I think that it is shocking that the Legion be permitted to continue. No reason why ex-members (as they would be) couldn’t choose to join smaller groups - join other established orders - move into local priesthood ministries or work as dedicated hermits. The Legion has too chekered a history to be allowed to continue.

I am a Regnum Christi member from Mexico.  After reading your article, I find it a bit judgmental towards Fr. Garza and the Legion.  It seems as if you know as a fact that there is something wrong about his declarations.  I believe you should give him and the rest the right of the presumption of innocence.  One’s innocent until proven guilty. And this interview didn’t raise any more questions for me.

I would like to ask Fr. Garza why the Legion didn’t comply with the Holy See’s order to compel Fr. Maciel into a life of prayer and penance. As superiors it was their duty, instead they allowed him lo live normally as nothing had happened. I was in the south of Italy for vacations and Maciel lead a completely normal life and the superiors encouraged us to rever him as a saint, albeit suffering unjust persecution. That is the real obedience of the Legion to the Holy See. Maciel only retired in october and even attempted to participate in Bishop’s Guizar canonization.

If as Fr. Garza says the foundational charism under the founder spoke of a deep and Christ-centered spirituality, why is after 70+ years they are only now getting around the being more centered on Christ in their personal life?  Would that not mean what the founder passed on was not a charism at all, and membership are still trying to find that original foundational experience that should define any order?

The descriptive nature of charism is very wordy, just giving a list aspects of Christian living that in fact seem to loose harmony among themselves, and contradict even.  Are you monastic or not, i.e. which means your apostolate is secondary and of minor consequence?  Are you forming lay leadership to evangelize or are you evangelizing the masses- and how do you distiguish this from what every Bishop and Pastor is trying to do in his parish?

On issues of the absence of Americans- it seems after 50+ yrs in the US there should be more American ownership of the declared charism- is it a sign the Americans just will never own what the LC was and has become.  The very fact a Mexican with little or no experience in carrying direct work with Americans has been sent to take over is clearly a sign of some failure, is it not?

It also seems the crisis of charism is a crisis of sources that feed the group well into the future. Most canonists would say rule can protect but are not the charism itself- for that a patrimony is needed. But the LC has no original sources, the founder’s witness is very corrupt, his cofounder’s colluded with him or blinded by him, even the original constitution has a dubious and flawed genesis, perhaps was never full approved.  With no authentic foundation experience that has the signs of credibility would it not be best to start with a total re-foundation?

Actually Americans have the lowest perseverance rate among priests, one out of three americans ordained is out. Probably we are more critical and intolerant with evil than mexicans.

Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.(1 Corinthians 4:5)

Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.(Romans 14:13)

Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.(Luke 6:37)

No more promotion of scandals, PLEASE. Catholics should re-read at least what the Catechism teaches about scandal. SILENCE AND PRAYER is what is needed. Gonzalo T. Palacios, Ph.D.

I have been a strong supporter and advocate for the Legion for many years - even joining Regnum Christi even though I did not have an actual appostolate. I helped several seminarians and young priests over the years and was amazed at the holiness and devotion to Our Lord and His mother that these men had and fostered. Most of them were highly successful men before entering the seminary and all were very traditional in their theology. All were “men’s men”.  While I did not know about the vow to not criticize their superiors, they did advise that the order did not condone criticizing local Bishops or dioceses. 

There was a high degree of admiration for the founder and I was given several of his books. But,  to tell you the truth, they did not give me much insight —which I did find kind of unusual after reading other founders writings.

Over the years, there were several people on blogs that called the Legion a cult that forced people to do things they did not want. I never saw this but was taken aback by the great number of people who were critical. None of the criticisms at that time were about the sins of the founder so I find it insightful that so many present critics find it hard to accept that members did not know about the founders problems. I too found the interviewer to be accusatory in tone. But, that seems to be the way of journalism today. 

So, now what to do !  Do you throw out the baby with the bathwater?  Most liberals in the Church would love to do just that.  But, to me, there is just too many good priests in the Legion to just throw them out in the street.  Yet, it is hard to see how they can continue after all that has happened. Maybe the best thing to do would be to start over with a new order of the same men under the direction of a new leadership appointed by the Holy Sea.

to Dr. Stern: If you are so shocked you probably do not know many LCs. They are decent people. It would be a shame to punish them for something they are not responcible for.
to PSiena:
The Charism of the Legion was always Christ centered, from the start.
A charism is given not just to a founder, but to the foundational group. It is not a dead thing in the past, but alive, living in the congregation, which has the duty to express the charisim in a specific time and place as best they can. The Legion needs to do some healthy “updating”.
Also, Fr Garza is not unexperienced with Americans. He studied his BA in the US and in his role as Vicar General has visited dozens of times working on high level projects. Besides, I doubt if Mexicans are so universally incompetent as you suppose.
to ex Legionary priest: Not to pick a fight, but I recall supposing that going on vacation or making contact with Legionaries did not count as “public” ministry, but was “in house”. I guess we were wrong, but the Holy See clarified and the Legion did obey. You have to admit that the spirit of obedience has been pretty good throughout this mess. Personally, I think it is important to recognize the good things and the bad things for what they were, with allot of peace and objectivity. I think the good outweighed the bad.
Yours
Dave Monahan

I am wondering about the veracity of the claim to know about Maciel’s behavior in 2006 when in fact photos are taken in the LCs own retreat center showing the daughter and wife, Maciel and consecrated members- one of which was LG own sister. This would have occurred over a year prior. Other LCs have commented on the phenomenon from the same period- yet the VG discovers one year later?  At any rate we have still Fr. Garza preaching this in May 2005: “May 25th 2006 homily “I want to see into Nuestro Padre’s eyes, to see the footprints God has left on him, to know why he is so devoted, why he overcomes so many difficulties and lies, why does he have such an intense faith…Due to my vocation I am the son of this man that I proudly call Nuestro Padre…” 

At the end of the day, the LC still has yet to answer how did they buy into such a lie. Even after the abolition of the private vow the order remained in denial until the summer of 2009.  Who were the persons who did this? What techniques were used, are they still there?

@Dave:
1) Yes a charism when it is real lives in the men of the order- but it is renewed and confirmed from its original sources- historical in nature. If there are problems there, there will be problems of authenticity going forward. The foundational experience of the collective that you refer too is severely tainted. The group nurtured unhealthy practices that aided and abetted the lifestyle of MM among other things. The Holy See’s communique of May 2009 spoke of a power structure in need of change, a charism still to be defined, and efficiency at any cost spirit.  It tells us that the foundation period is at a loss to contribute much to order’s identity or authenticity.

2) I made no comment on the capability of a Mexican superior- only that as is well known, all Upper level superiors of the order (DG) were Mexican, and some believe if there was a charism it never came out of its Mexican armor to show its universality. Mexicanidad was the term Cardinal Rode used is identifying a distinguishing characteristic of the LC style. 50+ years and no significant American leadership to date, and at this critical juncture- not good.

Once again- Garza has never carried out apostolic work at a lower or middle level of leadership that would indicate he personally holds ownership of the US work at a grass roots level.

James, I think these photos do not prove anyting. Do you really think Fr. Maciel introduced these two ladies as his lover and his daughter? Is there a blurb on the picture, “Hello, I am Maciel’s daughter”?
Do you remember the pictures which surfaced a few months ago of Schwarzenegger assisting at his son’s baptism and during many years nobody knew that he was the fahter and not the other guy next to the mother of the baby.

I applaud Fr. Garza’s honesty.  The Legionaries of Christ priests I know are holy and orthodox and I love them and pray for them and all priests.  The interview was, nonetheless, shocking, to say the least.  I am always amazed by how certain Church leaders often mirror certain corrupt, modern U.S. political leaders living in a vacuum, or should I say, certain corrupt modern political leaders living in a vacuum mirror certain Church leaders. Fr. Garza should not have accepted this or any future leadership roles in the Legionaries of Christ.  This takes courage, though.  Sorry- this decision to appoint him and his decision to accept the appointment does not pass the “smell” test.  I believe Fr. Garza is telling the truth, don’t get me wrong.  I just believe he and the rest of the leadership have to go.  If you ask each one of the current leaders, “can the Legionaries of Christ survive without you”, all would say “Yes!”  No one is irreplaceable, so all you leaders that were serving during the tenure of your founder, take Fr. Garza’s commentary on living “more like monks” and commit to lives of silent prayer in a cloistered monastery. That would be in the “best interests of the Legionaries of Christ” and, I believe, deep down inside you know this to be true.  Courage, man!

While Fr. Garza is not American, but Mexican, I think he is well qualified and will do a good job leading the Legion and Regnum Christi, and I thought the interview, while pointed, at times, offered a transparent, inside look at the events of the scandal.

As a once extremely-involved Regnum Christi member who could not have imagined in my wildest dreams that such accusations would be discovered true, I often feel that the Legion and the Movement have a long road ahead of them. But to throw in the towel and eliminate the good that will come from them is far too foolish. This is the way that the Legion and RC will be purified and made into what God intended in the first place. Perhaps even the Holy See and various branches of the Catholic hierarchy will put better measures into place for the future, and continue to oversee what goes on within the organizations more closely.

It is only through time now that the Legion and Movement will regain what they have lost so that they can continue to serve the Church - which, according to what we members learned, was why the Movement existed in the first place.

Dave: you have a very strange idea of what prayer and penance is, but certainly Maciel’s vacations were not…You don’t need a PhD in Theology to know, and the Superiors recieved obviously precise instructions…

@Joan: Fair point, but the physical proximity of the daughter to MM was always indicative of more than a family friendship, and reports of the relationship that went to Fr. Alvaro seem to have surfaced from the same location at roughly the same time by other LCs. You are right though,  without a formal investigation however, we will never know in an authoritative manner who knew what when, and more importantly why they did nothing. Seems the Delegate has little interest in it at this point.

Fr. Euteneuer? Fr. Corapi? Fr. Maciel? This does not speak well of Catholics and Catholicism. There is a stuntedness, an immaturity, a lack of growth in any group which adopts a cult mentality. I explored and lost interest very quickly in Opus Dei when I heard members at an outdoor conference refer to their bishop (they enjoy a personal prelature), the speaker, as “Holy Father”. John Paul II could not relate to Maciel in a mature way. Look at the feting of Maciel at the Vatican in Nov., 2004 by JP II. In Jan., 2005, Cdl Ratzinger told Maciel to repair to a monastery as his file was reopened and the charges were substantial. Maciel was relieved by the Vatican in the 1950s as well. He infrequently said Mass and rarely prayed the Divine Office. Was he really a priest? This paper, the N.C. Register, was owned and operated by the Legion.

In reading this interview, I wonder how the number two person of a religous order can only see the founder every two weeks.  It appears that Fr Luis Garza LC was the one calling the shots with minimal input from the founder.  He was the top rooster in the hen house. I guess it would be easy to ignore things when it is in your best interest to do so.  The large number of ex-Legionaries that left because of what they saw would be evidence that problems where visible.
Also the fact that there has been no internal investigation, says that the leadership did not want themselves implicated. Would you want to know what went wrong?  This only happens in a closed network that is not accountable to anyone.  How convenient, that no one has to take responsibility for having done anything wrong.  Everything will go on as they have if we just keep on doing what we have always done
It kind of reminds me of contraception.  It looks like the real thing. It feels like the real thing. It even acts like the real thing but it isn’t.  If the Legionaries survive it will make a mockery of the great saints that have gone before Fr Maciel.  All that is necessary for founding an order is to be an organizational genius. That saint things is just a small detail.

Sono stato con i Legionari di Cristo a Cheshire, Connecticut (1993-1996). Ho sentito molte volte le conferenze di P. Graza. Essendo il collaboratore più stretto di Marcial e numero 2 (dopo Marcial) dei Legionari ha sempre parlato del fondatore Marcial. Lui p. Garza è una persona che è molto vicino a Marcial. Per esempio quello che lui dice non è vero: “What you cannot understand is that I never really dealt in a personal manner with Father Maciel. I just went in every two weeks to do my job — to present issues to him. Then I would leave….” http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/father-garza-father-maciel-and-the-legion/#ixzz1SimzygRC
P. Garza non ha parlato così durante il mio periodo con i Legionari di Cristo. Lui era una persona che sempre adorava e metteva in ginocchio davanti al padre Marical. P. Garza una volta anche detto che il cardinale Sodano è sempre disposto per fare quello che vuole p. Marcial insieme al segretario emerito del papa Giovanni Paolo II…
Un dottore di diritto canonico che è molto intelligente sa dire le bugie bene…!!! Chi sa mentire bene è intelligente?
Per dire bugie ci vuole cervello e infatti uno studio pubblicato sul British Journal of Psychiatry mostra che i bugiardi patologici hanno fino al 26 per cento di materia bianca in più in una regione della corteccia cerebrale già associata alla menzogna in precedenti studi. Autore dello studio, che potrebbe far luce su quanto ci sia di innato e involontario in alcuni comportamenti umani come quello di mentire al prossimo, il gruppo di Yaling Yang all’Università della California del Sud.

Lo studio ha coinvolto 49 individui di cui 12 considerati bugiardi patologici, 21 individui sani di controllo, 16 con disturbi di tipo anti-sociale anch’essi usati come gruppo di controllo. I ricercatori hanno esaminato varie caratteristiche associate alla bugia, dal semplice mentire al tradimento, dalla capacità di manipolare il prossimo a proprio favore al mentire per ottenere i benefici del fingersi ammalato. Gli esperti hanno poi esaminato il volume della corteccia prefrontale, una zona del cervello legata al rimorso e ai comportamenti indotti da considerazioni morali la cui attività, in precedenti ricerche, sembrava in qualche modo coinvolta nell’atto di dire bugie.

Osservando il cervello con la risonanza magnetica funzionale gli esperti hanno evidenziato una correlazione tra volume di sostanza bianca (i corpi dei neuroni, quindi la “materia pensante”) e propensione a raccontare frottole. I bugiardi incalliti avevano dal 20 al 26 per cento di sostanza bianca in più degli individui di controllo. Queste differenze di dimensioni non possono in nessun caso essere ricondotte a differenze di età, di etnia, di quoziente intellettivo o abuso di sostanze.

Questo a detta degli autori è il primo studio che associ una differenza anatomica al comportamento del mentire. I risultati sarebbero anche in buon accordo col fatto che i bambini autistici, cui si riconosce una corteccia prefrontale con volume ridotto di sostanza bianca, mentono in media molto meni dei coetanei sani. È probabile che queste differenze anatomiche siano un presupposto alla capacità di mentire in quanto dire bugie presuppone l’abilità di capire gli altri, sapere come manipolarli, inventare pretesti o giustificazioni plausibili, insomma avere un’ottima capacità di ragionamento magari associata a buone abilità linguistiche.

Il Papa Benedetto ha detto la verità in quanto riguarda le persone come P. Garza…
http://www.conchiglia.us/RIVELAZIONE_ITALIA/papa/Sporcizia_nella_Chiesa.htm
http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/2005/via_crucis/it/station_09.html

Chi sa mentire bene è intelligente? Per dire bugie ci vuole cervello…

http://www.ncregister.com/dail?y-news/father-garza-father-mac?iel-and-the-legion/

http://www.conchiglia.us/RIVEL?AZIONE_ITALIA/papa/Sporcizia_n?ella_Chiesa.htm

Here’s an interview of Fr. Garza on the Regnum Christi site.

http://www.regnumchristi.org/english/articulos/articulo.phtml?se=362&ca=966&te=707&id=33977

Whoever interviewed him was obviously friendly to the Legion/RC - it is worth noting that the overlap of questions is significant between the two interviews. However, a few here accuse Joan of being hostile. If you are friendly to LC/RC - just based on the questions alone - and you thought Joan was unfair - after reading the RC interview - do you still think she is unfair, and why? Which questions were unfair or hostile? I understand that the opening comments might be seen as negative (though they are simply a representation of facts). However, I am only asking about the questions themselves. Thoughts?

As a former Regnum Christi member I can honestly say there are many faithful, holy LC priests and Regnum Christi members, and I feel very badly they were deceived and betrayed.  Almost from the beginning of my involvement, I was very uncomfortable with the adulation heaped on Fr. M.  I actually walked out of a “meditation” during Spiritual Exercises because the topic was Fr. M., not Jesus Christ.  Several days later I withdrew my membership.
I was also uncomfortable with the deprivations LC’s endured—lack of heat, adequate food, etc.  When I learned about Maciel’s double life of luxury I was outraged.
The Legion of Christ and Regnum should be disbanded.  Although good came of the apostolate, it is rotten at the core.  Those still involved should take their desire to serve the Lord elsewhere.

Telthorst - I have talked with former RC folks who indicated that they didn’t believe the Vatican about his guilt and then after leaving they state that they don’t trust the Vatican with the reform. It seems to me that their judgement on both parts was interesting in that they seem to have never had a proper respect for the work of the Holy Spirit through the Church in either case. Your thoughts on this would be interesting to me. Do you disagree with the Pope on this one with respect to your opinion on disbanding? It seems you do but I don’t want to put words in your mouth.

Meinteresa mucho el artículo, en que sitio lo puedo encontrar en español.

Dios los bendiga y !gracias!!

Norma Alicia Zatarain de Caligaris.

“There had been accusations in the press since the 1990s. The Holy See issued a communiqué in May 2006 that was more shocking. In fact, a month before, the Holy See communicated to us that the founder was found guilty of the charges against him.”

This statement from Fr. Garza says alot:

1)  The Pope told Fr G that Maciel was guilty of the charges a month before the May, 2006 communique!  Fr Garza and Fr Alvaro were our spiritual leaders at that time and we looked to them to understand the Pope’s statement.  This is the first time (unless I missed it) - July, 2011 - that Fr. Garza has admitted this.  This is huge!
2)  In the written LC statement given shortly after the May, 2006 communique and in many meetings led by LC, all LC and RC were told of Maciel’s innocence and that like Christ he will not say anything against his detractors and he would offer his sufferings up for the LC.  That is blatant disobedience to the Pope (which is supposedly a hallmark of LC/RC) and blasphemy against Christ to publicly declare Maciel a suffering servant and make the Pope look like Pontius Pilate.
3)  Why were the abuse victims still slandered by the LC after May 2006 when Garza knew Maciel was guilty?  The Legion’s 2006 statement of innocence and leaving out Maciel’s known guilt of abuse in the Feb 2009 announcement were both additional conscious attacks on the innocent abuse victims.  To this day they have not received restitution and the way late apology in 2010 was lacking in truth and weak.  This makes Christ weep.
4)  Fr G and the LC leadership have never admitted their response to the 2006 communique was disobedient and against the Pope and a lie that misled thousands of priests, consecrated and lay.  That has to be done if there is any hope to move forward.
5)  Many of us who left wrestled with terrible feelings of guilt, loss and spiritual turmoil.  We were made to believe by words and actions of some in LC/RC that we were “jumping off the boat”, “leaving the foot of the cross”, and even treated as though we were leaving the Church.  Maciel and those who covered for him were the traitors, not those who left.  Those who left years ago and figured Maciel was a fraud and tried to sound the alarm were not thanked (as the Pope did) but were still considered and treated as enemies after 2006 and 2009 and to this day.

Now that we know for sure that Fr Garza was told by the Pope of Maciel’s guilt before the May 2006 communique, how can true, authentic trust and reform be built off the cover-up and lies?

There are many questions and mysteries surrounding the existence of the Legionaries of Christ that I do not see anyone discussing, such as:

• Judge a tree by its fruits.  In my opinion the fruits of the Legion of Christ have been overwhelmingly positive, especially in terms of producing exemplary priests and motivating lay people to work for the New Evangelization.  If the Holy Father wants this congregation to continue I support him in that.  The only negative fruit seems to be Fr. Maciel himself.

•If Fr. Maciel was as corrupt as is alleged it is impossible that he could have formed the great priests in this congregation.  I accept his corruption, therefore I must ask: Who are the true founders of the Legion of Christ?  Or, alternatively, was there ever a time when Fr. Maciel was as exemplary as once believed?  Did he suffer a brain injury?  Did he have multiple personality disorder?  Did he fall from grace?  Or was he never in a state of grace?

•Wish fulfillment:  Could Catholic disillusionment and distress with the state of the Church have been so acute in the mid-to-late 20th century that orthodox Catholic families and individuals used Fr. Maciel as an “armature” upon which they projected and sculpted an icon of perfect priesthood?  Could he have been a master at taking advantage of these desires?

A mí el señor Luis Garza no me ha dado nunca buena espina.
Pero tampoco el nuncio.
Luis Garza -a chi conosco- non mi ispira molta fiduccia. Ma neanche le persone del Vaticano che intervengono nel caso LC. Ci sono altri interesi di mezzo.
Vatican have another not spiritual interests.

Oh Dear So much confusion. How very sad. I and my husband have been RC members for eleven years in Dublin, Ireland.  We have seen the wonderful fruits and supports particularly for couples and young families. We have also seen wonderful vocations and witnessed outstanding spiritual direction. The Pope has given permission for the LC’s to be overhauled. But the process in slow. There are over 400 constitutions in the LC’s alone including constitution no 300: internal renunciation of one’s own judgement and will.If this type of constitution is left in, its an open door to evil, and history would only repeat itself. I have to say they are not all like that. That is about the worst one.  Its really a pity that the Constitutions cannot be changed faster. 5 years is a long time. Speed (with prayers of course) is of the essence, simply because we are losing great vocations and badly needed finances by the minute. If some LC’s like the idea of Monastic life we should all pray to St Padre Pio to save us.

@Martina and Bill:
  - No one is saying that LC priests, as priests have not brought benefits from the goods of the Church herself, and here I speak of spiritual goods which they are not the owner of, nor are specific to their supposed charism but move in the broad currents of evangelization in the Church.  When they exercise those goods you experience the holiness of the Church- not necessarily a charism. There may still be however no valid charism and the collective experience of foundation will just continue to wound or leave voids in these souls who commit to it.

  Do not let your gain become their pain! You cannot just look at some fruits and not others- there are bad fruits, grave evils- sexual abuse, violations of conscience, disabling of all fraternal relationship to let paternalism dominate, systemic deceit. Even before 2009 LCs were leaving in steady numbers.  So as you lobby for those good fruits do you really want them at the risk of someone else’s deformation and alienation from the Church? 

  - Ultimately the missing core good deals with the members under vows and promises: do they possess the charism of consecrated life, one for a lifelong commitment to consecrated life from a valid witness in the period of foundation?  They indeed did get results- but the spiritual carnage has been so unparalleled throughout the foundation history, the scandal so broad in its reach in the group including the system of power that the LC still seems to hold on to,  that it would seem better that those goods you speak of and that these men can offer,  find their place of distribution from some other place in the Church. At least that is a question that if the Holy See cannot answer it outright, ultimately God’s providence will.

In addition to my point about the 420 LC Constitutions. The Constitutions of St Francis and St Dominic (only 30 of them) are freely available on the Internet when Googled. We could have a new Constitution in the Legionaries within a week if the authoritities sanctioned it. This Constitution is in a Monastic Style. The Legionaries could be relaunched maybe under a slightly different name but still recognisable, as the former Legionaries and RC within a week. This could save great vocations and badly needed finances to do God’s Will.  I am my friends in my Prayer Groups will pray to St Pio to save us. One thing our unfortunate Founder got right was that we have very little time before Eternity.

I too am a former legionary. The difference between myself and the “former legionary priest” is that I am not afraid of saying my name. I too was there in that summer of 2006. Yes he was there, but if I recall correctly he was not there all the time for “public ministry” which was the prohibition of the Holy See. He had also asked specific permission to go to Rome for the canonization of his uncle Rafael Guizar, and that was the reason he was in Italy for that, and left Italy immediately after. Can you tell me where he was after that famous communiqué of May 16 2006? Did you know where he was after the month of October of 2006? I was there and had absolutely no clue where he was before and after… until he died I had no clue. In fact nobody did, even the press got wrong his place of death saying it was Houston or New York or Mexico… precisely because nobody knew where he was. Now if that is not a retirement from public ministry I don’t know what is. So please don’t say the Legion does not obey and comply witn the indications of the Holy See. The fact that I left does not give me the right to be critical of things I did not know about and understand while I was in. To be critical a posteriori is too simple…  Let’s all be patient and let the Holy Spirit work.

@Bill-Please stop using the good fruit/bad fruit analogy. Even the Devil knows scripture, and can quote it to appear “holy”.  Whatever good fruit came from the LC or RC is what is good about the Holy Catholic Church.  They can be good priest in diocese where they are needed.  The Catholic Church needs priests, not LC. Fr. Garza said the charism is to be Christ centered, especially in their personal life.  Isn’t that the call of every Christian.  How is that charism special?
I do not doubt there are priests in LC and people in RC who are members with the pure motive to bring others to Christ.  That was my motive in joining RC.  I really did not have any bad experiences in RC, until I was discerning to leave, and was yelled at by a LC priest to “think of my vocation.”  It was through spiritual direction and counseling from faithful Catholics outside of LC/RC that made me realize I was confusing RC with the Catholic Church and my vocation is to be a faithful Catholic wife and mother. I do not need to busy myself in apostolates to be holy or to bring others to Christ. 
I questioned my Spiritual Guide in 2006 why we were still reading Marciel’s letters when the Pope required to Marciel to a life of prayers and penance.  I was told Cardinal Sadano said to.  So the deceit doesn’t just lie with Fr. Garz and Fr. Alvaro and the other upper leadership in LC. 
I could no longer stay in RC or support any LC/RC aposotolates after I realized the truth about Marciel. I felt it wouldn’t be fair to the orginal victims. It was like saying, “Too bad what you went through, but my experience has been good.”  The fact that no real and sincere apology to the victims has been made infurates me.
Jim Fair (PR man for the Legion) has labeled Fr. Garza a “straight shooter.”  I hope he will answer some of the questions that people have raised in these comments.  The LC have a lot to do to gain trust and credibility, and it’s not just because of Marciel, but because of the poor way they have handled this crisis.  They seem more concerned with saving themselves than with speaking the truth clearly and humbly.

@Bill McKenzie: all answers to the questions you ask can be found at http://www.life-after-rc.com
It’s very important that you get the answers to those questins.

@Martina: Love your tenacity to find a good solution, however remember a Constitution of an order only serves to protect a valid and authentic charism experienced in its integral nature during the period of foundation.  For example most orders like the Franciscans, Dominicans have changed modified their constitutions a number of times since foundation in order to protect the founder’s (or foundations) original vision and particular witness of Christ.  This can make renewal of an order’s charism as simple and powerful as Fr. Cantalamessa, OFM put it: a matter of “seeing Christ, through the eyes of Francis.” Through whose eyes will the LCs see Christ?  Neither their founder, nor history of foundation as group has any defining and healthy moment to fix on. A charism without a locus of integrity and validity before the faithful is no charism at all.

A re-foundation is more of what you are looking for I think. It requires letting the men refashion a new beginning with a blank slate save their fundamental vocational aspirations and the adoption of a new sources of spirituality- essentially building a new patrimony. All previous history therfore would have NO authoritative reference for the future. All sources of the past are broken away from, and a new foundational witness would begin.  It would require a free choice, very healing in its effect, such that the men could commit to a new vision, or choose diocesan life, or enter another order. It may mean 3 or 4 groups, perhaps by region, seeking their own foundation experience as smaller more manageable religious family.  Unfortunately the current circumstances of renewal are just leading back to the original structure of denial- hence we have DePaolis fearing how some LCs are using the Internet and becoming a contagion for the young with their questioning. This does not looks good if they still have this much fear of the free flow of ideas and information.

James. Yes I agree with you, I think we need a new beginning with a blank slate. We could be refounded on any saint. That would need to be discerned. Thanks

“... there haven’t been formal accusations… he needs a credible accusation to begin an investigation”. ????????? Is it not heard that Fr. Alfredo Torres was the one who bought the department house for the woman with whom he had a child in Madrid? I may be mistaken about it, but I heard about it from trustable people from the iside of the Legion. Is it a very close cooperation? What about those legionaries who knew Maciel had diferent passports with different names? It is a crime and a sin because it is a lie, everybody knows it is a crime. Obedience justifies cooperantion in a crime and a sin like this? Is it the pragmatic mentality in which the end justifies the means? How much pragmatism is in the “Legionary” mentality?