The Daugher of Marcial Maciel and Her Half Brothers file Suit, Part III

Consequences: re-found the order or eliminate

La hija de Marcial Maciel y sus medios hermanos demandan
Third and last part
Por (By) Sanjuana Martínez for CIMAC

Mexico City, August 14, 2009 (CIMAC).- Las denuncias de los abusos de Marcial Maciel remeció a la opinión pública y al andamiaje de la Iglesia Católica, pero un gran apoyo silencioso mantiene el un precario equilibrio a los Legionarios de Cristo, quienes se replantean un cambio que podría alejar a su feligresía.

The claims of Marcial Maciel's abuses rocked public opinion as well as the very framework of the Catholic Church, but a great and helpful silence maintains the fragile equilibrium of the Legionaries of Christ, who are rethinking a change which might chase away their faithful followers.

LOS HIJOS Y EL VATICANO THE CHILDREN AND THE VATICAN

Los comisión formada por el Papa Joseph Ratzinger para la inspección de los Legionarios de Cristo que deberá entregar su informa en octubre está formada por Watty Urquidi de Tepic, Ricardo Belázquez de Bilbao, Ricardo Ezzati Andrello de Chile, Charles Joseph Chaput de Denver y Giuseppe Versaldi de Alessandria, Italia.

The commission formed by Pope Joseph Ratzinger to investigate the Legionaries of Christ which must hand in their report in October is comprised of Watty Urquidi of Tepic, Ricardo Belázquez of Bilbao, Ricardo Ezzati Andrello of Chile, Charles Joseph Chaput of Denver y Giuseppe Versaldi of Alessandria, Italia.

“El equipo que ha elegido Ratizinger ya muestra claramente por dónde van ir los resultados. Roma tenía dos opciones: elegir un equipo que extendiese un tupido velo de silencio sobre el asunto o nombrando visitadores que en principio están todos en contra.

"The team that Ratizinger [sic] chose clearly shows where they want the results to go. Rome had two options: choose a team that would extend a shroud of silence over the whole thing or name visitors who in principle were against them.

Lo que sí me consta es que los Legionarios han iniciado una especie de chantaje con algunos, pero ellos aparentemente están dispuestos a presentar informes que obliguen a los Legionarios de Cristo a refundarse, a limpiarse profundamente como los Capuchinos. Tendrían que renunciar a la memoria del fundador, tendrían que condenar a Marcial Maciel. Además la actual cúpula legionaria: Corcuera, Garza y Cristóforo tienen que desaparecer junto con Maciel, porque fueron sus protectores”, dice el vaticanista Vidal.

What I do know is that the Legionaries are playing a kind of game with some, but they are apparently willing to present reports that oblige the Legion to re-found itself, to clean up deeply like the Capuchins. They will have to renounce the memory of the founder, they will have to condemn Marcial Maciel. Also, the actual Legionary command: Corcuera, Garza y Cristoforo [sic, should be Sada Derby] will have to disappear along with Maciel, because they were his protectors" says the vaticanist Vidal.

Los resultados de la inspección, sin embargo, no se harán públicos porque los visitadores están bajo secreto pontificio al igual que sus informes que deberán incluir el capítulo de los hijos de Maciel y las anomalías estructurales de la congregación.

The results of the investigation, however, will not be made public because the visitors are under pontifical secret and their reports should include a chapter on Maciel's children and the structural anomalies of the congregation.

La gran duda que surgirá entonces es por qué durante 50 años supuestamente nadie supo de las tropelías de Maciel: “Lo supieron y lo encubrieron. Ratzinger y el papa Wojtyla si sabían porque tenían informes de los primeros abusados. Tenían informes sobre cantidad de cosas. ¿Por qué Juan Pablo II lo siguió protegiendo hasta el final? ¿Por qué Ratzinger lo condena cuando Maciel ha muerto? El caso Maciel salpica directamente al Papa magno, al Papa que será Santo dentro de poco”.

The question in everyone's mind is why for 50 years did no one supposedly know about Maciel's turpitudes: "They knew about them and they covered them up. Ratzinger and Pope Wojtyla did know because they had reports of the first abuses. They had reports about many things. Whey did John Paul II continue to protect him to the very end? Why did Ratzinger only condemn him once Maciel had died? The Maciel case sullies the great Pope directly, the Pope who will be a Saint very soon."

Por eso es necesario, según José Barba, una comisión de laicos que investigue independiente el caso Maciel para informar a la sociedad en su conjunto: “La Iglesia no es inocente, es corresponsable o culpable de esta situación porque la permitió. Todas estas cosas que ha hecho Maciel estaban escritas en informes desde finales de los años cuarenta y cincuenta. El Vaticano encubrió a Marcial Maciel, pero el más culpable es el Papa Juan Pablo II”, comenta José Barba quien le envió personalmente una carta al pontífice en 1997 señalando puntualmente las aberraciones de Maciel.

Because of this it is necessary, according to Jose Barba, that a commission of laypeople independently investigate the Maciel case to inform the whole society: "The Church is not innocent, it is co-responsible and guilty in this situation because it allowed it to occur. All of this things that Maciel did were written in reports from the end of the '40s and '50s. The Vatican covered up for Marcial Maciel, but the man most responsible is Pope John Paul II," comments Jose Barba who sent a personal letter to the pontiff in 1997 detailing Maciel's aberrations.

Más aún, los encubridores como el cardenal Angelo Sodano siguen manejando los hilos dentro de El Vaticano: “A Maciel lo encubrieron la Secretaría de Estado dirigida por Sodano, la Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe dirigida por Ratzinger, la Congregación para los Religiosos y algunas otras instituciones. Lograron bloquear toda investigación en su contra, las congelaron todas”.

Moreover, the enablers such as Cardinal Angelo Sodano continue to manipulate strings in the Vatican: "The Secretariat of State, headed up by Sodano, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith directed by Ratzinger, and the Congregation of Religious along with other institutions covered up for Maciel. They managed to block the investigation against him, they froze everything."

Lo que está en juego con la inspección vaticana a los Legionarios es mucho más que la conducta de un pervertido y su doble vida. Para Alberto Athié la herencia del fundador y sus vástagos representan incluso una cortina de humo para distraer la atención del nivel de envergadura en torno a la revisión de la Legión de Cristo: “La visita apostólica pareciera un ente que no tiene nada que ver con lo sucedido en torno a Maciel, aunque fue parte de la complicidad y el encubrimiento. Ahora visita a un ente enfermo y lo hace como si la visita viniera de una estructura pura que busca limpiar a un ente corrupto. Es un esquema parcial y dará una información sesgada. La investigación completa del caso Maciel seguirá pendiente”.

What is in play with the Vatican's investigation into the Legionaries is much more than the conduct of a pervert and his double life. For Alberto Athie, the legacy of the founder and his offspring represent a smoke screen to distract attention from the level of importance about the revision of the Legion of Christ: "The apostolic visit seems to be a thing that has nothing to do with the filth surrounding Maciel, although it was a part of the complicity and the cover-up. Now the visit is to something sick and it is being done as if the visit is from a pure entity which looks to clean up a totally corrupt one. This is a partial view and will give biased information. The complete investigation of the Maciel case will remain pending."

Añade: “Lo importante es que analicen el mecanismo que creó Marcial Maciel al interior de la congregación con su conducta, con la generación de sus víctimas que los volvió cómplices, victimarios y encubridores; varios de ellos son ahora superiores mayores. Son la cúpula. Esa cúpula es precisamente la que está en una grave crisis ante un amplio grupo de sacerdotes que fueron leales a la Congregación y que están hoy indignados. Dentro de la Legión hay gente muy valiosa que no hay que olvidar”.

He adds: "The important thing is that the mechanisms created by Marcial Maciel inside of the congregation be analysed, along with its conduct, with the generation of his victims who became his accomplices, victims and enablers; many of them are now major superiors. They are in the top levels of power. It is this top level that is in a grave crisis with a large group of priests who were loyal to the congregation and are now indignant. Within the Legion, there are valuable people whom we should not forget about."

Los sucesores de Marcial Maciel han sugerido que extirpando al fundador todo se resuelve, pero según Athié una refundación de la Legión es prácticamente imposible: “El tumor es Maciel y lo quieren extirpar pero ya hay metástasis. Parecía que la Congregación se salvaba quitando al tumor pero resulta que tiene metástasis en el cerebro que son las actuales cabezas. Ese grupo de la cúpula tiene que ser extirpado. ¿Hasta dónde van a llegar? Ya lo veremos. Allí esté el Regnum Christi en el centro neurálgico de la cuestión”.

Maciel's sucessors have suggested that cutting out the founder will resolve everything, but according to Athie, refounding the Legion is practically impossible: "The tumor is Maciel, and they want to cut it out, but it has metastisized. It seems that the Congregation will be saved by removing the tumor, but there is metastisis in the brain which are the actual heads or leaders. This group of leaders has to be cut out. How far should they go? We will see. The Regnum Christi is in the neurological center of the matter."

--¿Por qué no puede existir una Refundación de la Legión como la de los Capuchinos?

--Why can't the Legion be refounded like the Capuchins?

--La refundación tiene la riqueza de recuperar la propuesta del fundador que se volvería a la regla o la santidad de alguien que llame a la refundación. En el caso de Maciel era el cuarto voto: el de silencio, todo lo demás no tiene novedad, salvo el tema de atender a las clases privilegiadas. Al refundarse no podría volver a las fuentes del fundador: ni en la propuesta ni en la persona.

--A re-foundation has the richness of being able to recover the original proposal of the founder and return to the rule or sanctity of someone who calls for the refoundation. In the Maciel case, there was the fourth vow, that of silence, all the rest is nothing new, except the thing about ministering to the privileged classes. They cannot return to the sources of the founder, not to his proposals nor to his person.

Entonces, ¿cuál refundación? La metástasis se puede pasar a otros focos de infección. El gran temor de El Vaticano, hay que decirlo claro, es que con su desaparición se registre la pérdida de las familias adineradas para la Iglesia, pero el caso Marcial Maciel es de tal corrupción y daño a la institución que apenas empiezan a vislumbrarse sus consecuencias”.

So then, what about refoundation? The metastasis would then go on to other points of infection. The Vatican's great fear, it must be clearly stated, is that with suppression, many wealthy families will be lost for the Church. But the Marcial Maciel case is one of corruption and damage to the institution which is only beginning to show its consequences."

Por lo pronto, el escándalo de los hijos se perfila intenso a base de acuerdos millonarios extrajudiciales y demandas civiles que, según José Barba, no son más que lo que ellos se cansaron de denunciar: “Ojalá que la Legión tenga vida suficiente para garantizar esas pensiones vitalicias que ha empezado a dar a cambio de silencio. Que comience por pensar en sí misma. Es una grave ironía”.

For the time being, the scandal of the children in under intense scrutiny because of million dollar settlements outside of the courts and civil suits which, according to Jose Barba, are no more than what they have been able to demand: "We hope that the Legion will live long enough to guarantee these life pensions which they are beginning to give out in exchange for silence. The Legion has to think of itself. This is a serious irony."

Become a Real Co-founder/Co-worker

Be a cofounder to the family God gave you
By Pete Vere

Over the past week, several Regnum Christi members (both current and past) have shared with me their heart-wrenching experiences as more accusations arise against Fr. Maciel. Most of these Catholic are mothers of families, although some fathers and singles have written me as well. The big question, I keep hearing, is the following: What do we do to help those left behind, those who refuse to believe any of the allegations, and who don't want to discuss the truth?Simply put, we pray for them. That's all we can do. They have had over six months to digest what's happening, and to make sense of this information. If they still are not ready to do so, or if they have done so and arrived at a conclusion different than your own, or wish to await the outcome of the apostolic visitation, then we must respect their consciences. Perhaps some may still change their minds, at which point they will come to you.

However, don't remain idle until then. Here is something else you can - and should - do. That something is to become a cofounder and formator to the family God gave you. Your family is your first priority before God. Spend more time with them, enjoy their company and lead them to Christ.

God works in mysterious ways and the message to focus on family was hammered home to me on at least four occasions this week:

1 - The first was Tuesday evening when many of the new accusations against Fr. Maciel were still breaking. I was tempted to work on it well into evening, given the queries I had received, but my wife was physically exhausted. She has held the family together for the past six weeks while I was away doing ministry for all of July and then catching up with my day-to-day apostolate upon my return in August. So she and the baby went to bed, and the other kids and I went to the auto races like I had promised them.

I used the time driving to and from the racetrack to pray several decades of the rosary with my children, teaching my three-year-old the words to the Hail Mary. Come Wednesday morning, the LC/RC still had its problems. However, my wife was feeling rested, my children were telling all their friends what a good time they had, and my three-year-old was running around in a pull-up praying to the Blessed Mother.

LESSON: You have one priority as a parent when it comes to apostolate. That's your family. Become a cofounder with Christ to the family God has blessed you with.

2 - Had a short conversation sometime this week with a friend of mine who use to dabble with schismatic traditionalism. He has since returned to the Church, but we spent years hammering each other online. However, our conversation this week had nothing to do with traditionalism. We simply exchanged pointers for ministry among friends and family, how to bring them closer to Christ despite the challenges of today's culture, and how to overcome personal hurts to evangelize. He signed off telling me how spiritually rewarding it felt to be a father to his children, introducing them to their prayers and Church teaching. This is something he never felt as a keeper of liturgical minutiae. Nevertheless, the arguments we engaged in a decade ago are still waging, despite the fact neither of us participates in them any more.

LESSON: There will always be a surplus of apostolate in the outside world, as well as religious arguments and people willing to argue them. So don't neglect your immediate family and friends.

3 - My parish pastor approached me about starting a catechetical program for young married couples in the parish. "You write for every Catholic publication in Canada and the United States promoting family," he said. "And you travel all over the place promoting family. But young couples and families in our parish are falling away from the practice of the faith because I have nobody to put together a family religious education program in the parish you attend every week with your own family." Point well taken.

LESSON: If there's not enough apostolate in your family to keep you busy, there's plenty in your local parish.

4 - I was reading one of St. John Chrysostom's homilies on the New Testament after having read several messages from people discussing how much pressure they had felt to send their children to apostolic schools, or enroll them in this or that apostolate directed toward young people. "Don't leave your children's spiritual education to monks," the Church father and doctor said, before exhorting parents to raise their children in the ways of the Lord.

LESSONS: A) There is much spiritual wisdom and advice in the saints and Church fathers that you can rediscover in your free time. 2) The Church has always recognized parents as the primary educators of their children, particularly in spiritual matters. Don't neglect your own children's religious education to boost your checkmarks on the apostolic deeds column.

In the end, pray for those who are taking the news hard, and keep a shoulder open for them to cry on when they need it. However, do a careful examination of your current priorities when it comes to apostolate and the prioritization of your time. Your family should come first. You should first become a cofounder to the family God gave you. This is what Christ has called you to do.

Exlcblogger adds: it can never be God's will that you give up the primary duty of raising your children to others, even if they pretend to represent the Church. Anybody who says that leaving your family behind for a monthly pre read letter and a monitored phone call with a yearly scheduled visit is part of their vocation simply does not have a vocation.

New questions about Legionaries of Christ

--Now the question everyone is asking: Who knew what, when and for how long? And yes, it does matter.

A woman claiming to be the mother of Fr. Maciel's daughter speaks.

By Jason Berry — Special to GlobalPost

Published: August 13, 2009 20:49 ET

NEW ORLEANS — On Dec. 5, 1994, seven daily newspapers in Mexico City ran half-page ads with a photograph of the Legionaries of Christ founder, Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, kissing the ring of Pope John Paul II. An open letter from the pope, celebrating Maciel's 50th anniversary as a priest, called him "an efficacious guide to youth."

On Tuesday in Mexico City, an attorney named Jose Bonilla announced that Maciel had six children. Two daily papers, La Jornada and Milenio reported that Bonilla was taking legal action against Maciel's estate on behalf of three of them, who are now adults. Bonilla is seeking legal recognition for his clients as heirs to Maciel. Only one has been identified.

Norma Hilda Rivas, 23, reportedly born in Mexico, now lives in Madrid "and enjoys a level of affluence such that she does not work [and] lives in a luxury apartment ... acquired by Marcial Maciel with money from the congregation's benefactors," according to La Jornada.

Bonilla's announcement is just the latest action against Maciel, who died in 2008 at the age of 87. In 1941, Maciel founded the religious order the Legionaries of Christ and became the greatest fundraiser of the modern church.

John Paul never wavered in his support of Maciel, even after a 1998 canon law case filed in a Vatican tribunal by eight former Legionaries accused him of abusing them as seminarians.

The case gathered dust until 2004, when Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in the final months of John Paul's life ordered an investigation of Maciel. A few months later Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI. In 2006, Benedict dismissed Maciel from active ministry, though without specifying why.

In February, the Legion shocked its followers by disclosing that Maciel had fathered a daughter out of wedlock. The Vatican announced a new investigation, this time of the Legion itself. Catholic blogs have raised questions about the daughter, her mother, whether they have financial support from the Legion, how much — and how long — Legion officials knew about them.

In June the Holy See named six bishops from as many countries as "visitators" to gather information from Legion schools, seminaries and colleges in Latin America, North America and Europe.

As the investigation progresses, it seems that one of Maciel's hidden connections has gone public. Rivas's mother was interviewed in an Aug. 9 report in the Madrid webmagazine PeriodistaDigital. "When I met this man I was under aged," Norma Hilda Banos, identified as 48 and a native of Acapulco, said of Maciel. "Neither my daughter nor I knew who this man really was until the very end."

The daughter "was abused by her father, Maciel," PeriodistaDigital quoted Hilda Banos as saying. "She suffers from severe trauma from her childhood and I don't believe she is ever going to get over it."

The site further reports that Maciel left Hilda Banos "two homes in her name in the exclusive Madrid building where she lives and three [other] places, all valued at about 2 million euros."

The report states that mother and daughter receive a generous monthly stipend from the Legion in exchange for their silence, citing Bonilla as a source.

Bonilla won a civil judgment against the Legion several years ago in a suit on behalf of his own child, who was sexually abused by a teacher at the Legion's elite Oxford School in Mexico City, according to Milenio.

As the Holy See presumably awaits the results of the Apostolic Visitation by the investigating prelates — including Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput and Bishop Ricardo Blazques of Balboa, Spain — a larger question concerns the church itself.

How long have Vatican officials known that Maciel had a child, or children?

Father Alvaro Corcuero, the Legion director-general chosen by Maciel to succeed him when the founder stepped down in 2004, undoubtedly had access to the Legion's financial records. At what point did he advise Benedict of what he knew?

The decision by which Corcuero began disclosing that Maciel had "a double life" to Legionary members last February clearly was not his alone. The Vatican understandably wanted to put distance between Benedict and the Legionaries. In that sense, the bishops' investigation of the Legion is also providing cover for the pope.

The issue now is not just Maciel's sordid secret life but financial accountability. If the Legion gave material support to one or more children of Maciel, any number of benefactors he cultivated in establishing a religious order with a $650 million budget for schools and colleges in North America, South America and Europe were duped, if not defrauded in a legal sense.

The Legion's legendary fundraising operations drew heavily on videotapes in which Maciel appeared with Pope John Paul II. In one video, John Paul tells a large gathering from the balcony at St. Peter's, "You are all sons and daughters of Father Maciel."

Jason Berry is coauthor of "Vows of Silence," a book about Maciel, and producer of a documentary about the 2006 Vatican prosecution.

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From Fumare: Masters of Deception

Indeed, There is Nothing New Under the Sun

A religious order accused of heinous crimes and investigated by a temporal authority and is found to have conducted its affairs with duplicity, "hav[ing] had two doctrines, one concealed and reserved for the Masters . . . the other public . . . Thus they deceived the adversaries whom they sought to supplant."
The Pope reluctant to do anything, actually sticks up for the order. Eventually describes the cause of reluctance:

"Because it did not seem likely nor credible that men of such religion who were believed often to shed their blood and frequently expose their persons to the peril of death for Christ's name, and who showed such great and many signs of devotion both in divine offices as well as in fasts, as in other devotional observances, should be so forgetful of their salvation as to do these things, we were unwilling . . . to give ear to this kind of insinuation ... (hujusmodi insinuacioni ac delacioni ipsorum ... aurem noluimus inclinare)." (Edith Starr Miller, Occult Theocracy. Hawthorne, CA; The Christian Book Club of America, 1933, p.51, citing Michelet, Proces des Templiers).

On papal questioning, they admitted under oath that the charges were true. The Pope, however, still refused to take action against the whole Order merely because the Master {founder, prelate, superior} and Brethren {the higher ups} around him had gravely sinned" (Webster, Secret Societies, 54). Instead, he decided to hold a papal commission.

The Knights Templars, as it turned out, had been masters of deception, experts in duplicity, appearing to serve Christ on the surface while actually having nothing to do with religious practice in substance.

Sounds an awful lot like things happening today. Do the people who have difficulty seeing the problems with the Legion of Christ suffer perhaps from the same reluctance of Pope Clement V? Or, is it that they think Holy Church hasn't had her share of frauds throughout her years? Do they think putting a crucifix on the logo makes it automatically safe from error and duplicity?

When it Rains, it Pours: Part II, Marcial Maciel's Daughter and Her Half Brothers File Suit

From CIMAC

Segunda de tres partes

Second of three parts

Por (by) Sanjuana Martínez

México, DF, 13 de agosto 09 (CIMAC).- Los tres hijos identificados de Marcial Maciel buscan la reparación de daños por la patología sexual de un ser que iba destinado a santo. Es una lucha que se asoma difícil, llena de vericuetos y laberínticos caminos. El secreto de los bienes de los Legionarios de Cristo está protegido por leyes eclesiásticas; pero, en todo esto, hay voces que hablan de una verdad guardada celosamente por las autoridades de El Vaticano.

Mexico City, August 13, 09 (CIMAC)- Marcial Maciel's three known children are seeking the award of damages for the sexual pathology of a man who was determined to be a saint. It is an atonishingly difficult fight, full of the twisted and maze-like paths. The secret of the assets of the Legionaries of Christ is protected by ecclesiastic laws: but, in all of this, there are voices which speak of a truth that has been zealously guarded by Vatican authorities.

La Legión de Cristo es una auténtica multinacional, no sólo financieramente. Cuenta con más de 850 sacerdotes, tres mil seminaristas y setenta mil laicos, agrupados en su asociación Regnum Christi en más de 40 naciones. Su emporio educativo se compone de más de 145 colegios, nueve universidades y 21 institutos superiores: “La gran fortuna de los Legionarios está a salvo”, dice con tono contundente el vaticanista Vidal.

The Legion of Christ is a true multinational corporation, not only figuratively so. They have more than 850 priests, 3000 seminarians, and 70,000 lay people, groups of the Regnum Christi association in more than 40 countries. Their educational emporium counts more than 145 schools, 9 universities and 21 learning institutes: "The Legion's great fortune is well protected," says the Vatican expert Vidal, in a resounding tone.

“A nivel legal se deben haber cubierto las espaldas desde hace tiempo”. “Fueron ellos mismos los que lanzaron la noticia de que Maciel tuvo una hija. En ese momento ya tenían legalmente hecha la separación de los bienes personales de Maciel y los bienes de los Legionarios. Habrá mucho dinero de por medio y los abogados tendrán que ver si había o no separación de bienes. Si todo era de Maciel y todo estaba a su nombre y él lo gestionaba todo, la pregunta es: ¿Cuándo se produce la separación? Les será muy difícil a los herederos obtener una herencia. Tal vez como resarcimiento moral, como en el caso de la pederastia, obtengan una compensación, pero nunca lo que les hubiera correspondido de la herencia”

"On a legal level, they must have covered themselves for a long time now." "They themselves broke the news that Maciel had a daughter. By now they must have legally separated Maciel's personal assets from those of the Legionaries. There must be a lot of money involved, and lawyers will have to determine if there was or was not a separation of assets. If it all was Maciel's and it all was in his name and he directed it all, the question is: When was the separation made? It will be very difficult for heirs to get his estate. Maybe as moral reparations, such as in the case of pedophilia, they might be able to get compensation, but nothing that would correspond to an inheritance."

¿Cuánto dinero ha acumulado la Legión en 50 años? Para Vidal es muy difícil conocer los números de la fortuna: “Es imposible hacer la cuantificación de ninguna congregación religiosa, menos de los Legionarios de Cristo. A grosso modo pueden ser veinte mil millones de euros, pero yo creo que es mucho más. Es como cuantificar a los jesuitas o al Opus Dei.

How much money has the Legion amassed in 50 years? Vidal thinks it very difficult to know the figures involved in the fortune: "It is impossible to quantify any religious congregation, much less the Legionaries of Christ. More or less it could be in the range of 20 billion euros, but I believe it to be much more than that. It is like trying put a value on the Jesuits or the Opus Dei."

LAS MUJERES DE MACIEL

MACIEL'S WOMEN

Uno de los capítulos hasta ahora inéditos en la inacabada biografía de Marcial Maciel fue su relación con las madres de sus hijos. Las dos mujeres de estos tres supuestos herederos tienen mucho que decir al respecto: “Norma Baños es de Acapulco. Se mostró en todo momento temerosa. Tiene miedo y al mismo tiempo me sorprendió que dijese que conoció a Maciel a los 15 años. Cada vez se confirma más que Tarsicio Bertone, secretario de Estado de El Vaticano, intercedió por ella y presionó a los propios Legionarios para que le diesen el dinero que pedía y eso se quedase en el interior, controlado, pero hoy en día es imposible controlar nada para los periodistas que, tarde o temprano, sacarán sus fotos y sus historias. Una vez que sabemos el nombre y que la conocemos, que se sabe dónde vive; nosotros o cualquier otro intentará la fotografía de Norma Hilda”, dice Vidal con respecto a su reportaje en coautoría publicado por el suplemento dominical “Crónica” del periódico español “El Mundo” sobre la hija de Maciel.

One of the unwritten chapters in the unfinished biography of Marcial Maciel was his relationship with the mothers of his children. The two women of the supposed three heirs have much to say with respect to this: "Norma Baños is from Acapulco. She has always been fearful. It is more and more certain that Tarsicio Bertone, Secretary of State of the Vatican, interceded on her behalf and pressured the Legionaries themselves to give her the money and asked her to keep quiet and controlled, but today it is impossible to control journalists who, sooner or later, will get their photos and their stories. Once we know the name and we meet her, and we know where she lives, we or someone else will try to take Norma Hilda's picture," Vidal says with respect to his report coauthored and published by the Sunday Cronica of the Spanish El Mundo newspaper about Maciel's daughter.

En el caso de la madre de Raúl y Christian, la situación es distinta. Es el hijo de 28 años quien ha emprendido la búsqueda de la justicia, mientras ella sostiene una nueva relación de pareja intentando rehacer su vida y su hijo menor se mantiene al margen del asunto: “Son mujeres que Maciel conoció en su entorno, cercanas a su círculo, pero no se trata de mujeres con dinero, como Flora Barragán. Las utilizaba, a algunas les quitaba el dinero, pero, por lo visto, a otras las usaba de otra forma. Si ha abusado de Norma Baños a los 15 años y, si además ha abusado de los hijos, pues imagínate. Lo que está claro es que este Maciel era un pervertido total. Por nada que toques, sale porquería por todas partes”, señala Vidal.

In the case of Raúl´s and Christian´s [sic] mother, the situation is distinct. It is the 28 year old son who has looked for justice, while she is in a new personal relationship trying to rebuild her life and her youngest son is staying on the sidelines of the issue: "They are women who Maciel knew around him, part of his inner circle, but they are not women with money, like Flora Barragan. He used them, from some he took money, but it seems that he used others in another way. If he abused Norma Baños when she was 15 years old, and if he also abused his children, just imagine! What is clear now is that Maciel was a total pervert. Whatever he touched, filth resulted all around,¨comments Vidal.

Norma Baños se ha presentado como una víctima más de Marcial Maciel, afirmando que no tenía conocimiento de la identidad del hombre con el que procreó una hija y mantuvo una relación. Vive en un auténtico bunker, en una urbanización de lujo madrileña con estricta vigilancia, donde entran y salen en coche ella y su hija: “Yo creo que Norma Baños supo desde el principio quién era Marcial Maciel. Eso no se puede sostener. Ella, por muy pequeña que fuera con los 15 años que dice haber tenido, debió saber con quien mantenía relaciones. Ella estaba en ese círculo”.

Norma Baños suggests that she is one more of Marcial Maciel´s victims, affirming that she had no idea of the identity of the man with whom she had a daughter and maintained a relationship. She lives in a real bunker, in an luxurous gated community in Madrid, where she and her daughter only enter and leave by car: I believe that Norma Baños knew from the start who Marcial Maciel was. The contrary cannot be sustained. She, however small she was at 15 as she says she was, should have known with whom she was in a relationship. She was in his circle."

“DEBILIDAD HUMANA"

"HUMAN WEAKNESS"

Los hijos de Maciel son considerados por la jerarquía católica como una debilidad humana. De hecho, con la alta población eclesiástica, El Vaticano supuestamente estaba estudiando reconocer a los “hijos del pecado” de algunos de los 500 mil sacerdotes y cinco mil obispos que existen en el mundo.

Maciel's children are considered to be a human weakness by the Catholic Heirarchy. Actually, with the high numbers of clergy, the Vatican supposedly is studying how to recognize the "children of sin" of some of the 500,000 priests and 5000 bishops in the world.

El periódico italiano “La Stampa” publicó que el cardenal Claudio Hummes, prefecto de la Congregación para el Clero, estudiaba la forma en que la Santa Sede podía asumir dicho problema, un secreto a voces entre los más de cien mil millones de católicos que existen en el mundo: “Los hijos viven en las sombras y es justo y sacrosanto que la institución eclesiástica se preocupe de ofrecerles mínimas garantías, al menos patrimoniales. En nuestra comunidad los tenemos en casa, les ofrecemos un trabajo, una perspectiva de vida para evitar que se hundan en la desesperación y el abandono", dijo el padre italiano Antonio Mazzi, fundador de los centros de voluntariado "Exodus".

The Italian newspaper, The Stampa, published that Cardinal Claudio Hummes, prefect for the Congregation of the Clergy, studied the form in which the Holy See could affront such a problem, a secret amoung the 100 billion [sic] Catholics in the world: "these children live in the shadows and it is holy and just that the ecclesiastic institution see to it to offer them minimal guaranties, at least a patrimony. In our community they have a home, they are offered work, a perspective of life to avoid that they are abandonned and fall into despair," says the Italian priest Antonio Mazzi, found of the Exodus volunteer centers.

Sin embargo, El Vaticano desmintió que estuviera estudiando medidas para que los hijos de los sacerdotes puedan llevar el apellido del padre y heredar sus bienes personales y consideró la información al respecto "sin fundamento: “No sé hasta qué punto esta noticia publicada venía motivada por el caso de los hijos de Marcial Maciel. Ellos deben saber que no sólo existe Norma, sino que hay varios hijos más y en este momento es muy fácil comprobar con el ADN que ese señor tuvo unos cuantos hijos. Las pruebas de ADN son concluyentes”.

However, the Vatican denied that there was ever a study conducted with the aim that the children could take the priests' last name and inherit their personal estates and considered such reports to be unfounded: "I do not know up to what point this news was motivated by the Marcial Maciel case. They should know that not only Norma exists, but that there are various other children and at this time it is pretty easy to compare DNA with this man who had a certain number of children. DNA testing is conclusive."

Las mujeres de Marcial Maciel son un capítulo aparte en su vida que empieza a despertar inquietudes diversas: “Se está hablando de las mamás de los hijos de Maciel, pero ¿qué pasa con las amantes de Maciel, aquéllas que no tuvieron hijos con él, pero mantuvieron relaciones? Su capacidad de seducción era muy fuerte: sedujo niños, jovencitas, niñas, mujeres casadas con empresarios portentosos y sedujo hombres, empresarios y gentes de poder. Los sedujo de formas distintas”.

Maciel's women are a separate chapter of a life that has give rise to many questions: "The mothers of Maciel's children are being talked about, but what happens with Maciel's lovers, those with whom he did not have children, but with whom he had sex? His suductive powers were pretty strong: he seduce boys, young women, girls, women married to powerful businessment and he seduced men, business men and powerful people. He suduced them in different ways."

Illegitimi non carborundum Blog Has Tough Questions for You, Alvaro Corcuera

Questions for Fr. Alvaro Corcuerra, L.C.

Today the Internet was buzzing with new allegations regarding the scandalous life of Fr. Marcial Maciel, L.C., the founder of the Legionaries of Christ. Much of what was reported has been already known by many for many months.

I think it is essential that Fr. Alvaro Corcuerra, L.C., the present General Superior of the Legionaries of Christ make a full disclosure regarding the following questions that many Legionaries, ex-Legionaries, benefactors and parents of Legionary seminarians have been asking for a long time.

The following is a list of honest questions. These are not accusations or affirmations. These are only questions. If the Legionaries of Christ are to gain any credibility as a Catholic Congregation of priests, Fr. Alvaro Corcuerra, L.C. needs to answer these questions with total honesty and sincerity. The reform of the Congregation lies in his hands.

Here are the questions:

1. Why was Marcial Maciel expelled from the seminary of his uncle, Bishop Rafael Guizar y Valencia? Did his uncle find out that Marcial was involved in a homosexual ring of seminarians? Did this discovery cause his uncle to have a heart attack and die suddenly?

2. Why was Marcial Maciel suddenly expelled from the Jesuit seminary of Montezuma? Did his superiors discover that he was involved in a homosexual ring of seminarians?

3. Was Marcial Maciel guilty of having sexual relations with his first benefactor, Talita Retes? Is this the reason why she supported him?

4. Why is the Legion of Christ admiting to Father Maciel's double life regarding his lover and his daughter? Why are they not admiting that Father Maciel has been guilty of abusing numerous seminarians since the foundation of the Congregation? Another words, why is the daughter the main issue and the allegations of homosexual abuse not an issue?

5. Is it true that the Vatican already has on file the proof that Fr. Maciel had numerous children, that he abused numerous seminarians, that he was a drug user and that he used money from his benefactors to support his children? If this is true, why is the Vatican conducting an Apostolic Visitation? Will the Apostolic Visitation just be a smokescreen? Will the Legionaries buy off Vatican officials in order to protect their own corrupt organization?

6. Is it true that there was a cover up regarding the double life of Fr. Marcial Maciel? How many Legionary superiors knew about his proclivities and said nothing? How many Vatican officials knew about his "lifestyle" and said nothing because they were receiving money and gifts to keep quiet? How many Mexican prelates knew about his double life and have said nothing?

7. Was Father Marcial Maciel running a homosexual ring of priests and seminarians within his Congregation? Are some of these priests presently involved in active
ministry within the Catholic Church? Is the leadership of the Legionaries of Christ a homosexual ring of abused and abusers? If there is a network, does this network have links with people within the Vatican?

8. Did Father Marcial Maciel receive money from the Masons to fund his apostolic projects? Was Father Marcial Maciel involved in international Masonry? Are the Masons using Maciel's scandalous life to destroy the papacy of John Paul II?

Norma (23 years old), Raul (28) and Cristian (18) are their names

ATTENTION: a 28 year old son puts at least one of Maciel's "indiscretions" in 1981, well before the brain surgery, so there is NO EXCUSE!

Update: English Translation via www.life-after-rc.com

Maciel's Daughter and Her Two Half Brothers File Suit
By Sanjuana Martínez
First of Three Parts

Their last names don't matter. He didn't register them legally, he only left them tied by blood and the weight of their origin. That blood, cursed or blessed, is the blood or Marcial Maciel, founder of the Legionaries of Christ, biological father of Norma, Raúl and Cristian. Sanjuana Martínez tells us about it on Cimac.

All three are branded by the same fate, and all three have suffered directly the sexual pathology of an individual once destined to become a saint. Norma lives in Madrid, while Raúl and Cristian (who share the same mother), live in Cuernavaca. The three of them want to obtain part of their father's inheritance. The three of them seek reparation for the damage inflicted by their progenitor, as well as recognition about their paternity.

Norma, age 23, has reached a settlement with the current leadership of the Legionaries of Christ and, in return for her silence, she receives a pension for life that allows her to live with all the amenities at the luxurious Los Madroños complex in Madrid, Spain.

In contrast, Raúl and Cristian, ages 28 and 18, respectively, until now have lived modestly, even with financial dificulties, waiting for the support of the Legion after their father's death, which has been denied to them. Raúl and Norma know each other, but are now distant. Money generates fighting.

Raúl, who shares certain physical traits with his father, has photographs, documents, letters, information about bank accounts, e-mails, even recordings that prove his family ties with the founder of the Legionaries. Determined to seek what is rightfully his, he looked for help from other victims of clerical pederasty, and he has found the legal support that will allow him access to the fortune his father left after 50 years of accumulating properties and enormous sums of money offered by pious Catholics who believed in him and in his Order.

To prove his identity, he's willing to submit himself to DNA testing to begin a struggle that he knows before hand will be long and difficult, if he doesn't first reach an out-of-court monetary settlement that would save him, his brother and mother, many headaches.

“All three of them will have to demonstrate they are Maciel's children,” says José Manuel Vidal, who is a Spanish Vatican pundit and director of Religión Digital (Digital Religion), and who since the beginning of the year has followed the trail of Maciel's children. “Fortunately, in Mexico it's easy to get a DNA test. That will be definitive. The next question will be is: Are they really entitled to a portion of the multi-million dollar inheritance of the Legionaries of Christ?”

The value of the Legionaries of Christ's wealth is a pontifical secret. As is the case with most religious orders, their wealth accumulation has been constant, with the distinction that in this case the offerings from millionaire benefactors have been generous and abundant.

Just how large is the Legionary fortune? Gross estimates place the figure at more than 30 billion dollars ($30,000,000,000). “The problem is that they are very astute. Almost nothing is under their name, much less under Maciel's name. As a matter of fact, here in Mexico, according to a seven-year-old, 53-page document from the Office of the Secretary of the Interior states that the only property under the name of the Legionaries would be the little chapel of Anahuac University in Tecamachalco,” says former Legionary José Barba during an interview.

Even worse, the daughter and sons of Maciel would face serious problems to obtain a portion of the inheritance because Church law forbids priests, bishops and cardinals from owning and passing down possesions: “From the perspective of the congregation, there is nothing that is inheritable from Fr. Maciel to his children or to anybody else, for that matter, even when he raised millions of dollars and even disposed of them at will, as it seems he did. In statutory terms it is not possible to exercise an inheritance, and he definitely could not have left a will,” says former priest Alberto Athié to Cimacnoticias – who once denounced the sexual abuses Athié, who promised the former rector of Anahuac University Juan Manuel Fernández Amenábar – when the latter was on his deathbed – that he would seek justice for the abuses Fernández Amenábar suffered from Father Maciel, is blunt about it: “What can indeed happen, as it did with daughter Norma, is to reach a settlement in the form of goods and a pension for their provision. They, the mothers of these children, could have filed a civil suit against Macial for having engendered these children and not having assumed responsibility for them; then, yes, the judge can enforce some kind of indemnization.

The civil path, then, seems the most appropriate one for Maciel's children to obtain some money but, according to Athié, not even this route is certain. “Let's say that it all comes down to a sentence from the civil judge for the children to obtain a portion or the total inheritance. The response they are going to get is that Father Maciel was incapable of passing down anything because he didn't own anything, because this is a part of Canon Law, especially pertaining to legislation on religious congregations. Therefore, the most viable path is out-of-court settlement, as was the case with the young lady living in Madrid.

The problem with out-of-court settlements is that, what's establish in return is silence, and the truth that ought to be made known in full to society about Maciel's double life would again remain hidden. What's most sensitive about this matter, according to José Barba, is that these young people might be moved simply for money: “To us, in contrast, the Church has never given us any reparation, and I know for a fact that among the victims of Maciel are people with serious financial problems.

Among the “name lenders” of the moneys accumulated by Maciel are not only his faithful followers, but also Armando Arias Sánchez and two brothers with the last name Carredano. “Maciel was very astute to scheme everything, to put assets under other people names. He'd use all these ploys and he was accountable to no one about anything. This much is known: the school in Rome, since the fifties, is under the name of a German Franciscan.

Los tres hijos de Maciel demandan su herencia

Por RD

Jueves, 13 de agosto 2009

Sus apellidos no importan. Él no los registró legalmente, únicamente los dejó unidos por la alianza de sangre y el peso de su origen. Esa sangre, maldita o bendita, es la sangre de Marcial Maciel, fundador de los Legionarios de Cristo, padre biológico de Norma, Raúl y Cristian. Lo cuenta Sanjuana Martínez en Cimac.

Los tres son hermanos de padre, los tres están marcados por el mismo destino y los tres han sufrido en carne propia la patología sexual de un ser que iba destinado a santo. Norma vive en Madrid, mientras Raúl y Cristian (hermanos de madre) radican en Cuernavaca. Los tres desean obtener parte de la herencia de su padre. Los tres buscan una reparación al daño infligido por su progenitor y un reconocimiento de paternidad. Los tres exigen se les entregue lo que legítimamente les pertenece.

Norma, de 23 años, ha pactado con la actual cúpula de los Legionarios de Cristo y recibe, a cambio de su silencio, una pensión vitalicia que le permite vivir con todas las comodidades en la lujosa urbanización de Los Madroños en Madrid, España.

En cambio, Raúl y Cristian de 28 y 18 años, respectivamente, han vivido hasta ahora modestamente, incluso con dificultades económicas, esperando el apoyo de la Legión después de la muerte de su padre; algo que les ha sido negado. Raúl y Norma se conocen, pero ahora están distanciados. El dinero genera pleitos. Además, la relación entre ambos está marcada por el trauma de los abusos.

Raúl, que guarda un cierto parecido físico con su padre, tiene fotos, documentos, cartas, información de cuentas bancarias, e-mails, e incluso grabaciones que prueban su vínculo familiar con el fundador de los Legionarios. Decidido a buscar lo que dice le corresponde por derecho, buscó ayuda en otras víctimas de pederastia clerical, y encontró el apoyo legal que le permitiría acceder a la fortuna que su padre dejó después de acumular durante 50 años propiedades y enormes cantidades de dinero ofrendadas por piadosos católicos que creyeron en él y en su Orden.

Para demostrar su identidad, está dispuesto a someterse a una prueba de ADN, a fin de iniciar una lucha que sabe de antemano será difícil y larga si antes no llega a un acuerdo económico extrajudicial que les ahorraría a él, a su hermano y a su madre, muchos quebraderos de cabeza.

“Los tres tendrán que demostrar que son hijos de Maciel”, dice de entrada el vaticanista español y director de Religión Digital, José Manuel Vidal, quien desde principios de este año les sigue la pista a los hijos de Maciel. “Afortunadamente, en México una prueba de ADN es fácil conseguirla. Eso sería definitivo. La pregunta que surge a continuación es: ¿Realmente les corresponde algo de la herencia multimillonaria de los Legionarios de Cristo?”.

La riqueza de los Legionarios de Cristo es un secreto pontificio. Como en la mayoría de las órdenes religiosas, la acumulación de riqueza ha sido la constante, con la particularidad de que en este caso, las ofrendas de millonarios mecenas han sido generosas y abundantes.

¿A cuánto asciende la fortuna de los Legionarios? Los cálculos a grosso modo sitúan la cantidad en más de 30.000 millones de dólares: “El problema es que ellos son muy astutos. Casi nada está a su nombre, mucho menos a nombre de Maciel. De hecho, aquí en México, según señalaba la Secretaría de Gobernación en un documento de 53 hojas de hace siete años, la única propiedad a nombre de los Legionarios sería la capillita de la Universidad Anáhuac en Tecamachalco”, dice en entrevista el ex legionario José Barba.

Peor aún, la hija y los hijos de Maciel enfrentarían serios problemas para obtener una parte de la herencia, porque las leyes de la Iglesia prohíben a sus sacerdotes, obispos o cardenales poseer bienes y heredarlos: “Desde el punto de vista de la congregación, no hay nada que sea heredable de parte del padre Maciel a sus hijos o quien sea, aunque él haya recaudado millones de dólares, e incluso dispuesto de ellos a discreción, como parece que lo hizo, en términos estatutarios no puede darse un ejercicio de herencia, y él definitivamente no pudo dejar un testamento”, dice a Cimacnoticis el ex sacerdote Alberto Athié, quien en su momento denunció los abusos sexuales que Maciel cometió contra sus discípulos.

Athié, quién prometió a Juan Manuel Fernández Amenábar, ex rector de la Universidad Anáhuac antes de la muerte de éste, que intentaría hacer justicia por los abusos que Amenábar sufrió del padre Maciel, es contundente: “Lo que sí puede haber, como en el caso de esta muchacha Norma, es acuerdo institucional de darle bienes y una pensión para su manutención. Ellas, las madres de estos muchachos, podrían haber interpuesto una demanda ante un juez civil contra Maciel por haber engendrado unos hijos y no haberse hecho responsable de ellos, y entonces el juez sí puede exigir el cumplimiento de alguna indemnización”.

La vía civil, pues, parece la más propicia para que los vástagos de Maciel intenten obtener dinero, pero según Athié, ni esta posibilidad es segura: “Supongamos que hay una condena de un juez civil para que parte o la totalidad de la herencia pase a sus hijos, la respuesta que le van a dar especialmente es que el padre Maciel no tiene la capacidad de heredar porque no posee bienes, porque esto forma parte del Derecho Canónico, particularmente lo que tiene que ver con la legislación sobre religiosos. Así que lo más viable son los arreglos extrajudiciales como en el caso de esta muchacha que vive en Madrid”.

El problema con los arreglos extrajudiciales es que a cambio se establece el silencio y la verdad que debería conocer la sociedad en su conjunto sobre la doble vida de Maciel quedaría nuevamente oculta. Lo más delicado del asunto, según José Barba, es que a estos muchachos los mueva únicamente el interés del dinero: “A nosotros, en cambio, la Iglesia nunca nos ha dado una reparación, y me consta que hay entre las víctimas de Maciel gente que tiene severos problemas económicos. A nosotros nunca nos movió el deseo de obtener dinero”.

Entre los prestanombres de los dineros acumulados por Maciel se encuentran no sólo sus fieles seguidores, sino también Armando Arias Sánchez y los hermanos de apellido Carredano: “Maciel era muy astuto para argüir todo, para poner a nombre de otras personas los bienes. Él hacía sus vericuetos y no daba cuenta a nadie de nada. Hay un dato: el Colegio de Roma desde los años cincuenta está a nombre de un franciscano alemán”