More on "Four Deaths"

Continued from below

Poco más de una docena de personas fueron las elegidas para acompañarlo en sus últimos momentos y, de aquella jornada del 30 de enero de 2008, sólo les queda la certeza -y en algunos casos hasta el consuelo- de que el fundador de los Legionarios de Cristo ha muerto. Cuál fue la causa, cómo sucedió o incluso dónde ocurrió son preguntas que admiten más de una respuesta.

More than a dozen people were chosen to accompany him in his last moments, and, from that day on January 30, 2008, they were left with only one certainty - and for some even a consolation - that the founder of the Legion of Christ was dead. What was the cause, what happened or even when did it happen are questions that have given rise to more than one answer.

Marcial Maciel era uno, trino y hasta quíntuple. Tenía, al menos, cinco identidades diferentes. Era Raúl Rivas, amante de Norma Hilda y padre de Normita (ambas en viven holgadamente en Madrid), y Jaime Alberto González Ramírez, pareja de una mujer mexicana y padre de tres hijos en Cuernavaca. Pero también era el progenitor de un chico en Inglaterra y el de una joven en Suiza. A veces era Juan Rivas. Y siempre era Marcial Maciel, fundador de una de las congregaciones religiosas con más poder, conseguidor de incalculables fondos monetarios de dudosa procedencia y pederasta castigado en 2006 por el Papa a la oración y el retiro. Todos ellos murieron el 30 de enero de 2008, hace ahora dos años. Sus secretarios personales se encargaron de matarlos. ¿Cómo, si no, iban a poder poner al día todos los documentos de «nôtre père», como aún lo llaman? Había cuentas millonarias, propiedades repartidas por medio mundo, fideicomisos en Bahamas... Un imperio calculado en unos 20.500 millones de euros entre lo que conservó para sí, en todas sus versiones, y lo que puso a nombre de su Legión.

Marcial Maciel was one, triune, or even quadruple. He had, at least, five different identities. He was Raul Rivas, Norma Hilda's lover and father of little Norma (both live comfortably in Madrid) and Jaime Alberto Gonzalez Ramirez, the partner of a Mexican woman and father of three children in Switzerland. Sometimes he was Juan Rivas. And he was always Marcial Maciel, founder of one of the most powerful religious congregations, fundraiser of incalculable fortunes of doubtful origin, and pederast punished by the Pope in 2006 with retirement and prayer. They all died on January 30, 2008, two years ago. His personal secretaries were incharge of killing them all. How, if they didn't, were they going to update all of the documents of "Nuestro Padre" as they still called him? There were million dollar accounts, properties scattered throughout the world, trust funds in the Bahamas.... An empire calculated at some 20,500 million euros between what he had in himself, in all of his versions, and what he had put in the name of his Legion.

Así se explica su don de la ubicuidad y que Marcial Maciel falleciese a la vez -y que se sepa- en Houston (Texas), Washington; Cotija, su pueblo natal en México, y en Jacksonville (Florida). A las pocas horas de dejar este mundo y mucho antes de que los medios de comunicación conocieran la noticia, Wikipedia recogía su muerte en Florida. Aunque minutos más tarde, sospechosamente, la enciclopedia en la Red eliminó el lugar de la muerte de Maciel de su biografía. Dos días después, aparecieron los primeros obituarios en la prensa. The Denver Post y El Paso Times informaron del deceso del fundador de la Legión por causas naturales en Houston (Texas).

This is how his gift of being in many places at the same time can be explained, and how Marcial Maciel died, at the same time, in Houston (Texas); Washington; Cotija, his hometown in Mexico; and in Jacksonville (Florida). A few hours after he left this world and much before the media came to know the news, Wikipedia reported his death in Florida. Just minutes later, suspiciously, the on-line encyclopedia eliminated the place of Maciel's death in his biography. Two days later, the first obituaries appeared in the press. The Denver Post and the El Paso Times reported that the founder of the Legion died of natural causes in Houston (Texas).

¿Fue por causas naturales? Algunos legionarios aseguran que padecía cáncer de hígado. Otros informan de una operación en 2003 a corazón abierto en Houston. Y hay quienes se aventuran a decir que padecía demencia senil. «Había que emitir diferentes partes de defunción, cada uno con su motivo, para cada una de sus identidades», explica José Bonilla, abogado de los hijos mexicanos del legionario.

Were they natural causes? Some Legionaries affirm that he had liver cancer. Others talk of open heart surgery in Houston in 2003, And there are those who dare to say that he suffered from dementia. "They had to invent different ailments, each with its own cause, for each one of his identities", explains Jose Bonilla, attorney for the Mexican children of the Legionary.

Trust me, you are going to want to read this.

A new article appeared last week (January 31, 2010) in the Spanish newspaper, El Mundo. It is entitled "The Legionary who died four times and did not want to go to confession". I am going to try to translate it little by little. Be patient, please. It is long and a difficult translation, but I will do my best and post it a bit at a time before joining it together.

And it is gut wrenching for me that I ever believed any the bull-shit of the Legion of Christ.

In the mean time, you can read the original in Spanish here.

Here goes:

ANIVERSARIO / DOS AÑOS SIN MARCIAL MACIEL
ANNIVERSARY / TWO YEARS WITHOUT MARCIAL MACIEL

El legionario que murió cuatro veces y no quiso confesarse Hasta ahora se sabía, gracias a «Crónica», que tuvo al menos seis hijos y varias identidades. En el segundo aniversario del fallecimiento del fundador de los Legionarios de Cristo revelamos sus últimas horas, con la presencia de un exorcista

The Legionary who died four times and did not want to go to confession. Up until now, thanks to the "Cronica", it is known that he had at least six children and various identities. On the second anniversary of the death of the founder of the Legion of Christ, we reveal his last hours, in the presence of an exorcist.

IDOIA SOTA | JOSÉ M. VIDAL

El día que Marcial Maciel murió, se oyó, como en Pedro Páramo, un murmullo insistente como el que hace el viento al azotar las ramas de un árbol en la noche. Al afinar el oído, al igual que en la obra de Juan Rulfo, aquel bisbiseo apretado como un enjambre se definió en palabras casi vacías de ruido y llenas de piedad: «Ruega a Dios por nosotros».

The day that Marcial Maciel died, like in Pedro Paramo, a insistent whisper was heard as that which the wind makes when it whips the branches of a tree in the night. When we tune our hearing, just like in the above mentioned novel by Juan Rulfo, this murmur, pressed like a swarm of insects, comes together as words almost empty of sound, and full of piety: "Pray for us".

El día que Marcial Maciel murió (ayer se cumplieron dos años), la lujosa casa legionaria de Jacksonville (Florida) se convirtió en un ir y venir de hombres ensotanados. Todavía hoy conservan un rictus extraño en su rostro. Una mueca en la que se adivina que el final de Marcial Maciel hace justicia a una existencia vivida con exceso y fuera de toda ley, civil o divina. Algo horrible ocurrió en la habitación donde el fundador de los Legionarios de Cristo expiró.

The day that Marciel Maciel died (yesterday it made two years), the luxurious Legionary house in Jacksonville (Florida) was converted into a constant flow of cassocked men. Even to this day, they have a strange look on their faces. A sign in which we can guess that the Marcial Maciel's end does justice to an excess laden existence, lived totally on the margin of any civil or divine law. Something horrible happened in the room where the founder of the Legionaries of Christ died.

No Discussions in the Legion of Christ

Once again, more control and a gag order in place. Their own fault. More horrible management and mind control. No surprises here.

Fr. Corcuera urges charity as Legionaries discuss future

Mexico City, Mexico, Jan 28, 2010 / 10:52 am (CNA).- In a recent letter sent to members of the Legion of Christ, Director General Father Alvaro Corcuera, L.C., urged members to be charitable towards each other during their internal discussions regarding the future of the congregation.

In response to a growing exchange of emails between Legionaries about two main issues: the role their founder should play in the future of the congregation, and also the measures that should be put in place to prevent similar situations from happening, Fr. Corcuera called on members to “console each other and accompany each other mutually,” as Simon of Cyrene did for Christ.

Fr. Marcial Maciel founded the Legion of Christ in 1941. Though he died in 2008, revelations of his inappropriate behavior as a priest and leader surfaced early in 2009.

Responding to criticism by some in the Legion who accused their current leaders of being accomplices in the misconduct of their founder, Fr. Corcuera asked members to help one another “live this gift of peace, mutually encouraging one another, understanding one another, truly loving each other, mutually forgiving one another, without recriminating or judging each other, much less humiliating each other.”

A veteran Legionary who spoke with CNA to provide the context of the letter, explained that Fr. Corcuera has asked that the email exchanges, which express “charitably but energetically” conflicting positions regarding the future of the congregation, come to an end.

“These are differences that more or less run along cultural and linguistic lines,” he said, with some English-speaking Legionaries calling for an open discussion about the errors of Fr. Maciel and a change to the “internal culture” of the order. On the other side, many from Spanish-speaking countries think the sins of the founder should be left in the past and that the evils should be corrected “by the faithfulness of the members to the foundational spirit.”

The email exchanges, which have been ongoing for a month, motivated Fr. Corcuera to send a second letter on January 24, calling for an end to the email debates.

“I believe the exchange of opinions through emails between numerous groups of priests, as has taken place recently, is a display of trust and the love we have for each other. But I think that it will never end if we continue like this and we may even cause misunderstandings and opposing positions,” Fr. Corcuera wrote.

“We must all continue working, and seek the best path to allow everyone, especially priests, to calmly contribute with their gifts and reflections to responding to what God is calling us to at this time, especially through the direction which we expect to receive from the Holy See. For now we must let it mature in the hearts of each one of us, as a family, helping each other to purify and build up this work to which God has called us,” the letter stated.

At the beginning of the year, renowned American Legionary, Fr. Richard Gill, announced he was leaving the Legionaries of Christ over irreconcilable differences with his superiors about the direction the congregation is taking following the revelations of Father Maciel’s double life.

Currently, five bishops are conducting an Apostolic Visitation of the Legion and are expected to conclude in March 2010.

Strong words for the Regnum Christi

Stolen from a comment on Life-After-RC

To all in Atlanta,
I trust no one here at all.I put my THICKEST WALL up when I enter a Catholic Church.Anyone that approaches me in Church I assume they are INFECTED and I put on my surgical MASK.
I was BEFRIENDED at the TABERNACLE and at ADORATION so it has been like a SPIRITUAL RAPE.

I have learned SO MUCH and am in healing as I post but NEVER AGAIN WILL I TRUST ANYONE.
We were used and SUCKED dry of all we had and DISCARDED when we questioned some VERY IMMORAL dealings.So that was when we were treated like DISSENTERS to L/C practices.It is all ROTTEN/EVIL AND A CULT

Posted by: IN REMISSION IN ATLANTA | January 20, 2010 at 03:22 PM

No Freedom

Individual Legionaires may have given up this freedom, but you cannot give up the duty to be informed when making decisions about your vocation that the Church requires you to make knowingly and freely.

LOS LEGIONARIOS SE QUEJAN DEL CONTROL EPISTOLAR
From
AAAEGRLC: ASOCIACION DE AYUDA A LOS AFECTADOS POR LAS ENSEÑANZAS DEL GRUPO RELIGIOSO LEGIONARIOS DE CRISTO

Recientemente un hermano o padre recién salido de la Congregación, se ha puesto en contacto con esta Asociación.

Se ha quejado del control que tienen los superiores sobre las comunicaciones electrónicas, es decir, los e-mail. Al parecer, los superiores tienen claves de acceso al correo de sus súbditos, pero no solo eso, todos los correos que reciben del exterior (incluidos los familiares) son revisados por los superiores, incluso antes mismo de que el hermano los reciba. De modo que si el superior lo juzga oportuno, el correo es borrado del sistema, y nunca llega al destinatario.

Por medio de este control, los superiores evitan que los religiosos reciban información completa o alternativa, sobre lo que está pasando en la Legión, al tiempo que coaccionan a sus súbditos, para que no manifiesten “preocupaciones” o “disensiones” a sus familiares, y al tiempo que siguen fomentando aquello de “no preocupar a los familiares con problemas que sólo incumben a su relación con Dios y con la Legión”.

En esta misma página, se ha denunciado ya al art 383 de las Constituciones que dice literalmente: “El Rector o Superior del Centro, u otro religioso designado por él, revise todas las cartas y entregue sólo las que juzgue oportuno”.

Taking Issue with Thomas Peters

Minor stuff, or major difference?

Thomas Peters stated the following on his blog concerning Maciel when reporting Fr. Richard Gill's departure from the Legion of Christ:

What is clear is that [Maciel] was a gravely sinful man, and what matters at this point, when it comes to the future of the movement he founded, is who knew about his sins and colluded with him to hide them, especially if these persons have any ongoing involvement in the Legion.

Although an important question in the grand scheme of things, this blogger thinks that the key question when it comes to the future of the movement he (Maciel) founded is more along the lines of what Fr. Gill says in his letter:

I have believed that a rigorously honest approach to this terrible series of events was the only way to proceed. Furthermore, I felt that if done so, and counting on the help of the Holy See, it could even lead to true healing and renewal for the Legion and the Movement, even in spite of the truly serious questions it raises about the charism of the congregation.

The first question to be answered, and the one that will determine what future the Legion of Christ may or may not have, is "What or who was this man from the very first moment of the foundation of the Legion, and what did he really found?"

Faith does not answer this question. Neither does backward looking logic.

And it is going to take a lot of balls to face the answer on the part of the Legion and the Church, as well as every Catholic out there.

Gill's Words, History's Judgement

From Fr. Richard Gill's letter below:

But anything the Holy See can do depends also on the willingness of the Legion to examine itself and work on its own problems.

History has shown that this is one of the many reasons for the downfall of the Legion: they are simply not capable of self examination (which is so much demanded of individual members) as an organization. They can never admit that they were wrong. That would violate the private vow, lived and enforced as much today as it was before being abolished by the Pope. (But they will tell you that they don't profess it any more. Big deal. They still enforce it.)