-255x277.jpg "Legion of Christ photo")
CHICAGO — The Legion of Christ announced July 15 that Father Luis Garza, the vicar general of the embattled religious congregation, has resigned and will assume leadership of its newly created “Legion Territory of North America,” which combines the current Atlanta and New York-based territories.
The news about the appointment and the consolidation of the two U.S. Legion territories was posted on the Legion of Christ’s website, accompanied by statements from several members of the order’s leadership.
Father Garza will leave his post in Rome and assume his new duties Aug. 1, in a new development likely to fuel criticism and speculation from some present and former members of the order. Many have called for the order’s leadership — most notably Father Garza and Legionary Father Alvaro Corcuera, the general director — to resign after the explosive scandal generated by the confirmed abuse allegations against the founder, Father Marcial Maciel, resulted in a loss of moral credibility, membership and financial support.
Cardinal Velasio De Paolis — the pontifical delegate for the Legionaries, charged with overseeing reforms that will pave the way for a new constitution — also has been criticized for allowing Father Garza and other Legion leaders to remain in their posts.
In a July 3 speech, Cardinal De Paolis vented his frustration at the negative impact of “dissenters,” as he offered a “provisional assessment” of issues to be addressed before the Legion’s general chapter meeting, which will not be held before 2013.
The announcement posted on the Legion’s website acknowledged the difficulties that lie ahead, but held out hope for members and supporters of the order.
“America and Canada are countries that I have always admired, and I am humbled to serve as territorial director of the united territory,” said Father Garza in the public statement. “We face challenges, but I am confident that with God’s grace and the great dedication and enthusiasm of Legionaries and Regnum Christi consecrated and lay members we will be able to serve the Church.”
Father Corcuera confirmed that Father Garza’s appointment was made in “consultation with the Legion’s papal delegate” and at the request of the Legionary priests who presently direct the U.S. territories, Father John Connor and Father Julio Marti.
Father Corcuera presented Father Garza’s appointment as a stabilizing move. Last week, the order announced that the recently established University of Sacramento and the Immaculate Conception Apostolic School, a pre-seminary program for adolescent boys, would close. Last year, the Georgia-based Southern Catholic College was shuttered. Two K-8 schools also have been closed: Gateway Academy in St. Louis, and Woodmont Academy in Maryland.
“We are working together to face the challenges for our communities and our apostolates around the world, and with particular intensity in the United States and Canada,” said Father Corcuera. “We must lay more solid foundations on which to build and relaunch our service to the Church in those countries.”
Father Garza completed undergraduate studies in engineering at Stanford University when he was 19 years old. After entering the Legion, he studied in Rome, receiving licenciates in philosophy and theology and a doctorate in canon law.
But former Legionaries, who have called for the resignation of the present leadership, greeted the new appointment with skepticism and disappointment.
“Most recent changes among major superiors of the Legion have involved the same people interchanging positions. The appointment of Father Garza is a further example of this,” said Father Richard Gill, who left the order last year and now serves as a priest in the New York Archdiocese.
“Independently of his [Father Garza’s] many qualities, I fear that unless and until a new generation of leaders emerges — leaders not tainted by long and close association with Father Maciel — the effort to purify and reform the Legion will lack the public credibility needed to succeed,” said Father Gill, an associate pastor at St. Lawrence O’Toole Church in Brewster, N.Y.
Jack Keogh, a former Legionary priest who held a number of senior positions before his resignation, recently published a book about his experience in the congregation. He took a slightly different view of Father Garza’s appointment.
“It remains to be seen if this move is also designed to manage internal dissent in the U.S.,” he said. “While Father Garza has formidable skills, management experience and powerful connections to contribute to his new job, I suspect that this is really a transitional move designed to begin the process of dismantling current central leadership. Meanwhile, Father Garza can claim not to have been demoted.”
Keogh also retains a sharp memory of Luis Garza as a bright boy who arrived at the Legion’s Irish Institute in Monterrey, Mexico, while Keogh, then a member of the order, worked at the school. The Irish Institute was the pre-eminent Catholic boys’ school in Monterrey, the nation’s business center.
Keogh, who now serves as a management consultant, suggested that Father Garza’s resignation as vicar general and new appointment “may be a classic Vatican-style political move: Father Garza resigns as vicar general of the Legion in order to take control of the new ‘Legion Territory of North America.’ That way, he is removed from his key position in Rome without ‘losing face.’ Meanwhile, the former territorial directors, Fathers Julio Martí and John Connor, are moved aside.”
Father Garza had served as the Legion’s vicar general since 1992. He remains a consultor to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy; he was appointed to that five-year position by Pope Benedict XVI in 2008.
As vicar general of a once pre-eminent order that now faces demands for radical reform, Father Garza has managed the considerable logistical and personnel challenges generated by the scandal’s impact on the Legion and Regnum Christi.
Globally, there are 3 bishops among approximately 3,300 Legionaries, including priests, Religious and novices (brothers). In a statistical report for the Holy See, the Legion confirmed that in the years 2009 and 2010, a total of 42 Legionary priests left the congregation.
“The great majority of them are currently exercising their priestly ministry in a diocese while the canonical process is underway for their definitive incardination in the diocesan clergy,” confirmed Jim Fair, the order’s U.S. spokesman.
In a published statement, Father Garza acknowledged that it had been difficult to meet with grieving Legionaries and Regnum Christi members to console them after an investigation confirmed the allegations against the founder, who was also found to have fathered at least two children and kept several mistresses.
“Sharing shattering news with my fellow priests in the Legion and the consecrated members has been a dreadful experience,” he said. “We are all sad for the people who have suffered with all this and wish that with our penance and actions we could somehow repair the damage that has been done.”
Father Corcuera stressed the Legion will continue “to consolidate our communities and apostolates in such a way that the religious and consecrated members, under the care of the superiors and directors, have all the support they need.”
There is considerable anxiety regarding the order’s ability to stem the flow of departures by its priests and secure its finances.
Cardinal De Paolis noted in his recent speech to members of the Legion: “While it is true that in 2010 the institute suffered its greatest losses, it is also true that the exodus has been contained with regard to priests.”
But the cardinal criticized “the negative influence exercised by some companions who, upon entering the process of renewal, have adopted an absolutely critical attitude towards the path of renewal.”
“From the beginning, a group of members have joined together and been described, by whom I don’t know, as ‘dissidents,’” the cardinal continued.
Father Gill challenged the cardinal’s criticism of “dissenters.”
“In an earlier statement, the cardinal said the seminarians were leaving because their parents were unduly influenced by media reports. Now he appears to be saying seminarians are leaving because of dissenting voices. That is unfair and doesn’t even take into account they would make decisions because of their conscience,” said Father Gill.
The cardinal, he charged, “has botched any possibility of an investigation on how Father Maciel got away with this for so long and any possibility of holding [accountable] anyone who may have been complicit.”
Still, Keogh insists that he, like many other Legionary priests, never saw criminal behavior, though he did take note of some surprising behavior — such as the founder’s absence at daily Mass.
Keogh also remembers how the young Luis Garza finished high school at 16 and came from a wealthy family of entrepreneurs that continued to back the Legion over the decades, entrusting children and treasure to support the rapidly expanding religious order.
Today, members of Father Garza’s extended family are reportedly divided over their loyalties to the Legion.
The announcement posted on the Legion’s website did not address the order’s standing in Mexico, where Father Maciel first recruited boys and young men, including those who would later accuse him of sexual abuse. Critics allege that the first generation of young recruits, some of whom remain in senior positions — though not in the top leadership — were most likely to have witnessed the abuse and remained silent.
At present, no individuals within the order have been publicly singled out for blame by Church authorities. However, last year, on May 1, 2010, the Holy See issued a strong statement following the conclusion of an apostolic investigation into the Legion scandal.
“The apostolic visitation was able to ascertain that the behavior of Father Marcial Maciel Degollado has caused serious consequences in the life and structure of the Legion, so much so, to require a journey of profound re-evaluation. The serious and objectively immoral behavior of Fr. Maciel, supported by incontrovertible evidence, at times constitutes real crimes, and manifests a life devoid of scruples and of genuine religious feeling. The large majority of Legionaries were unaware of that life, particularly because of the system of relations created by Father Maciel, who had skillfully managed to build up an alibi, to gain the trust, confidence and surrounding silence and strengthen his role as a charismatic founder,” read one segment of the Holy See’s statement.
“At times, one could think that God has abandoned us. It seems like we are undergoing a long, very long Holy Saturday,” said Father Garza, in the recent published statement. “We are all waiting for the Resurrection, the moment when we can live our charism peacefully with the Church’s blessing, serving people and building the Church.”
Register senior editor Joan Frawley Desmond writes from Chevy Chase, Maryland.
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Joan, maybe you should try and visit directly with members of the Legion and/or Regnum Christi. It may shed some positive light on this story and the continuing journey of healing, purification and the cross that this group of people within the church are enduring. It wouldn’t hurt to have a little more balance when reporting this story including personal testimonies from those living their vocations and the experiences of the majority of members rather than selecting just the views of a couple of the directors and a couple of priests that left the order. It seems things are generalized too much and it comes across that you are speaking for the majority. I can’t help but feel that this article is misleading in it’s presentation. The founder obviously put the wool over MANY people’s eyes, think of Judas and the other apostles who were close to him, they even asked Our Lord on Holy Thursday who the betrayer was, they didn’t suspect Judas.
Awesome article. Well written. The Legion needs to get rid of their current hierarchy and replace them with priests who are not associated with Maciel all. I wish De Paolis had asked Garza to resign earlier. The longer these guys are running the Legion, the worse their situation is going to be.
Considering the views of 2 current members, both Fr Alvaro Corcuera as well as Fr Luis Garza were first represented in the article, Fr Gill and Jack Keogh’s views thankfully did provide needed balance. Also, Fr Gill is a recently departed member; his views are very pertinent to the situation, as he can now see both sides of life in the Legion. The National Catholic Register’s objectivity on matters related to the Legion is most welcome.
A very comprehensive and balanced story. A true turn-around from the Legion-run Register. Thank you.
Ms. Frawley,
I am coming from the opposite side of the fence from the preceding person. I commend you for attempting a balanced presentation of the facts regarding changes in the Legion of Christ in contrast to the very biased coverage by this publication when it was owned by the Legion.
In an organization where incoming and outgoing information continues to be controlled, it is very hard to know what is really going on inside the Legion and the Regnum Christi. Archbishop De Paolis recently made some adjustments to the previous very strict norms which amounted to “information control” a cult-life feature of an organization denying basic human rights to access information. That control led members to be ignorant regarding negative but truthful information concerning Fr. Maciel even after the May 1, 2010 Vatican document you quote.
As regards my friend Jack Keogh, his memoir, Writing Straight on Crooked Lines, and mine, Our Father Maciel who art in bed, differ in our points of view re Maciel and Legion, though, as he says, it’s “the same tune played on different instruments”.
Average member - it is not true that Luis Garza etc did not know. The rank and file members did not know because Luis Garza etc censored our newspapers and media access against learning about the accusations - they forbade us to talk about anything we heard against maciel and they waged a very strong campaign to prevent any members knowing what they knew. Luis Garza, as vicar general for many years, was presented many times with allegations against Maciel and also against other LC priests. Luis Garza knew that Maciel was accused time and time again. He made a decision to protect Maciel inspite of what he was told. He made a decision to NOT make any follow up to the claims - as was his responsibility. He has not apologised for his protection of Maciel and his failure to do his own job.
Maciel was not the only abuser that Luis Garza protected. An italian boy was abused by a consecrated male of Regnum Christi. The complaint was brought to Luis Garza who wondered how it “could be so” - he did not beleive the boy. The parents were persuaded at Luis Garza’a orders not to press charges - they were told the abuser was not a legionary, was a lay person and that they would fire him. The legion did not “fire” that consecrated member, but they moved him to spain to continue his life as a consecrated and work for the leigon there.
Also Luis Garza protected Fr. Eoghan Devlin LC when I presented, via my diocese, my complaint of abuse to Luis Garza. He interviewed Eoghan and then wrote back to me wondering how I could come up with such a story. That was the end of that, except that he left Eoghan Devlin to be in charge of a primary and secondary school in Medellin, Colombia, in charge of RC youth section at a national level and superior of his community. He was there for years until I found the courage to tell the police. Then Eoghan was removed during the investigation process and subsequently left the legion and the priesthood. Last year the legion accepted that I did not find Luis Garza’s handling of my complaint as satisfactory.
So let’s not allow Luis Garza - protector of paedophiles - to pull the wool over our eyes.
He has not apologised to me, and he never will.
average member, it seems to me there are still very legitimate questions to be asked. While I understand that some members are “living their vocations,” I also understand that many people were essentially brain washed by Fr. Maciel. Is it not reasonable to ask if those members are “living their vocations” or are living some twisted version of a vocation that has been shaped through the prism of a wicked man? All in all, I thought the article was reasonable precisely because it tried to reflect on both possibilities, and really was focused more on the political ramifications of the new appt and less on the charism itself anyway. Peace to you.
For the powers that be, the problem of the MM scandal for LCs is fundamentally an emotional one, of those who process it well and those who apparently do not because they look for something more from the renewal than to simply protect a charism, and the modest tweaking of a few norms. For outsiders and former members the problem is a question of justice and truth about the years of deceit, of reconciling the facts of the past to establish an honest footing for the future.
For insiders, the troubled keep reopening wounds, for those outside and former members, the wounds in the order never closed to begin with. Time will tell which vision will tell us the real story.
I am puzzled by the comment of DePaolis saying priest departures were contained in 2010. It seems priests continue to leave- 5 more are noted to have left in June alone. Last summer they said 20 had left, but by Sept. 2010 that number was up to 50. Now it is closer to 80, maybe 100? So I am not sure what “contained” means. It looks like a slow bleed, and gradual coming to terms with the truth of things.
Thy Kingdom Come!
Dear All, especially Joan Frawley Desmond, in Christ,
As a member active and not thinking of leaving the Legion I think I should say something about this article that made me sad about how this matter is being dealt by ex-legionaries and, I am sorry to say, also by you Joan.
I read your answer to “Average member” and it is kind of hard to think you balance two opinions taking two superiors and two angry existence-legionaries. I have a list of twenty existence-legionaries who say that the only thing they want is to thank the Legion for all it has done for their formation and spiritual growth. Where are they in the article? I haven’t met one ex-legionary personally who hates the Legion or criticizes the moves of the superiors as “classic Vatican-style political move”. I see very little love for the Church in such a comment. If the Church is merely politics, we are out of job, Register, fathers and Catholics in general… Let’s look for something else for our lives. Running to the senate, maybe.
But if in the Church we follow Christ, then it is worth giving everything out of love for him. That’s why I am legionary. Not because I don’t have any other way of life that is possible and attractive to me. I can be diocesan, my godfather is one. I can be trinitarian, franciscan, salesian, actually I have received invitations to join in every single one of these ways of following Christ. Why did I not do it? Because I believe in prayer with Christ that HE, not Marcial Maciel, not the first legionary that I met, not my superior, but HE, Christ, who called me to the Legion to extend his Kingdom throughout the world.
I think that we legionaries who will undergo and persevere with the grace of God through this process need nothing else from the media and people from outside, also ex-legionaries, but respect and prayer.
We are happy for Father Luis Garza new assignment, and I what I haven’t read in the article is that this news found joy, surprise and enthusiasm from our communities and all legionaries that I have spoken so far. We pray for you, Father Luis. Count on us to build the Legion here in North America. A happy legionary, in Christ, Br Roger M, LC
PD: I don’t think my spiritual life was fruit of brain washing, just in case…
“I think that we legionaries who will undergo and persevere with the grace of God through this process need nothing else from the media and people from outside, also ex-legionaries, but respect and prayer”.
Don’t you also need to address those whom your wicked founder and your twisted congregation have hurt along the way?
Unless you are capable of addressing the question of damage and reparation, you cannot expect “respect and prayer”.
Bro. Roger,
i am glad to read your opinion in this discussion and I do believe your opinion is valid and that you may represent many Legionaries. If we are to have free discussion why not value your input? I commend you for taking the risk to step outside the Legion and engage other readers. I do object to a couple of your ideas. For one, Jack Keogh cannot be considered ‘an angry’ former Legionary. As a matter of fact, he has gone out of his way not to get carried away by his emotions. His book, “Writing Straight on Crooked Lines”, is much more nuanced than mine, Our Father Maciel, who art in bed. Many active members of Regnum Christi have thanked him for his balanced story of his experiences with Nuestro Padre and the Legion. I suppose that for you I must be a raving lunatic because of my consistent criticism. I do recall that a Legion paid lawyer accused me in court of “ranting and raving” in a civil suit the Legion brought against me for, among other things, publishing extracts from the Letters of Nuestro Padre without permission. They were supposedly worth 1.5 million dollars at the time.
But it is very important to remember that we are not enemies, and I do not consider myself your enemy or you mine. Nor do I hate Legionaries. What I have done is exercized my intelligence and free will to analyze and criticize the Legion. If you want to be part of the real world you will have to engage in free discussion, lose some arguments and win others.
Evidently, we are outsiders looking in and often can only guess what is going on inside because the superiors have not wanted to dialogue with us, those who think different, who question, who challenge and who believe that we, too, have part of the truth. And may the Holy Spirit guide each one of us.
We can give you respect and prayer. But if we are really interested in you as a person, we will argue and struggle with you in a fair fight; that way we hope to learn from you and learn about ourselves.
Br Roger, how can you categorize your brothers as “angry existence-legionaries”? Why is everyone who leaves angry, critical, mentally ill, hate the Legion kind of people? I know Fr. Gill and he loves Christ and is speaking the truth and following his conscience. He is very grateful for the gifts he was given by God while in LC. I have read Jack Keough’s book and he is not angry but honest and he has defended reform for the LC and has helped honestly lay out severe problems. He was treated terrible when he left the LC. What group does that to their brothers? Maciel did and he taught it well. It is sick and must stop. I left RC along with many of my dear friends. I am very grateful to GOD for gifts he gave me while in but extremely pained for so many who were abused and hurt by the same group. It was honestly the most painful decision in my life knowing I had to follow my conscience but working thru feelings of guilt, loss, confusion and spiritual conflict in the process. I would love LC and RC to reform but until you stop calling your brothers who left angry and mentally ill as I heard one of the Oriol brothers called, there is no hope. Listen to the wisdom of those out. They are not your enemies, Maciel and his methodology is. Fr. Gill had 25+ years in LC. Why do you think you are the only one “persevering” this process? Is Fr Gill or me any less because we are “persevering” from outside the group? We are not quitters. Why is it always about the LC and never just honest assessment and authentic love for all? Maciel was “devoid of religion and a false prophet” according to the Pope. Quit criticizing those who left and listen to their wisdom. Maciel might have been declared a saint if courageous people did not leave and speak out while being slandered by the LC. Calling your brothers angry because you disagree with them is wrong. I pray constantly for all in and out of LC and RC that the Lords will be done.
Hey Brother Roger - can you enlighten us about the process that was breifly desribed by Alvaro Corcuera wherby you were consulted about the merging of the territories and the naming of Luis Garza as TD? Were you, for example, consulted about that?
I am very curious to learn how that all happened.
Regarding Luis Garza - he was the first legionary to know about my abuse and he refused to believe me. He also lied to me outright. His history of mis-handling, intimidating, lying to and trying to silence victims and their families makes him unsuitable for any position as a superior, in my opinion.
The Vatican communique identified the need to respect conscience.
I believe that the reason they included this is because the Legion leadership have not respected conscience. I have not seen any significant progress in this regard for LC or RC consecrated since the visitations concluded.
I am a critic of the structure of LC and RC because I believe that there is so much control of peoples’ behaviour, information, thoughts and emotions that there is no free will left and especially for the 3gf women almost no basic human rights. I do not hate the Legion or even their founder (although I believe he was extremely evil) but I definitely disapprove of the structure that my daughter lives in and I feel that she has been taken advantage of, deceived, misinformed and spiritually deformed following a program that was designed by a monster to satisfy his lust for power, money and sex. I definitely do not hate the women my daughter lives with, in fact I think they are the cream of the crop. However, they also have been manipulated and used as cheap labour so that the current leaders can enjoy the fruits.
The Scribes and Pharisees tried to legislate holiness by creating an environment where there were rules to cover every situation. Jesus did not approve of that style of holiness. He did not approve of false prophets either.
I am very pleased that the NCR is willing to present different viewpoints regarding the Legion and RC. This was not allowed previously and was a classic example of information control used by controversial religious groups.
I believe that there are some positive reforms beginning to flower in the LC. There is more open discussion about the constitutions now and about the future of the congregation. It is nonetheless difficult to get people to talk and think about these things when they were such non negotiables. I know there are many good young men there who are honestly trying to make the best out of a very difficult situation.
One question I have to LC’s is: Why are there STILL - to this day - the volumes of letters of Fr. Marcial in EVERY novice cubicle in Cheshire and some have the “Psalter of my days” - which was proven to be plagarized??? They were moved from the desks to the cubicles - This is highly concerning - letters of a false prophet being fed to the most impressionable members of the order.
@flyonthewall: I believe some reforms of bad habits will never touch, and may only distract from what lies at deeper levels. Since there was no new foundation or re-foundation two great problems are occurring:
1) They are dragging along a body of men on vocational commitments that were originally based on lies and hidden idealogies that were deformative in nature. So if the reform or renewal produces at least an honest experience and desciption of what the LC now is- no one ever professed vows to it. These men’s vocational choice has been riddled with lies, and even if they don’t rebel outright- over time the conscience will find its ways of showing repugnance. They need a new consent.
2) It seems they are stuck with the founder and this history of foundation. Sooner or later they will ‘re-deify’ it. Order’s depend on their historical sources, period. Regardless of this now ongoing subjective catch phrase of the charism residing in “the foundation”, the truth is, it is up for grabs as to what that means; it has no locus as a lived experience that was ever witnessed as such, and condified in the order’s patrimony. No true sources of authentic foundation witness means practically NO CHARISM GIVEN.
So why not refound? That is how you truly shed the past, and only then they will they be free of the volumes of MM.
Thy Kingdom Come!
Dear all in Christ,
I meant ex-legionaries instead of existence-legionaries, that was a typo from the computer.
By no means I wanted to criticize ex-legionaries, since I respect them as persons although I don´t agree with some comments that seemed to me a little angry, which I haven´t seen in any ex-legionary personally, as I refer to the twenty that I have a list, who are really thankful for everything the Legion has done for them, and just left because they found out this was not their vocation.
I pray for all of you. And I think we need to pray more and let the Church work this out without much opinion and with a lot of prayer. Thanks! In Christ, Br Roger M, LC
Br. Roger - were you asked if you thought the two US territories should unite? Were you asked if Luis Garza would be an acceptable TD?
I would reccomend you get in touch with “angry” exLCs to get a balanced view. Their “anger” is caused by something and that something is what is wrong, not their anger.
What are your thoughts on your new TD covering up sexual abuse and protecting abusers? Is this the kind of man you want to be in charge in the USA? It hardly brings a renewed credibility to the Legion of Christ.
Maciel would very much have it that we shut up and not opine - that is how he got off with so much evil. I cannot turn a blind eye and I will opine and criticise as long as the Legion continues to hurt people and cause so much anger.
I also think that readers should understand that they have an obligation to follow their consciences and that may well mean speaking out publicly to prevent further psychological, sexual and religious abuses.
Do you hear yourself? Are you serious? Telling us you thnk we shouldn’t have opinions? TypIcal result of a brainwashing cult. Leave it to the LCs to clamp down on normal human behavior.
Dear Friends,
I think we should ‘go easy’ on Bro Roger M. and give him credit for having the courage to participate; after all, he is writing and participating in a public discussion. The Legion is an “ilusive target” for criticism because it will often put on a big smile, pray for you, or just play dead until it comes after you with a lawsuit; as Bro. Roger is one of the very few prairie dogs [and I don’t mean to disparage him with the metaphor] who dare stick their heads out of the Legion bunker he is an enticing target and we tend to go after him; surely it is the silent, hidden, self-righteous, lurking ones we must be more concerned about. Besides, he seems to be in the minority, and I hate ‘ganging up’ on him.
Dear all in Christ,
Just a little comment:
Is there something wrong with the Legion? YES
Have we commited big errors? YES
Have we hurt people? A LOT
Is it fair to be angry because of that? OF COURSE
As Legionaries, do we want to change this and be holy? OF COURSE YES
As Legionaries, are we repenting of what has happened? A LOT
As Legionaries,do we want to be part of the universal Church out of love?YES
As Legionaries, are we open to changing our errors and strive for a holy life believing that this is a vocation coming from God? YES!
In other words…we all Legioanries know what is true and waht is not true from all what the media is saying. We know it because we investigate about it and because we are not just closed to our immediate superiors, but to the news, the world and experts who analize these problems, and being inside the Legion, I can just let you know how happy we are inside, becuase we wee with big faith the cross we’ve been carrying around. So I ask pardon in a public way on behalf of the congregation, to all those who suffer and who have been affected by the fallen-nature men who have taken wrong decisions. I only ask your prayers and respect for the Legion, since it is part of the plan of God for His Church and for the salvation of souls.
God bless you all!
Br Ernesto,LC
Ever since 2009, Legionaries and 3gf ladies have been willing to admit that there is something wrong with the Legion but they are always short of specifics except to apologize generally for the sins of their founder. Imagine if someone published a public notice that they felt sorry about anyone they had ever hurt in any way. Would that mean anything to anyone or bring any healing? Of course not.
I have not heard or seen any of them say for example that they feel badly for the people who were molested as children by the founder or for the people who donated money for what seemed to be a worthy cause that instead was used for supporting mistresses or for the young boys who received absolution from the priest who victimized them. How about the current victims? - those who were defrauded into dedicating their entire lives, believing they were “married to Jesus (when they were not) who are used as unpaid slave laborers to get money and recruits to bring power and wealth to a privileged elite who still run the show?
A general apology that Fr Maciel hurt a lot of people does not mean much to anyone. It would help if all the Legionaries and 3gf ladies could be provided with the full truth about the founder’s life history, including some details that justify the strong wording of the Vatican May 2010. communique. It would help if those who have made vows or solemn promises of poverty and obedience based on misinformation (e.g. that everything they did was fully approved by the Vatican) be provided with real options for their lives and the means (i.e. training and funding and freedom) to discover and pursue their true vocations.
It would help if an expert in mind control were brought in as a consultant to provide psychological counseling. It would help if someone with understanding of curses could be brought in to bring spiritual healing for those who had “integrated” their minds and spirits with an evil person they had accepted as somewhat of a personal savior.
I totally agree. As a human person, and also as a legionary, I am very sorry and very hurt with the victims of this facts that the Vatican confirmed. When I received the news I could not believe it. I did not want to believe it. But nothing will stop the interior zeal that the current legionaries have, to accept all you are saying, to forgive and to ask pardon (since asking pardon publically is all I can do as seminarian), to feel the deeply sorrow of those souls, pray for them and sacrifice for them, to look at the horizon and to know that it is because of God that I, personally, am here, giving my life in a congregation that, hurted, God has put on my path for my sanctification and the sanctification of all those souls God crosses on my path.
A general apology is not al what has been done. Experts have come to help and differetn “comissions” have been formed in order to approach in a discrete way to all those affected by our founder. 3gf ladies have been coming to our seminary to discuss with the priests the future of the Legion and the Movement and at the same time, to reinforce their fidelity to the charism God inspired to them through the Regnum Christi.
A general apology does not clarify anything, but at the same time, it is a starting point towards the truth and the attitude we are living within the Legion
Dear Brother Ernesto and other open minded Legionaries and members of the Regnum Christi,
it is good for brothers to dialog in peace.
Let me clarify a couple of things.
Criticism of the Legion of Christ has been aimed mostly at Fr. Maciel and the superiors who knew him, who knew about his crimes, and you supported him, did nothing to stop him or simply became silent accessories. So criticism has not been against the rank and file of the Legion. The rank and file have nothing to apologize for. They too are victims of Fr. Maciel and of the deceitful system he created.
What has the Legion LEADERSHIP done?
-It has spread the faults of Father Maciel and the superiors over the whole Legion, using the innocent members as a shield, and hoping to diffuse the righteous anger of victims and critics.
- It has made general apologies which are offensive and re offend the victims
- It has not taken real responsibility for its part in creating and supporting the Maciel Myth
- It has not stepped down voluntarily from its positions of power and control. For example, Luis Garza has simply gone from one position of power to another. He is a person who has treated many former and present Legionaries badly. He was hand picked by Father Maciel, knew him closely and collaborated with him. When he denies this he is lying. No real reform can be built on lies.
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The other prong of criticism is aimed at the system and methodology that Fr. Maciel, a pedophile, narcissist and psychopath created. The danger is that he created a flawed system based on lies and deceit. Cardinal De Paolis and Pope Benedict XVI have been trying to convince us that the “the bad tree can bear good fruits”, something that I find very hard to believe. A flawed organization can have good members and those good members can produce good fruits - not because of the organization, but despite it…
Dear Paul,
Thanks a lot for your comment! Which I have found helpful (to see better how people from “the outside of the Legion” think about this problem) and also quite unrealistic, or at least, with a lack of objective evidence. Maybe it is just because this is a public forum and we need to respect sources of information and persons, but still, I don’t know if these sources really exist.
Firstly, I don’t think that, as you said, “Criticism of the Legion of Christ has been aimed mostly at Fr. Maciel and the superiors who knew him, who knew about his crimes…”. Why? Because even if the news talk about specific people, most of the time they say: “The Legionaries of Christ”, and that, includes me and all the “innocent members”.
Secondly, you say that we, the “the rank and file of the Legion”, “have supported Fr Maciel and the superiors who knew him” And also in your own words: “and you supported him, did nothing to stop him or simply became silent accessories.” But seen from my perspective (the subject of your phrase commented), for sure I do not support Fr Maciel’s evil actions, and I neither support the “subjectively potential” superiors who knew about his crimes, but because I believe that the superiors did not know about these actions of the founder, is that I trust in them…and that is very different from what you say.
Thirdly, the LEADERSHIP of the Legion has done quite a lot. What? Exactly what the Pope has been asking of us. No more, no less, just what God, through the Pope, wants for the Legion. I do not know where you are basing yourself from to affirm these comments. And of course I cannot say that you are wrong and that your comments are just lies, because I don’t have objective evidence for doing that apart from the truth. But if we compare to each other, you are in the same situation, and at the end, we know that my comments are comments from “1st hand” experience; from within the Legion, which gives them an undeniable weight I cannot change, because that has been what I’ve seen, heard and felt in the Congregation and her superiors.
Fourthly, I agree that “the bad tree cannot bear good fruits”. But all what I’ve seen from people that complain about the Legion, is an attempt to call the tree “bad” just because the root WAS bad. Maybe the badness of the root was never spread to the Legion through the superiors and that is why the tree still is bearing and will continue to bear good fruit.
And finally, if you yourself say that “the rank and file have nothing to apologize for. They too are victims of Fr. Maciel and of the deceitful system he created”, why do you consider the whole Legion (“tree”) as bad?
Br Ernesto
Now that there is more freedom of access to the internet, there are some good sites such as http://www.prem-rawat-talk.org/forum/uploads/CultCharacteristics.htm#Cult Information Centre
and http://www.prem-rawat-talk.org/forum/uploads/CultCharacteristics.htm#Cult Information Centre
that indicate characteristics of religious cults and mind control. I know that Legionaries and consecrated Regnum Christi women have felt that because their beliefs are basically Roman Catholic that they could not possibly be destructive cult groups. Anyone who believes this is living in ignorance and they can see what the experts say by checking these and other similar sites by cult experts.
Following is a quotation from the Cult Information Centre regarding the damage done by destructive groups.
To remain within the strict mental and social confines of a cult for even a short time can have the following disastrous effects:
Loss of choice and free will.
Diminished intellectual ability, vocabulary and sense of humour.
Reduced use of irony, abstractions and metaphors.
Reduced capacity to form flexible and intimate relationships.
Poor judgement.
Physical deterioration.
Malnutrition.
Hallucinations, panic, dissociation, guilt, identity diffusion and paranoia.
Neurotic, psychotic or suicidal tendencies.
Please study what the experts say and compare the cult and mind control characteristics to the STRUCTURE of the Legion and Regnum Christi and then make a more informed conclusion.
Any good fruits that came from the tens of thousands of volunteers and priests and dedicated women do not outweigh the bad fruits, including psychological and spiritual damage and possibly curses from integrating ones mind and spirit with a person who was found to be “unscrupulous” and devoid of spirituality
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