanno notare che i leader della Legione, i piu' stretti collaboratori di Maciel, non abbiano potuto rimanere all'oscuro di tutto per decenni. Di fronte alle indiscrezioni su un prossimo arrivo di un visitatore, fonti dei Legionari spiegano all'ASCA che ''si tratta di informazioni in cui non viene citata una fonte ufficiale''. Si tratta quindi di ''notizie vaghe, supposizioni o illazioni''. ''Alla luce di cio' - e' la conclusione - non abbiamo altro da aggiungere a quanto abbiamo detto in passato''. E che si tratti di un ''momento doloroso'' lo conferma anche il successore di p. Maciel alla guida dei Legionari, p. Alvaro Corcuera. ''Stiamo vivendo - ha scritto in una lettera ai membri del movimento dell'inizio di febbraio - momenti di dolore e sofferenza; e in questo dolore, un'esperienza dell'amore infinito di Dio che ci chiede di andare avanti con pace e bonta', poiche' l'unica cosa che vuole nelle nostre vite e' che sperimentiamo la felicita' di essere suoi figli''. Senza citare colpe o reati specifici di p. Maciel, Corcuera ammetteva pero' che ''e' anche vero che e' stato un uomo e questi temi che ci hanno ferito, sorpreso stanno gia' davanti al giudizio di Dio. E' vero che c'e' molto dolore e molta pena. Come in una famiglia, queste pene ci uniscono e ci portano a soffrire e gioire come un solo corpo. Questa circostanza che viviamo ci invita a vedere tutto con molta fede, umilta' e carita'. Cosi' la mettiamo nelle mani di Dio Nostro Signore, che ci insegna il cammino della misericordia infinita''. Di fronte allo smarrimento e alla confusione che regnano nelle centinaia di case e istituzioni dei Legionari in tutto il mondo, e in particolare nei seminari che riescono ancora a fornire alla Chiesa cattolica decine di preziose nuove vocazioni al sacerdozio, si ritiene probabile che la Santa Sede procedera' prima o poi ad una qualche riorganizzazione del movimento.

El Mercurio Reports Vatican Study for Intervention for the Legion of Christ

El Vaticano estudia intervenir Legionarios de Cristo

La posibilidad de llevar a cabo esta supervisión está siendo analizada por el prefecto de la Congregación para los Institutos de Vida Consagrada, el cardenal Franc Rodé, quien hasta ahora no ha autorizado su inicio.

CIUDAD DEL VATICANO.- Al comienzo era sólo un rumor, pero hoy ya es un tema debatido al interior de El Vaticano: Se está estudiando intervenir la congregación católica Legionarios de Cristo y así orientar su futuro en medio de una crisis interna.

Así lo da a conocer hoy el diario Clarín de Buenos Aires y la agencia mexicana Notimex que cita fuentes al interior de la Santa Sede: “El Vaticano estudia intervenir la orden con el nombramiento de un Visitador Apostólico a fin de salvar a los Legionarios de un final estrepitoso o de una disolución a mano de la Santa Sede”.

La posibilidad de llevar a cabo esta supervisión está siendo analizada por el prefecto de la Congregación para los Institutos de Vida Consagrada, el cardenal Franc Rodé, quien hasta ahora no ha autorizado su inicio.La idea surge luego de que la cúpula misma de la Legión aceptara públicamente el 4 de febrero que su fundador, Marcial Maciel fallecido hace más de un año-, tuvo en vida "actitudes no correspondientes a un sacerdote católico".

Informaciones previas aparecidas en medios de Internet y algunos blogs católicos señalaban que Maciel mantuvo una relación amorosa durante muchos años. Según una investigación del diario The New York Times, de ese vínculo nació una hija.

Se trata del primer "mea culpa" de la congregación sobre las acciones de su fundador, pero la aceptación pública de las conductas de Maciel también ha provocado una "fuerte crisis" al interior de la orden.El sacerdote, que murió a los 87 años, fundó los Legionarios de Cristo en 1941, cuando apenas tenía 20 años, y en 1959 creó su brazo laico, Regnum Christi. La orden creció hasta convertirse en una de las más influyentes congregaciones de la actualidad: cuenta con unos 800 sacerdotes y 2.500 seminaristas en más de 40 países. También gestiona una importante universidad pontificia en Roma.

Pese a que fue muy cercano a los dos últimos papas, en especial a Juan Pablo II, los últimos años de la vida de Maciel estuvieron marcados por controvertidas acusaciones. En 1995, estallaron denuncias en su contra por abusos sexuales, hechas por cerca de una treintena de ex seminaristas de la orden, que se remontan a los años 40 y 50, cuando algunos de ellos eran niños.
Maciel dejó de ser el líder de la orden en 2004, y en 2006, el Papa Benedicto XVI le ordenó que se retirara a una vida de "oración y penitencia" y que abandonara sus responsabilidades sacerdotales tras una investigación del Vaticano sobre las acusaciones.

Propuesta de una supervisión apostólica no es nueva

El 9 de febrero pasado el escritor católico estadounidense George Weigel, acreditado biógrafo de Juan Pablo II y reconocido como cercano a la Legión, propuso públicamente la supervisión apostólica.

"Sólo después de que se haya llevado a cabo ese tipo de auditoría moral e institucional y se haya verificado públicamente como auditoría limpia, podrá la Legión de Cristo y la Iglesia entera afrontar las cuestiones sobre su futuro", escribió.

En un artículo de su blog On the Square (En la Plaza), Weigel estableció que la visita de un delegado del Vaticano a todos los centros de los Legionarios del mundo puede dar certeza de transparencia.

"Sólo puede ser salvada (la orden) si hay una divulgación completa y pública de las maldades de Maciel y si se realiza un examen de las raíces y las ramificaciones de la posible complicidad en esas maldades dentro de la Legión de Cristo", añadió.

Matthew 7:17 & The Legion of Christ: A Question

From Being and Nothingness:

"Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, and the evil tree bringeth forth evil fruit." Matthew 7:17

"A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth that which is evil. For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." Luke 6:45

These two passages (taken from the Douay-Rheims version of the bible) have been rolling over in my head for the last week since learning of the confirmations that many (most?) of the allegations against Fr. Marcial Maciel, the founder of the apostolic order Legion of Christ and the lay apostolic association Regnum Christi. Added to the list of accusations which were previously made is the confirmed fact that Fr. Maciel fathered a daughter who is now 22 years old and her mother is only 37 years old (which mathematics will tell you was 14 or 15 when she conceived).
Often on blogs people posit their positions as provocations or opinions, using the blog primarily as a medium of judgment on the events around them. That is usually my reason, as well. However, today I offer this post primarily to engage you to think with me what these two passages mean and how the current situation that the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi can be understood in light of them.

I want to avoid a moralistic approach and at the same time I want to avoid an interpretation of those passages as deterministic. I also don't want my reflection to remain at the surface of my annoyance with the LC or RC in my particular encounters with them. Instead, I want to try to understand what exactly a "fruit" is and more so, I want to understand how much the "charism" of any religious order or lay movement is tied to the person of the founder, and whether or not this "tie" is necessary to or a consequence of the moral life of the founder.

I also want to understand more about the Legion's formation and structure. Are some of it's tendencies (the focus on appearance, sameness, moral rigidity, secrecy, the apostolate) a result of some work Christ was doing "through" a fragile, broken creature or are they the result of a dualism that emerges as a result of his constant rejection of Christ's grace.
Here are some thoughts:

1. The focus on appearances belies the tendency in someone who lives a double life to convince all those around him that "everything is fine." It's not a coincidence that all the Legionaries are told time and time again that their appearance is fundamental in not interfering with someone hearing the gospel message.
2. The focus on the "sameness" of all Legionaries could also be a symptom of the above mentioned problem. The more everyone is the same, the more the person who is living the double life can rely on those patterns and expectations to cover their own duplicity.
3. The focus on moral rigidity often what we call "reactionary." The reaction is to the person's own sinfulness. Sin, in the Christian life, usually evokes shame. Since serious patterns of sin result from our own choices, we often think that our choices and actions will lead us back to the right path. This is a typical misunderstanding of the Christian life in which instead of a complete reliance on Christ, we rely on the rules as the path to holiness.
4. The focus on secrecy is almost self-evident. When you have something to hide you treat everything as if it is "private" and therefore create patterns of behavior where you "hide from the left hand what the right hand is doing." This isn't always negative. Somethings should be private. But when everything has the potential to be a little damaging or negative is treated with "secrecy" we can really occlude the truth.
5. The focus on the apostolate is troubling because it avoids the personal interior work of self-awareness and self-acknoledgment. This is true in my experience. Often when I focus on my work as the most important thing it is because there is an interior rejection of my dependence on Christ and an inability to be silent in front of him and recognize what I am in front of him. Even prayer can be full of this "business" so even hours in front of the Blessed Sacrament can amount to a "nothingness" if I am not present with all of myself infront of the "You" that makes me.
In addition, I think it also can be used a "measure" of one self, in the way that the protestant tradition has looked at it. "I must be good with God, because look at how successful my apostolate is going." It's the tendency that many had to say "Fr. Maciel must be a saint, because look at all the good that the Legion does, look at all the seminarians, look at how faithful they are to the pope, only a saint could generate all of that." If he's not a saint, are those things that he generated now evil?

Read All About It with Debra Murphy

Fr. Maciel and Patterns of Scandal in New Ecclesial Movements
Fr. Maciel, the Legionaries, and patterns of scandal in the Church: part 1
Fr. Maciel, the Legionaries, and patterns of scandal in the Church: part 2
Maciel, etc. 3: People–and Cultures–of the Lie
Maciel, etc, 4: Transparency
Fr. Maciel, etc., part 5: Public Face vs. Private Face
Maciel, etc., part 6: relevant articles
Maciel, etc., part 7: Conscience in Canon Law and the New Movements
Maciel, etc., part 8: “False Conscience” and its Bitter Fruits
Maciel, etc., part 9: more relevant links
Maciel, etc., part 10: Debra’s Q & A with Pete Vere
LC/RC to respond to scandal today

Yes, there can be cults in the Church

by Juan Manuel Escovedo

In his article "Are there cults in the Catholic Church?", published in the January 2003 issue of This Rock Magazine, Jay Dunlap argues that "Church Approved" groups are not and cannot be called "cults". His argument seems to be essentially a self-defense of the group he is part of. I will not deal with the particular groups mentioned in this article but prove that in principle it is possible for a church-approved group to be a cult.

Peter Vere, J.C.L. M.C.L., canon lawyer, previous writer for Envoy Magazine, as well as Catholic Answers' very own "This Rock" magazine wrote an article entitled "Sifting the Wheat from the Tares: 20 Signs of Trouble in a New Religious Group" for the International Cultic Studies Association's E-Newsletter in June of 2005, which outlines warning signs to look for in a Church-approved group that is or possibly turning into a cult.

Peter Vere's article is written based on the experience of Fr. Francis G. Morrisey, OMI, a professor of Canon Law at Saint Paul University and a former consultant to the Congregation for Religious. Surely if anyone were an expert on new groups in the Church it would be someone who worked directly for the Congregation for Religious, the Vatican office that oversees all of the Catholic religious orders in the world. Surely Fr. Morrissey has had experience with a wide range of new groups in diverse countries of the world, not just ones that are popular in the English-speaking world. Those who are convinced that Church approved groups cannot be cults, would do themselves some good to read Peter Vere's very objective article.

Mr. Dunlap's arguments do not touch upon how complex and subtle a "Church-approved" cult may really be. Hence, aside from the eloquent article written by Peter Vere which already addresses much of the issue, my refutation article is needed to make some necessary distinctions.


Read the rest here.

A Catholic Exchange on the Long Dropping of the Other Shoe: Foundational Shift for the Legionaries of Christ — Part One

A frank interview with Catholic Exchange. A former Legionary of Christ, a former member of the Regnum Christi and a canon lawyer get asked some tough questions of what is next for the Legion of Christ and the Regnum Christi.

Read Part I here.

UPDATE: Read Part II here.

Provocative Title!

Our Father, who art in bed: A Naive and Sentimental Dubliner in the Legion of Christ by J. Paul Lennon.

Before dismissing this book for the title (and maybe for the author), Exlcblogger would like to give it a read and let you know if it is interesting as well as provocative.



Check it out and buy it on Amazon.com by clicking icon on the left of this page.

The Catholic Review: Archbishop to continue dialogue with Legionaries

Archbishop to continue dialogue with Legionaries of Christ

You can read the whole thing here.
August 12, 2008

The Catholic Review

Paul McMullen

Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien will continue to monitor and have a dialogue with members of the Legionaries of Christ in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, as they respond to a series of requirements he made of them in June.

“There is goodwill on the part of the Legionaries of Christ,” Archbishop O’Brien said, “but at the same time there is a lot of information that we have to review with our pastors. We want to make sure that our pastors are aware of, and in agreement with, their involvement.”
.....

To that end, the archbishop met recently with the liaison, Father Robert Weighner, L.C. and two other Legionaries in the archdiocese, Father Raymond Cosgrave, L.C., and Father Steven Reilly, L.C., the executive director of the Springhill Center for Family Development in Crownsville and chaplain of Woodmont Academy in Cooksville.

“They gave us a good bit of information that we are reviewing, to see that the understanding is clear and that it carried it through,” Archbishop O’Brien said. “The key thing is for our administrators and pastors, how satisfied are they with the interaction? The transparency of the organizations that are represented by Regnum Christi are all key elements.”

These guys....!

Legionaries of Christ Visitor Comments

"It is all true! The legion is deceptive, manipulative, secretive and militant in their execution. I lived it for FIVE years. I was a consecrated member in the Regnum Christi female section, "3GF" otherwise known as "el tercer grado." After leaving I felt used and guilty, but another ex-member visited me and said she felt the same. I have recently started talking about my experience with a psychologist and have come to terms with the church.My life is on track again and so I am very happy."

"I spent nine years with the Legion and was treated well until the final year. Then I was given 24 hours to pack my bags. Not a word of thanks or a hand shake. I've heard nothing, but bad news. The Legion seems to be a whole different organization from the outside. Good luck in your work."

"Thank you for the information on your site regarding the Legionaries of Christ [LOC]. One of my daughters is now in the 'movement.' She and my younger daughter were both targeted and recruited while at college. They were attending 'retreats' for Catholic students and very friendly recruiters encouraged them to join. They were given a 'spiritual director' (lay person), which is not in accordance with church general policy. My elder daughter was very out going, friendly and the light of our family, but idealistic and vulnerable. After becoming involved with LOC though, she became secretive, non communicative, filled with negative self images and very driven toward religiosity. She then had to see if she 'had a vocation' and spent three years with this 'spiritual direction' while at college and later two years of indoctrination with the group. Against all pleas she eventually left the country to continue with the group and now does not visit home, though I can send letters. I worry about her mental and spiritual health."

From Rick Ross' site.

Talk to Action

Interesting site expressing worries about the "Catholic Right Wing"

There's another, similarly ultra-orthodox Catholic religious order he might want to examine in future posts: the Legion of Christ, a "religious congregation of pontifical right" for priests and seminarians, and its associated lay "apostolic movement," Regnum Christi. Like Opus Dei, the Legionaries have a reputation for authoritarianism, secrecy, and courting the rich and powerful.






Left or Right?

Radical and Violent in Catalunya?

¿ Per què , els Legionaris de Crist i l’Opus Dei (entre d’altres), estant brandint les seves espases, radicalitzant-se fins a posicions violentes, en temes socials com: avortament, divorci, SIDA, homosexualitat, educació, política anti-terrorista, una sola nació a Espanya, etz…

Read the rest here.

Power plays in Mexico

El poder de don Lorenzo se realza con la llegada de la derecha al gobierno, que reacomoda las fichas también dentro del CC: los integrantes con más dominio dentro del organismo además forman parte de un grupo religioso que puede ser calificado como minoría en el país, pero que toma grandes decisiones por éste: los Legionarios de Cristo.

Este grupo cuenta con un líder espiritual, el padre Marcial Maciel, fundador de la ultra conservadora Universidad Anáhuac y quien tuvo gran apoyo de Juan Pablo II para dar mayor poder a dicha agrupación religiosa de elite en México, misma que es por demás influyente en las decisiones que toma el CC.

Ello ha permitido que dentro del CC exista un espíritu católico de derecha del cual no habla alguno de sus estatutos ni mucho menos su manual de gestión de calidad ISO 9000. En este contexto nace la campaña Honestidad, tema creado para explotarse durante 15 años, pero que también permite censurar otros temas como la discriminación o la libertad de expresión. Lo anterior, por el boicoteo comercial promovido por varias empresas anunciantes contra Canal 40 y otros medios de comunicación, que en abril de 2002, entre sus noticias, expusieron los casos de pederastia cometidos por Maciel.

Read the whole article here.

Dumping Trash in Chile. Yes, the Legion of Christ does it. Wherever they want to.

See original here in Spanish.

Defendamos la Ciudad entregará antecedentes a CDE en denuncia a Legionarios de Cristo
Enviado por Publimetro el 21/07/2008 a las 18:23

La fundación Defendamos la Ciudad entregará antecedentes al Consejo de Defensa del Estado (CDE) en denuncia a la congregación Legionarios de Cristo por alteración a áreas verdes en la comuna de Lo Barnechea.

De acuerdo a la fundación, y verificado por la Dirección General de Aguas, el titular del predio de "Cerro del Medio" efectuó rellenos de escombros, provenientes de un colegio, también de su propiedad, en los cauces naturales del sector con lo cual se afecta el escurrimiento frente a crecidas de invierno, poniendo en riesgo a los vecinos.

El presidente de Defendamos la Ciudad, Patricio Herman, afirmó que "con el propósito de no incomodar a la alcaldesa con los poderosos particulares miembros de esa congregación que residen en su comuna, hemos decidido que nuestra fundación entregará los antecedentes al Consejo de Defensa del Estado".

Agregó que esperan que el CDE "presente las acciones judiciales en contra de esa devota y desobediente institución eclesiástica, la que, curiosamente, imparte valores a los jóvenes en los diversos establecimientos educacionales que posee".

El dirigente de Defendamos la Ciudad subrayó que "pudimos verificar que la autoridad municipal ha adoptado algunas iniciativas para que la díscola congregación religiosa entienda que en Chile existe un Estado de Derecho que se debe respetar, pero también observamos que las exigencias municipales no tenían la fuerza necesaria para que el violador se allane a cumplir con el marco regulatorio".

Are there any laws that they respect?