A year ago last week – January 30 – Legionary of Christ founder Marcial Maciel died in Houston and was, a few days later, buried in Mexico, rather than the tomb that had been constructed for him in Rome.
Over the past week, with more intensity over the weekends, rumblings have been heard about the Legionaries of Christ and their founder, Maciel. The rumblings have now reached the level of blogs, so here we go.
The Life After RC (Regnum Christi) blog has the general story
There has also been a war going on over Maciel’s Wikipedia page. (view the “history” tab)
I could always guarantee that a blog post dealing with the Legionaries of Christ or the lay arm, Regnum Christi, would engender scores of comments in very short order. I am sure this one will be no different. Speaking for myself, although I know a few LC priests who seem to be very good men, as well as a few RC members, I have always found the movement to be afflicted with the disease which leads one to equate one’s own particular angle or charism with the totality of the gospel.
Serious problems have surfaced in relationship to the group, both present and past. Financial questions. Questions of formation. There is much, much to be concerned about, concerns voiced by many observers and several bishops, most notably Archbishop O’Brien of Baltimore, who stepped in and requested complete transparency from LC and RC regarding their apostolates in his see last year.
We should note, in retelling this story, that the charges against Maciel apparently had no traction at the Vatican, for whatever reason, until Benedict XVI became Pope. In May, 2006, Maciel was ordered to retire to a life of prayer and penance. Here is the text of the communique, which was intermidably parsed here and other places, but whose meaning is hard to escape.
There are, indeed, good people associated with LC and RC – many of us reading this blog know them. They need our prayers and great strength – the strength that any and all of us need when we have been deceived in the name of God.
That said, the book on this affair will be long and complex. Torturous, in fact. There will undoubtedly need to be several volumes.
The news coming out now is sketchy and incomplete. The word is that the leadership is admitting that Maciel fathered at least one child, perhaps two. Some sources are saying that the leadership is admitting the veracity of the previous accusations, as well, but that is fuzzy to me at this point. Over the past few days, various parties and groups have been informed of this. After the question of the accusations against Maciel himself, the huge question waiting to be unraveled, but extraordinarily difficult to do because of the group’s obsession with secrecy, is the awareness of the LC leadership of all of this over the years.
The third question is that if the leadership is admitting the truth of the bulk of the many accusations against Maciel…will the victims, long vilified by the movement and its defenders…receive an apology?
The greater point, though – is this:
Movements of all kinds (including religious orders) are a constant source of renewal for the Church. But there are risks and problems associated with any movement, and it is the Church’s responsibility – and by “Church” I mean every one of us – to view movements with open eyes, to see the good, be wary of the bad and call the evil to task.
Secrecy, hero-worship, deification of individuals, reflexive dismissal of critics as wrong-headed or even of the devil, an untoward interest in money and appearance, manipulation of members, demeaning attitudes toward non-members, deceptive means…
trouble.
There is another message for church leaders, including pastors and bishops here. Let’s be frank.
What is the appeal of Regnum Christi and its apostolates in the United States? The appeal may be negative in some ways, but those I have met who have been drawn to it are thirsting for solid faith content. They know that their children live in a challenging world and have no confidence in what passes for catechesis in the parish or even in many Catholic schools to equip them for that world. They do not see these programs or liturgies seriously oriented toward bringing those participating into a deep, committed relationship with Christ.
So something substantive appears…it appeals.
Take note.
It is wrong to derive the truth about the nature of something simply from anecdotes, but anecdotes can be telling. I have two, regarding Regnum Christi:
I gave a talk in a parish once, mostly to youth. The youth ministry and adult catechesis in the parish had been revived by the enthusiasm and efforts of Regnum Christi members. A good thing.
As I was carrying my books out to my car, I was assisted by a 14-year old boy, a son of one of the Regnum Christi families. He was slight and nervous, but seemed particularly anxious to speak with me, which he did at some length.
He told me that he had been at a LC boarding school – preseminary, in fact – for a year, but had come back to be with his family. I do not remember his exact words, but there was a clear sense that he believed that he had failed in his “vocation” – that there was something wrong with his return home, that he had not tried hard enough, that his return was a revelation of a flaw.
14 years old.
It made me so, so sad. All I could say to him was, as forcefully as I could, that it was normal and good to want to be with your family. That for right now, it was where he belonged.
The second was simply strange.
Back in Fort Wayne, there was a convenience store a few blocks from our house. It was just a normal, busy neighborhood convenience store where I got my Diet Coke refills, gas and would run into neighbors, including the bishop a couple of times. (For his house was in our neighborhood.)
One day, I went in and in front of the counter stood a small table on which stood a large empty plastic container with a hole cut in the lid. The sign affixed to the display was written in a child’s hand. It said something like, “Please donate for our birthday party for our founder.” Next to a photocopy of a picture of Maciel.
Something is not right.
Already, all over the Internet, there are comments indicating that LC and RC can easily get past all of this, that we should focus, not on the apparent sins of the founder, but on the good in the present. We can separate them.
The question is real – can we?
I am not so sure.
Update:
I would simply ask the doubters to read Tom Hoope’s comment below. God bless you, Tom, and thank you so much for commenting here today.
Crafts & Vintage
The calls for transparency seem to me to be a healthy thing. One example:
Requiem for a Dream
Wounds tend not to heal until the scabs are cleaned out.
I know many good people who are (or have) been involved in LC or RC. I keep them in my prayers.
How do we know this is true? I still don’t believe it. Where are your primary sources?
This is nothing but rumours started in ex-LC blogs. Now it’s being “reported” all over the Catholic blogosphere as news. Do you have any sources for this other than ex-LC websites?
Watch for the update on this post. That might help.
I think they are going to have to be re-made somehow. The more I think about it, the more I realize how inseparable the founder is from everything they do, and is the reason for their culture of deceit and manipulation.
I left over 10 years ago, and I’m still discovering the ways in which it’s damaged me as a person. Ways I didn’t even think about then.
People will lose their faith, I’m afraid, because you get so wrapped up in the spirituality (which is intensely Legion-focused) that you don’t know how to relate to God without your utopic “movement”.
That’s what I went through. I nearly lost my faith back then, but I’ve seen others lose it completely. This will be tremendously hard for the members of the movement. They will need help and prayers.
I hope that they can accept the truth. I can only imagine that a core group will deny this, and will go off on their own. That’s what happens when you’re essentially built around a cult of personality. You can’t let go of the idealized vision of the cult leader.
There simply can’t be an order in the Church founded by a bisexual pedophile. How can such a person be put on the same level as St. Benedict, St. Dominic, St. Francis, St. Ignatius, or St. Elizabeth Seton? There some orders (like the Paulists) founded by men and women who have not been canonized, but none by monsters. Perhaps among the leadership the LC, or even among the ordinary membership, there is someone who can found a new order to continue the good parts of the LC under new auspices, but there must be a clean break and a new name.
All I want to say is, I’m sorry.
I want to say it here, because I defended Fr. Maciel here, and I need to be on the record regarding that defense:
I’m sorry, to the victims, who were victims twice, the second time by calumny. I’m sorry, to the Church, which has been damaged. I’m sorry, to those I’ve misled.
I did it unwittingly, but this isn’t a time for excuses.
The Church gave me great, great good in Regnum Christi.
The Church did bring justice, and did penalize this man.
Thank God for the Church.
I seek repentance and forgiveness, and I leave it at that.
Official “secrecy” and its protection by rules (written or verbal) is often connected to later spectacular problems in the Church. A lawsuit against the Vatican itself is working its way through the US courts toward Rome because of a secrecy order decades ago by Pope John XXIII to Bishops as to sex abuse cases…requiring both clerics and victim to keep secret such details of such cases (John beingt unaware of the larger numbers that would be involved after his death).
We need a Vatican commission to examine the place of secrecy (non-transparency) in the Church from the Pope on down into these institutes on all matters. Is it ever healthy?
Has it ever worked in the long run? Or does it increase the spectacular aspect by its very prescence? The Knights Templar which was suppressed by an Avignon Pope and by Philip the Fair was easily accused precisely because since they held secret meetings with no transparency, spectacular accusations about them were more readily believed. After repeated readings about their case, I still do not know if they were innocent (and did in fact confess under torture) or were they guilty? I don’t think anyone knows to this day but it is possible that they were innocent but their secrecy worked against their defence in the long run.
To be clear: I’m not in a position to say which allegations are true and which false. I don’t mean to leave the impression that all are true. It appears some are.
That’s sad Steve. Sorry for you, sorry for them. You’re a good man Tom Hoopes. Thanks. God bless.
Wow, Tom. Thank you for your post. You are in my prayers.
That was extremely gracious, Tom.
I’m really left wondering as to the future of the LC and RC– obviously, on some level, they’ve done a good job “bringing orthodoxy to the masses” so to speak. Many people who have never taken up any formal affiliation with the organization, and many who have, have come away with the solid doctrine and piety they were starving for.
But coupling the disturbing number of people who have been scarred by their contact with the now-admitted crimes of Fr. Maciel and the organization’s intense culture of secrecy, it starts to beg the question– is there a legitimate, God-inspired charism at the heart of all this?
Is there?
I honestly don’t know. But I think the answer to that question will tell us whether LC/RC should (and will) wither on the vine or if it will blossom and bear fruit again after a deep pruning.
I’m bothered by the reporting of these rumors without being able to point to something more concrete than rumors and anit-LC websites. Is there not someone out there who would be willing to give a personal testimony that they were told this directly from someone within the structure of the LC or RC?
It’s not that I don’t think this is true, I am afraid that it is most likely completely true, however, this kind of scandal mongering is sick, sinful.
Finally, let’s be careful of how we characterize “movements” and what they are/mean for the Church. Amy’s perspective is not shared by Pope John Paul II (http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=1240) and Pope Benedict the XVI (http://www.oecumene.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=206132).
The suggestion that you can relate to God without the people in whom you have encountered him is preposterous. Today is sad day for all of the Church precisely because it is impossible to talk about Christ without talking about him from the origin of the one that you met him through. When that person whom you met Christ through sins, is discovered to have led a double life, this does not detract from Christ, but shows his glory all the more.
We should not be scandalized by Fr. Maciel’s sins, the fundamental identity of Christianity is not moral coherence, but the need for Christ’s sweet presence. Maciel needed him, Jose Maria Escriva needed him, Peter the Apostle needed him, the list goes on.
Are we really that quick to forget that our Church was built on a man who was a liar and traitor?
My perspective on New Movements? That they’re good and necessary? I’m fairly confused here.
I feel like we’re being quite dishonest here.
Mr Hoopes,
Please give me a break! You were part of the communications organ for this sick organization. You have been in denial for years over the cult-like aspects of the LC and have been feeding disinformation to the masses of faithful Catholics by defending the rot.
Tom,
I admire you for having the courage to say that. Unfortunately, the Legion itself is being far more circumspect about the matter.
I suppose it’s pretty hard when you’re used to denying everything to go ahead an admit anything
Regarding the question:
“What is the appeal of Regnum Christi and its apostolates?”
My question that I have been trying to discover over many years since we lost a beloved family member to this group is What are their apostolates considering the number of resources and people involved – including hundreds of priests and consecrated women. What are the fruits?
I have followed this over the years and concluded that their appeal is not much different from the appeal of any other cult group – they draw people in with a slick program targeting young attractive preferably wealthy conservative prospects – use love bombing, isolation, secrecy, peer pressure, intercepting mail and phone calls, strict rules, no free time, elitism to recruit and keep people in the spider web. I believe that they exist to make money and to recruit – period. With the massive amount of resources they have there is a bit of good fruit but nowhere near what there should be fconsidering what they have to work with.
Their focus for over 60 years has been the holiness of their founder and his mother instead of on the solid rock of Jesus and His blessed mother.
To Bill Bannon,
Secrecy can cause problems, but the 1962 directive has been misrepresented. It had to do with the crime of solicitation by a priest during a sacramental confession, and the secrecy was not in order to cover up the crime but to protect the confidentiality of the confessional. For more information see:
http://www.catholicculture.org/news/features/index.cfm?recnum=24023&repos=4&subrepos=1&searchid=372842
They must be disbanded. The system Maciel set up is a cult. The top leadership was formed by him, in his image. How long have they known about this? The thing must be chopped down. A bisexual, megalomaniac, sociopathic, narcisissistic con-man founder? Just normal Church history, right folks? The men (and women in RC) have lived a lie for so many years. They need spiritual and psychological HELP. They need freedom and peace. They deserve better than to be asked or required to participate in some new, fanciful “recreation.” WHO has the wisdom to discern what was truly good or not in the methodology? The one’s inside? The Church officials which carefully monitored the situation? Anyone dreaming of reforming this beast better know exactly what the hell they are doing. I say send them home. Let them recover, and then minister in their local diocese, if they can do so, freely and authentically.
Tom – thanks for the apology. I’ll pray for you, as I always have, to see the light. They used you. Will Lord Kearns be apologizing too?
That’s a fascinating piece of information, Bill. What it brings to mind is the Masons and the fact that Catholics are not supposed to join — because Catholics are not to join secretive groups. That would apply to the Legion, certainly, but you’re almost suggesting that the Church itself has secretive elements. Is it possible that you’re categorising discretion or professional legal constraints as secrecy, (beyond just the bad judgment that we witness in the recent sex scandal?)
Perhaps this would be a good time for the LC’s “Father Jonathan” to stop shooting his mouth off about the SSPX: http://foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/01/27/frj_pope_holocaust/
This is true. Where I live, the RC phone chain called up all leaders to tell them yesterday. I have a friend who was called and told me that personally.
Interesting comments here. I am a member of RC. Have been for twelve years. I was a “Co-worker.” Lived in a “House of formation” with consecrated women for a year. Admittedly, I never saw the point in the extreme –what to call it–admiration, deification? –of Fr Maciel. What I could gather from the sometimes naive comments of newly consecrated young women was that “This is just what we do. He’s the founder of a Movement. Someday he’ll be a saint.” So we clap and act like we want to touch him when he walks down the aisle at a Youth and Family Encounter. My impression was that no one really knew why they were doing it, even as it made them uncomfortable. I took it with a grain of salt. Because what attracted me to Movement had and has little to do with Fr Maciel. When I encountered RC, I was not practicing my faith. Its power to attract young people is based primarily on its promotion of Sacramental life. The fruit of the Movement is that it fosters a deep love of the Eucharist. It puts people in front of the Sacrament in Adoration. It fosters daily Mass attendance and a love of the Rosary. These are aspects of the Catholic faith that should be obvious to anyone entering the Church or trying to find their way to an adult faith from a Catholic childhood. But as mentioned above, the Sacramental life is often the thing that is missing from Parish catechesis and CCD progams.
Yes, Pastors and Bishops be aware: People want to adore the Eucharist. Is adoration offered in your Parish? People want to be a part of a community that supports their sacramental and prayer life. We want to know that we are not the only “fools” for Christ.
Personally, it is becoming ever more clear to me as I grow up, have children and mature in my faith, that Christ became a man. He didn’t make man a God. I would have a much bigger problem with Fr Maciel if he were purported to be sinless.
It’s shocking news, but who can be surprised? An encounter with the LC is an encounter with a kind of rigidity that never has good consequences. The splendor of pure certainty!
He told me that he had been at a LC boarding school – preseminary, in fact – for a year, but had come back to be with his family. I do not remember his exact words, but there was a clear sense that he believed that he had failed in his “vocation” – that there was something wrong with his return home, that he had not tried hard enough, that his return was a revelation of a flaw.
14 years old.
It made me so, so sad. All I could say to him was, as forcefully as I could, that it was normal and good to want to be with your family. That for right now, it was where he belonged.
Good for you, Amy.
Tom Hoopes, you are loved, in spite of your mistakes. Thank God we all are. :)
Addressing the question of re-founding.
Compare and contrast:
No matter how nut-case or repellent some Jesuits might have been, an individual Jesuit can always say, “If I model myself after our holy founder St. Ignatius Loyola, or Jesuit exemplars like St. Francis Xavier or St. Peter Canisus I will be a better Jesuit.”
No matter how nut-case or repellent some Dominicans might have been, an individual Dominican can always say, “If I model myself after our holy founder St. Dominic, or Dominican exemplars like Albertus Magnus or St. Thomas Aquinas, I will be a better Dominican.”
No matter how nut-case or repellent some Franciscans might have been, an individual Franciscan can always say, “If I model myself after our holy founder St. Francis, or Franciscan exemplars like St. Anthony of Padua, or St. Bonaventure, I will be a better Franciscan.”
No matter how nut-case or repellent some Salesians might have been, an individual Salesian can always say, “If I model myself after our holy founder St. John Bosco, or Salesian exemplars like St. Dominic Savio or Mamma Margaret, I will be a better Salesian.”
The Legionary priest …. can’t complete the sentence.
The Legionaries need a founder and saints of their own order to look up to, and right now, they can’t.
Hence, their spiritual need for a dissolution and a re-founding of their order.
1) 3gf’s, seminarians, priests, etc need to be sent home to be with their families, to recover. NOW
2) LC leaders need to apologize to the abuse victims, together and separately.
Folks, do you realize that the average Catholic has never heard of the Legionaires or Fr. Marciel? This is a juicy tidbit for the bloggers but means nothing to the folks in the pews.
St. Louise de Montfort said something like this…”If you want to know what the devil looks like, do not look at the most obviously evil man. (In our age that might be a Hitler or a Stalin) Instead look for the holiest man and the devil will be standing right next to him imitating him.”
Humility keeps the devil away. If we want to be sure we are not falling for a counterfeit we should be looking for this virtue. All the saints say it is indispensible. .
As an RC member for 5 years I am stunned at the news. I take issue with one of the comments here, that the focus has been the holiness of the founder and his mother. Never, I repeat never, have I been pointed, through spiritual direction or otherwise, to anyone but Jesus through Mary. I am always encouraged to imitate the holiness of Mary as my mother and the Mother of God.
But I ask this, since when is admiring the holiness of another wrong?
I have read many of Fr. Maciels writings. Again, he always led to Christ through Mary.
If it is possible that the Lord could have created the LC order and RC through such a sinful man, then so be it. It would not be the first time that God has chosen to bring good from a miserable sinner. David and Paul come to mind. I have been brought closer to Christ through RC. I long to receive Him everyday in the Eucharist. I have 3 more children than I would have had, being encouraged through the movement to be open to the will of our Heavenly Father in my marriage.
Now is the time for much prayer, for the soul of Fr. Maciel and for many fruits of renewal to come to LC and RC. There are many, many holy, Christ-centered people who are very hurt by this. Frankly, I am privileged to know so many who seek the will of God in their lives, and long to live Christ-like charity.
This is only the beginning of the persecution, in my mind, not only of the Legion, but of the whole Church.
Finally, I wish those who dislike the Legion would concentrate more on prayer for the Church than on uncharitable venom that I continue to read in comments. (I won’t even bother with the ex-RC, ex-LC blogs. 1 Corinthians 13 does NOT come to mind when I read them. They are the anti-treatise on charity.)
Jim Fair seems to be striking a decidedly different note than Tom Hoopes. I hope this article is not indicative of how the Legion will ultimately address these issues:
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=14969
I agree with Mr Kabala’s comment above–the Church can’t allow an order founded by a bisexual pedophile to stand. An essential part of every religious order’s charism is the spirituality of the Founder. Ultimately, of course, every charism is based on the Gospel and the example of Jesus Christ first and foremost. But the founder’s charism is what gives each order its own particular spirit and mission. If a founder did in fact lead a double life, one cloaked in horrible sins like sexual abuse of minors, that has to be totally rejected, root and branch. I don’t see how anyone could think they could separate out the charism from the pedophilia and deception and everything else.
Practically, I don’t know what course this would take, but the Church has suppressed religious orders in the past. Perhaps a refounding could be done somehow and the members–who above all have been misled and damaged spiritually–be regrouped into a new order. I feel for them; I can’t imagine what it would be like to find out for sure that your founder was such a man. I pray for them and that God will draw good out of this terrible and scandalous situation.
CNA quotes Jim Fair, spokesperson for the LC:
source
Please, let’s all pray for the LC/RCs affected by this.
For those who are wondering how this can still be a work of God, Pope Benedict XVI continues to stand behind the Legion and the RC Movement. Which proves that God can even use the weakest of instruments to found his works…but then again, he’s God, right?
Re: what is their appeal?
Well, what’s the appeal of the Marines? Or the Navy SEALs? Or the priesthood in general? (these may not be the best comparison, but there seems something in common.): Be part of something important, bigger than you, stand on the frontlines, help protect others, change the world, defend the world and those you love from those who would harm them. They offer young people in particular the chance to do those things. In a Church that often asks nothing of them.
And then, as you get more involved, you see that people are a little weird about the Founder, and there are some weird rules and customs. Years ago, I heard someone say at a prayer meeting “The Legionary priests are all so holy” and “We know Fr. Maciel is already a saint” (he was alive at the time.) I wonder how she is doing… But you don’t see the weirdness first thing. You see the over-arching goal. And then you either see the weirdness and you brush it off (“well, every group has some flaws”) or you leave.
Thd degree to which religious institutes of the Catholic Church lack tansparency (and that is most of them to one degree or another), they lack the ability to present the Gospel to the world. Lack of transparency translates quickly into abuse of authority, hypocrisy and victimization of the most powerless members by an institute’s power elite.
The Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi –and we could include Opus Dei too– have reputations for pointless secrecy that makes them a more sinister presence in the Church than their members may think. In the case of LC and RC, the secrecy that has been/is a part of their persona seems to be an extension of the life of their founder. It may do them well to reconsider whether secrecy has been/is the best way to be Jesus in the world.
Thank you, Mr. Hoopes, for your apology. In all sincerity, I understand the pain you feel today. I know how it feels to have your spiritual rug pulled out from under you, to have to re-evaluate your spiritual beliefs and sort out which were real and true and which were our frail human longings for the spiritual perfection that only Christ can offer. I have passed through the rocky crevice you are now traveling and I can tell you that, while the journey is painful and trying, it is ultimately fruitful and edifying.
Feeling how you feel today, I hope you can understand the anger and “bitterness” you and your companions have accused so many of us of harboring. When we — like you today — were facing this dark hour, all the “friends” we thought we had, those people who proclaimed themselves our “new family,” not only turned their backs on us but accused us of spiritual shallowness, emotional imbalance, mortal sin, and poor parenting. They insinuated our children were intellectually and morally inferior and “unformed.” I know that hearing this wounds you, just as I was wounded thinking of all those awful rumors about other families that I simply accepted as truth because the news was coming from such good, holy people. These wounds take a long time to heal, and honest forgiveness takes a long time to extend.
You and your family and friends are in my prayers, as they have been daily since the time I left the movement. I am sorry for the pain that lies ahead of you, but I am happy that each of you have received this opportunity to open your eyes and see the truth of this “movement.”
Okay lets get real. I am an ex Catholic at best. NONE of you would want me in your parish. I am beyond doubt a sinner and make no mistake, I don’t like the Legionnairies of Christ or its founder. I am an ex seminarian and divorced.
I do practice any Faith. I lef the Church the night I left seminary. Now that you know my pedigree, lets get some things straight.
Having said all this, lets be realistic. Sex is a human need. This priest apparently had a sex life, with seminarians and with a woman. To be frank, he was a powerful man with hundreds of thousands of admirers who could take what he wanted. My understanding is that he had a drug addiction problem also and that this was known by the Curia for years. Powerful people routinely misuse sex. This is not a new insight, it has been happening for as long as there have been human beings.
What this man did was wrong. But on the grand scale of things he has committed no murder, denied no one bread, sent no one to prison with false witness or anything like that. He was a money raiser for the church that slept with whomever he wanted. Now, are you going to tell me you have never heard of this before? On the scale of human evil, this guy is a fly. He was a major irritant to friend and foe alike. Sounds like the typical CEO to me.
Get real. There are no saints on this Planet. Give him credit for the stuff he built and judge him gently for being a sex fiend. He could have been worse.
I’ve been in the Movement for 21 years and wish to associate myself with Tom Hoopes’ remarks. He said everything I’d wish to say perfectly.
I would not have entered the Church without Regnum Christi. It has done me nothing but good. But I am deeply sorry for our founder’s wrongs against his victims and against the Church, and for our corporate and my personal participation in them by defending him. I seek forgiveness, without excuses.
I had some run-ins with LC over the years. They always struck me as unbalanced. What was particularly troubling is that several of the LC RC people that I met denounced me for going to the Tridentine Mass (under the indult). I suspected they were fake right then.
I was a pre-candidate (high school student) in Rhode Island in the early 90s. While I was interested in seeing if I had a vocation and learned a lot while I was there, I had a problem with the hero worship of the founder. I could never refer to him as “Nuestro Padre” as everyone did. While I am grateful for what I learned while there and for the wonderful friends I made, I am glad that my family did question things in RC.
For so many people in RC, it should have been a wake up call to at least consider the possibility that there was more to the accusations than just the anger of disgruntled former members when the Holy Father ordered Marcial Maciel to retire There was and still is a quick dismissal of what I think is healthy questioning and constructive criticism. Hopefully, this horrible scandal will be the impetus for change and transparency. While I am sickened by the news, sadly, I am not very surprised.
Well, the good news is that the truth is FINALLY coming out and, hopefully, there will be apologies and FINANCIAL compensation to the vicitms. It is long overdue.
Also, on the upside, Pope Benedict lifted the excommunications of the 4 bishops heading the Society of St. Pius X, who have been maligned and smeared for 20 years. It is reported that an arrangment making the SSPX a personal prelature of the Pope could come this month. Vive le Pape!
I have known many WONDERFUL Regnim Christi members (including, many years ago, Tom Hoopes), and benefited greatly from my associations with them–as did my wife and many others!
There really is nothing to wonder about concerning the attraction that Regnim Christi held (and holds): the fullness of the Truth in a Church whose leaders had lost their confidence in the Truth in too many cases.
However, I ceased my association with it for a number of reasons. I could give them, but they would mean little. Like Amy’s examples, each instance could be explained away. And they were sometimes not clear cut–you pretty much had to be there to fully understand.
I suppose that I could now feel wise and prescient. However, I have had experiences with 3 other religious organizations concerning which I met with much the same result–if not worse. (The Society of St. John has left the country in disgrace. The experiences with Opus Dei and the Benedictine monastery were pretty clear cut, but that in no way means that these organizations are bad in general.)
So, what is the lesson? No religious organizations? Satan would sure love that! Indeed, the Church itself has an organizational aspect to it.
I think the lesson is that even religious organizations are human–and receive both God’s grace and Satan’s temptation. We should support them (discerning as best we can), and join in with them if we feel called to do so…but we must remember that only God alone is perfect. We must work together, but understanding that just as we are not personally perfect, no other organization is either.
That’s so easy to say, and true, but the widespread scandal in the U.S. Church has made it hard to keep one’s balance about such things…and to make us suspect that there is more to be said as well.
Yes, the Dominicans had St. Dominic and the Franciscans had St. Francis. But, other orders like the Carmelites have their reformers — St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila — as their role models. The Legionaries will have their reformers as well. Just look at the history of the Piarists, scandal-tainted at first, but they’re still with us. May Mercy wash us all clean.
If not for the love of the souls the LC priests and RC member have I and many others I know would be spiritually dead. My diocesan parish and priests have very weak catechesis and all talks are academic, not spiritually drawing us closer to Christ. I pray for those hurt by Fr. Maciel and for his sould. I hope the movement can re-organize. Satan would love to see it fail.
I am a Regnum Christi member and I’ve been thinking about this very much. Maybe it can help some other members (and non-members) if I share my thoughts here.
It is a huge, huge struggle to wrap my mind around this fact of serious misdeeds and of a “double life.” It’s like a whole change of mentality after years of holding the founder in such high esteem, thinking he was probably a misunderstood saint, reading his writings, etc. I admit that I feel betrayed by it, because the spirituality places such a key emphasis on authenticity, sincerity with God and others, being truthful before God and others.
To discover that the founder was not living these principles is a big shocker.
But I have been praying about it and I want to share what has helped me cope with it (and I’m not there yet… work in progress):
1. There is possibly in many of us (at least in me) a sense of betrayal, but also a sense that it is very important to forgive. I am realizing that to forgive his sin is not the same as excusing it… it’s not to whitewash it and say, “Oh, no big deal. He was just human and he fell like any of us.” No, this is very serious because he canonically should not have been celebrating Mass during those 20 years since the conception of his child. And he did. That, to me, is worse than the fact that he fell into a sin with a woman. So, I recognize that the magnitude of this fault is huge. But I also know that if I don’t forgive him, something in me will remain in darkness. It is necessary for my own sake to forgive and to take what was good and to move on. I cannot let the sun set on my anger, as the Bible says. I am also realizing that this forgiveness will take time, because I feel so betrayed. But I keep thinking about how Christ has no limit to his forgiveness– and I can’t set the limit now. I can’t excuse what he did. I never will. But I must forgive him.
2. I also recognize that there is a mystery at work here that I don’t fully understand. I don’t understand how God can use a person so flawed to do so much good. But I experienced a lot of good in the few years when I was a consecrated woman. In Regnum Christi, I developed a much deeper and more personal relationship with Christ. I grew to love the Church; I received solid doctrine and I received the sacraments in abundant measure. My directors showed me great kindness, patience, and love, and they walked the extra mile with me when I needed it. Those years confirmed and gave direction to my desire to lay down my life for the mission of the Church, to work for the salvation of souls. I am amazed at how much good I have received through Regnum Christi… and I am even more amazed that God was able to give me all these spiritual gifts through the work of a man who was so flawed. It doesn’t make sense to me, humanly. But it is a fact. So, here I am before a mystery that silences me and makes me wonder at how God can work.
So, these are two thoughts that keep coming to mind: forgiveness, and recognition of all the good God has done through this person. At the same time, I am not about to excuse his sins. Let them be recognized for what they are.
And then come questions and speculations. Is it possible to separate the spirituality from the life of the founder? I don’t know. For me, it is difficult to read his letters now, because I used to associate his words so much with his person. On the objective side of things, maybe one could say: “The spirituality presents a collection of convictions and guidelines that can guide any Catholic, regardless of the source. Take them for what they are worth.”
My thought is that it IS possible to take the spirituality and to move forward with our OWN commitment to do good for the Church, and to live out our own vocation to serve Christ with fidelity and authenticity.
In the end, we all answer to God. I want to reach the end knowing that I responded to the grace I was given. My calling to serve the Church as a Regnum Christi member does not have to depend on Fr Maciel’s personal fidelity. Maybe he showed me the way forward and did not walk it himself. Okay then. I will walk forward along the clearly lit path: fidelity to Christ and his Church. And I will pray for his soul, forgive him for the example he could not give me, and strive to give a good example to others.
That’s my resolution, anyway. For all of you other Regnum Christi members out there, you have my prayers. I know this is so hard for all of us, but please know that you have a core group of other lay members who want to continue forward. For non-RC members, please help us with your prayers. We need you now more than ever. Pray for us to be able to forgive and to take the good and move forward in a positive direction.
Thank you!
I have know the Legion and Regnum Christi for more than 10 years, and I must say that the fruits of the Legion are more than a bit. Just look at the National Catholic Register and the work that it does on a day-to-day basis. What about the Institute for Psychological Studies in Bethesda, the Alpha Omega Center, the University of San Diego, the hundreds of schools, the Family and Life Magazine, and that’s just the beginning. The Legion and Regnum Christi are behind thousands more apostolates, apostolates that do a lot of good for the Church, and that affect people’s lives in real ways.
This isn’t to say, however, that there aren’t real problems in the movement. There is a certain amount of elitism present, and a lot of disorganization. I know of cases of favoritism, and of putting people in high positions that probably don’t deserve it. The Anahuac University in Mexico City is a mess.
Another thing the Legion has never learned is transparency. I remember one time working in an apostolate and we were deciding how to convey a piece of information, and I came up with the very unique idea of telling the truth. It was a revelation to those with whom I was working. We ended up just doing that, and it was fine.
Many of its current problems probably could have been avoided with more transparency, but it’s probably something that got ingrained in the inner culture due to the need to lie of the founder to cover up his multiple lives, and really, I don’t mean to be racist or anything, or downplay Fr. Maciel’s life, but the inner culture of the Legion reminds me a lot of Mexico. Down there it’s second nature to make up a story rather than telling the truth, even when there’s no real good reason to hide anything (in the anecdote above, I was working with Mexicans).
Anyway, so maybe things are changing. With the fact that this internal investigation was initiated and carried out by the general director, and the findings are being revealed by him, that shows a bit of goodwill. Hopefully it will continue and increase.
I can confirm the mistress, the daughter in her 20s and that Fr. Maciel lived a double life from a very reliable source.
Compassion is called for here. We are all the one Body of Christ, called to build each other up. There are thousands of good, intelligent people who genuinely and sincerely committed themselves to the LCs or RC with faith, hope, and love. They deserve our respect and compassion. I would imagine that only a handful at the highest levels of the organization had a better idea of the character of Maciel.
I think it’s extremely sad, but apparently also part of the ‘purification’ of the Church that is ongoing. My prayers are with all those for whom this news must be devastating. May their faith in the Cross be strengthened during this very dark night.
When the very serious allegations surfaced again in 2007, I felt sure that if the Legion of Christ was to increase, Fr. Maciel had to decrease.
And still there were pictures of him in the Legion Calendar. This year there are four quotations from him, in addition to his history with the Legion. Maybe now you will see fit to “decrease” Fr. Maciel”, so the Legionaries may “increase”.
I pray for the good priests of the Legion of Christ.
In the 1980s I was a part of another religious order in the Church. During this time I was also the PR director of a major U.S. archdiocese. When I went home to my community, I found myself sharing quarters with a man who turned out to be abusing children (I had suspected this and said something to
our superior, only to be told I was out of line) and another who turned out to be living an active homosexual lifestyle under our roof. At work the archbishop was distant, cold and never smiled – people avoided him in the hallway. Did this affect my Catholic faith? Not too much, in the end. I left religious life at that time. It mostly made me terribly disillusioned with my order and the grittiness of humanity, the weakness, the sin that our daily life in this world is steeping in.
The Church offers us transcendence and real hope, but few, even within the Church, seem willing to grasp that and to plunge into the deep. Whenever I hear about such disappointment with figures in the Church, as seems to be the case with Fr. Maciel, I think to myself “nothing new here.” When I see people around me scandalized, I can only think they don’t know the history of our faith, humanity’s relationship with God over the millennia.
From the Fall of Adam, to the failures of King David, to the denials of Our Lord by St. Peter, for heaven’s sake the rock on whom this Church was built, the entirety of Salvation History is peppered with our broken and struggling humanity. Seeking God, but all too often falling and failing. Even the greatest of our saints can be so, so very human.
Do we forget to remember that Christ humbled himself to our human state, to raise our humanity? Do we read the Gospel of St. Matthew, chapter 7, when Our Lord tells us how, hard, hard it is, that road to our salvation and how many, indeed most, will fail on their journey?
What hope, then, can we have? Our hope must always be in the Lord – from whom comes our salvation. As the psalmist tells us in Psalm 146 “Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to his earth, and on that very day his plans perish.”
Please, let us join in prayer for all those who are affected by and suffer from this latest scandal. It will certainly not be the last we shall see in our lifetimes.
Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life our sweetness and our hope!To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve, to thee do we sigh, weeping and mourning in this vail of tears. Ah, then, our advocate, turn thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O merciful, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.
The Legion never used anything low and ugly as its hook. It was always high and beautiful — what the soul naturally resonates to. That’s why all this is so confusing. The very prayers that we who were once in RC and the LC bound us, as the things of God were used not to free our souls but to bind us — and to recruit our children, take our money, and spread “the kingdom” through an army of slaves. Like Tolkien’s “One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one ring to bring them all and in the darknes bind them.” The Faith is solid, but the Legion cannot keep up this empire that worships both God and Mammon.
From my somewhat limited but first-hand knowledge of the way LC/RC works, the members of the organization are for the most part corrupt, stupid or brainwashed — or some combination of the three. (Of course, this characterization does not apply to any of the commenters here who are members.)
You do not have to be a rocket scientist to have figured out long ago that there is something deeply flawed and to be avoided in the organization.
The end — supposedly “bringing orthodoxy to the masses” — does not justify the means — manipulation and lies — and worse. Don’t forget, there apparently has been outright criminal behavior in the organization, in the cases of the abuse of seminarians who are minors.
From what I have seen and heard, members usually do not gain “solid doctrine and piety.” Without cataloguing the individual errors, I can say there are many misapprehensions about the Church’s teaching in the organization. Sometimes there seems to be an effort to “make things come out right,” by twisting doctrine if necessary. Often the piety of members appears to be an outgrowth of fear and a desire to confirm rather than love of God and neighbor.
The argument that “good fruit” makes LC/RC worthwhile seems to be analogous to the statement that we need homosexual priests because otherwise there wouldn’t be enough priests. You don’t need a juggernaut-like organization like LC/RC to nourish your faith.
As for “reform”, in this case, pruning — even a deep pruning — will not do it.
It’s a horrible thing when people have been “damaged” by the Legion. I guess that is what can happen when people put too much faith in a “movement” or “people” instead of Christ. However, it seems many people are attracted to movements at times in their life when they are weak, or unbalanced or confused. That is a danger. So perhaps before criticizing the Legion so bitterly, perhaps people should take a look at themselves and ask why they put so much faith in an institution rather than Christ? Also, no matter how much people want to criticize the Legion/Legionaries, that can never take away from the good they have accomplished, from the people whose lives are the better for having met them.
Tom,
Of ALL the RC members I have ever met, it does NOT surprise me that you have apologized. I still keep notes of your talk at a Home school retreat about “tenderness”. I left the movement in 2004. God Bless you, April and your children. Forgiven brother. Forgiven!
This is terrible news indeed; a huge blow for those who are Legionaries and members of Regnum Christi but also for the scandal-plagued Catholic Church as well. As clearly stated in Paul’s letter to Titus (and 2 Timothy, and…), clergy are especially urged to conduct themselves in a manner above reproach. But let us not forget: priests, bishops, and popes are HUMAN. Popes who have fathered children and led less than holy lives have been bullets Protestant friends have routinely shot me with when attempting to convince me that the Catholic Church is “wrong.” The fact is, as Catholics, we do not follow men (as Paul warned), we follow CHRIST. And just like Christ worked through broken, sinful men who left Him at His darkest hour, denied Him, and doubted His resurrection, He has also worked through sinful and broken popes, bishops and yes, priests, throughout the ages. Why? Only God knows. But a common truth found throughout scriputure is that in addition to working through cowards and doubters, God routinely brings good about through liars (Jacob), murderers (Moses, David), even adulterers (David again).
The Legionary priests I have met are very holy, devout and orthodox men. Most of the Regnum Christi people I know sincerely desire a closer union with Christ and have generous, servants’ hearts. This movement does a lot of good all over the world (read the last line of the communique referenced by Amy above), and it is extremely saddening that they will suffer the fallout of this scandal, and as a result their various ministries will too.
One thing to think about: the Regnum Christi movement has continued to flourish and grow in spite of the controversy surrounding its founder for years. Could that be evidence that the Holy Spirit is working through it? As Gamaliel said regarding the apostles in Acts 38-39, “…if their purpose or activity is of human origin it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men.”
Regarding the 14-year old’s comments: you are going to take one child’s words and generalize it to the entire movement? I know plenty of people who have unreasonable expectations of their kids (check out a Little League baseball field on a Saturday afternoon). And a little kid put a can to collect money in a local convenience store to celebrate “nuestro padre’s” birthday–why is that strange? Founder’s day celebrations are routine among many organizations. I know the kids in the Legionary school in our city collect money and other items for lots of other reasons–canned food drives for the poor, pacifier/rattle/blanket collections for needy moms, Thanksgiving Day baskets for the poor, etc.
Maciel’s victims have suffered greatly, and we should pray for them. We should also pray for Regnum Christi’s leadership, that our Lord may guide them in leading this apostolate to its fulfillment in God’s will. We must pray that the good God has worked through this man, this flawed vessel, will rise above the muck. If we take the first steps to end the mudslinging, it just might.
It has to be one of the strangest movements in the history of the Church. It definitely attracts strong, healthy, devout people, many of whom wash out while many of the weak remain in leadership positions. There are extraordinarily good priests and religious women to be sure. Some are very saintly! And, yes, there is something very, very wrong. It is a mystery how something good in so very many ways, has been able to continue to grow while there is a dark side that clings to it like a cancer. There is a secrecy under the guise of charity. Some do not see it because they either cannot or will not. Please God it will be cut out for the health of the body of RC members.
Our trust is always in Jesus, not in the founder of a congregation. Our trust is in the Church, we work for Jesus and for and from His Church!
I never heard of any priest telling me F. Maciel was a saint, or that we should work in his name, it´s everything in the name of Jesus. Always…!!!
with a tender love for Mary, preaching the Kingdom of God, the love and loyalty to His Church, loyalty to the Pope, and love one another.
That´s it!
Thank you Mr. Hoopes.
Alejandro Espinoza – victim of maciel from the 1940s writes in his book “El Legionario” about maciel having sexual relations with women back in the foundation period. It was implied that he wooed rich women and seduced them with his charm – but bottom line was that his relations were aimed at getting money from these rich women.
I.E. his relations were not emotional nor were they instigated for personal gratification. The victims all mention the clinical nature of their abuse, that maciel seemed completely emotionally removed from his devious acts.
It would seem to me that he used sex as a means of control or financial benefit. It was a tool for his foundation plan.
Money, sex, and power…especially power as a source of temptation that is rarely mentioned by the clergy. Poverty, chastity and obedience is the monastic remedy, but whom do the ‘authoriities’ obey without transparency there will be no accountibiliy nor healthy shame in Church government. Aaron describes the self deception that justifies so many abuses that originate deeper than pleasure.
“I.E. his relations were not emotional nor were they instigated for personal gratification. The victims all mention the clinical nature of their abuse, that maciel seemed completely emotionally removed from his devious acts.”
If anything that would make it worse, certainly from a JP2 personalist / theology of the body perspective. Even further removed from authentic love and respect of persons and of the nuptial meaning of the body. An act more akin to prostitution or pimpery than adultery, but even worse.
For a priest to betray his vows for love of a woman is bad enough, but at least he doesn’t treat the woman with utter contempt, as does the priest who betrays his vows and manipulates a woman’s emotions as well as using her body for material gain, no matter how that material gain is to be used. To do so in the name of serving God or the Church seems nearly satanic.
The self-righteous judgmentalism on this page is unfortunately, not remarkable because it is such a component of our fallen nature. If someone sins, that act must never be condoned. But what I am reading here is nothing short of a trial of a man who is dead and has already been judged by God.
I am not a Legionary or a member of RC. I have no connection at all to either organization, but I am always disturbed at how quickly and viciously we are to condemn others–despite Christ’s clear warnings to the contrary. It is easy to cast stones but let’s be clear, even if we knew irrefutably what he did or did not do (which seems unclear to me at this point), to endlessly condemn Maciel at the very least borders detraction–a serious sin in itself.
Do we want to preserve the integrity of the Church? Of course. Should we condemn a man without knowing all the facts or the subjective state of his soul? Not unless you are God.
In the early 90s, I was a pre-candidate (high school student) in Rhode Island. While I was interested in finding out if I had a vocation, learned a lot and made wonderful friends whom I still have today, I was disturbed by the hero worship of the founder. In the 6 total years I was involved with RC, I never could call him “Nuestro Padre.” He was like a god to many of the consecrated and members, even after the 2006 order from Pope Benedict that Fr. Maciel ‘retire.’ That to me, was a huge error in judgment on the part of these members and leaders.
Constructive criticism of the movement was not allowed by members and any criticisms or questioning of methods was summarily dismissed. This has proven not only naive, but extremely dangerous.
Mr. Sanders,
Not informative, edifying, charitable or well-mannered.
Mr/Ms “LC all the way,
There is a significant difficulty with finding out truth about any organization which prizes confidentiality and has a significant culture of well-defined boundaries against the outside and loyalty to the leaders. Whether that truth is good or bad, it’s not easily accessible from anyone who is not “inside”. The only source is those who have left.
If that’s the case with the LC and RC, it wouldn’t be surprising that much of the negative information would come from a few places where former participants have come together, shared information, found commonalities, and have decided to do something. This doesn’t speak to the credibility of the statements, but it does suggest that the fact that they are coming from a few web sites isn’t, in itself, evidence that the statements are false.
At the very least, the number of statements from individuals who phrased their experience of leaving the Legionary formation experience as a necessarily secretly-plotted escape gives rise to huge concerns, even if the factual nature of specific allegations of misconduct hasn’t yet been determined.
I have had experience with the LC (& RC) for many years. At first, I thought they were the Lord’s storm troopers, the new Jesuits, etc. I could see why young men were attracted to them, kind of like the way they might be attracted to the Marines – a need to be elite or a part of something tough or something that really stands for something. Needless to say, I have been disillusioned with the LC over the years for various reasons raised in the main post. I was always uneasy with the adulation of their Founder, referred to as “Nuestro Padre.” I thought that was a bit strange, to say the least.
This is sad news for the many still attached to the LC & RC. At this point, it still seems to be on the level of rumors although, I haven’t seen anything concrete. I’m still waiting for some concrete news release from the LC. Will there be one forthcoming?
I would beg to differ from Dilbert (and others). I am not a member of Regnum Christi, but have known many members and some who used to be seminarians. All whom I have met have a sincere love for Our Lady and for Our Lord, particularly through the Mass, the sacraments, adoration, and the Rosary.
Does the order deserve to be examined, particularly in light of those who would like Fr. Maciel canonized? Sure!
However, I personally have only seen good results from the order’s spirituality and fervor.
Btw, CCC is a Regnum Christi ministry (the children’s movies).
Julie
I think some of the comments made are a bit unfair. Just because the public doesn’t know all of the comings and goings of a particular movement, doesn’t mean that there is complete secrecy and definitely doesn’t mean that something is necessarily going wrong.
Obviously there was a problem with the founder, Fr. Marciel. I believe that Regnum Christi issued a statement today or yesterday, revealing all. However, this doesn’t mean that the movement itself is totally flawed. I know many people who thank RC for their formation in the faith. To say that RC is a cult “drawing young people in with a slick program” is a bit extreme. I personally would rather have my children fully involved in a movement that teaches them their Faith than involved in things that would teach them otherwise. I think RC has taken a positive step to be transparent, to reveal the faults of their founder. I think this shows a genuine desire to follow Christ…. to clean out the wound so that it can heal.
While Fr. Marciel’s actions are inexcusable, we need to understand that priests are under a great deal of temptation and trial. We need to pray for all priests, for all the souls of departed priests… and trust God that He will be the just Judge… rather than slandering those who go astray. Plus, remember that God uses whoever He chooses–even poor, imperfect vessels–in order to accomplish His work. Who is to say that RC is not God’s work just because Fr. Marciel was a sinful, imperfect man?
Tom Hoopes
All I want to say is, I’m sorry.
I want to say it here, because I defended Fr. Maciel here, and I need to be on the record regarding that defense:
I’m sorry, to the victims, who were victims twice, the second time by calumny. I’m sorry, to the Church, which has been damaged. I’m sorry, to those I’ve misled.
I did it unwittingly, but this isn’t a time for excuses.
…
I seek repentance and forgiveness, and I leave it at that.
*******************************************
When I was in the Army and I would tell the sergeant that I was sorry, his response was “Yes you are”. Being sorry means nothing.
Repentence is not something we seek, it is something we do. Forgiveness is not something we seek, it is something we ask for. Repentence and forgiveness must not have been in the LC/RC teachings.
This is very tragic and for the all the members of LC/RC, this will be a true Cross. My humble prayers and sacrifices go out to all of those who this deeply affects, including myself. At the same time, THANK YOU Jesus for all of the MANY, MANY, MANY faithful, holy, dedicated, courageous and self-sacrificing members of the Legionaries of Christ and the Regnum Christi. Our mission, blessed and approved by the Church…does not change. We will continue to strive for charity and defend and love the Church and the Holy Father at all costs. We will persevere to… Love Christ. Serve People. Build the Church.
I now think Archbishop O’Brien was correct. This organization cannot be fixed. Disband this outfit and let those who so desire come back into the fullness of the Catholic faith. They have been a parallel church for too long.
I am a former member of RC. The LC priests traveling through our area stayed in our home for several years. I love them all and am praying for them. Many years ago, however, I sensed that there was something not so right about how the LC operated. It was very lock-step. I dropped out because I felt the priests were taught to manipulate rich women into following their spirituality, apostolates, and direction. Some women listened to the LC priests more than their own husbands and I felt that the priests took advantage of this fact. It was weird. This manipulation resulted in these good women bringing in their children to LC and RC events — of course for the LC and the consecrated RC women to quickly recruit for vocations. It also led to the LC meeting with their husbands to try and recruit them for RC membership (at which they were much less successful) and to try to get big donations from them. Once Maciel was silenced and then in 2007 I heard about sex- abuse allegations at the apostolic school being suppressed — I knew that there was pure corruption at the top of the LC leadership. Let us all remember that birds of a feather flock together. I believe the top LC leadership has known about Maciel’s sins for a very, very long time. It would be impossible for them not to have known. I suspect in the coming days and weeks that there will be a flood of victims coming forth. Those victims that have come forward in the past have been attacked by LC and RC members — now the truth is starting to come out. I am afraid we are just beginning to scratch the surface. Again, I am in prayer for all the good LC priests whom I love and admire and all the RC members whom I know and love. But both LC priests and RC members need to stop drinking the Kool Aid. Wake up and use the brain that Your Heavenly Father has given you. And parents, I say this out of great love: bring your daughters and sons home from the RC and LC schools/seminaries that are boarding situations (i.e. where your kids are not living at home with you and your family) until the corruption at the top of the LC leadership has been cleaned up.
Thank you, Tom. As a survivor of sexual assault by a priest, I appreciate when Catholics can take ownership for any part they have played in the clergy abuse crisis.
Bill Bannon, you are so right. The secrecy is a poison. For centuries, secrecy was used to keep victims silent, but people are not as easily intimidated by religious authority as they once were (although I worry about the immigrant population.) That pledge to secrecy, criminal solicitations, was a factor in my own abuse, because a prior victim’s family was threatened with excommunication if they told. Then the priest was sent to alcoholism treatment and on to another church, where he assaulted more girls…
There is an AA slogan, ‘You’re only as sick as your secrets.” The Catholic church has a long ways to go to becoming healthy.
Amy, I just heard that you had a death in the family. Please accept my sincere condolences and prayers.
About the LC & RC, it’s interesting to note that the two anecdotes you relate are both negative. It’s a shame that the many positive anecdotes you *could* relate are left untold. It’s easy in a situation like this to say “there’s a lot of good, but let me fill you in on the few gory details of the bad that I know about”.
As any writer knows, this results in the “bad” having a deeper and more lasting impact, which may not have been your intention in this post.
I know a story like the one you tell above about the 14-year-old who felt that he’d failed.
My father was in the diocesan seminary many years ago, and when he left the bishop simply brushed him off with the words, “Well, many are called; few are chosen.” That abrupt dismissal left my father scarred for a long time.
I tell this to emphasize that these kids of failures on the part of our seminary formators are not restricted to the Legion of Christ, and are therefore not necessarily indicative of aberrant behavior by the founder or of systemic problems within the seminary.
We have to judge with prudence at this moment, rather than drawing in all of our negative anecdotes as though these could somehow give us a prescience about the Legion’s future.
I have to say how grateful I am for all the supportive and charitable remarks on a variety of sites regarding RC in this horrible time. As a RC member for over ten years, it is so comforting that so many Catholics see our pain and disappointment and are supporting us with prayers as true brothers and sisters in Christ.
RC has been such a huge blessing to me and my family. The apostolates we have been involved with were awesome. My kids especially enjoyed Catholic Kids Net, and I enjoyed the Parenting With Christ group (which used the book Parenting with Grace). Probably our fondest RC -related memory was the family Christmas Mission in nearby New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. We were able to help clean out a damaged church, rectory, and diocesan owned retirement home that week while joining with other Mission participants for daily Mass and prayer. We were not the only group on a “mission” that week. People from all over the country and from different faiths were there helping to rebuild and restore a great city. It was amazing! RC helped us to be a part of that.
Years ago, my husband joined RC only to realize that it was not for him personally. My two college aged daughters belonged to Challenge (girls’ club) when they were younger but are not in RC now. Both are active in diocesan and campus ministry and T.E.C. (not RC), but they will let you know that Challenge really helped them in their faith life. Bottom line is, while RC apostolates helped them, they did not feel a call to join, and they had the complete freedom to make that decision. No pressure.
Obviously, that is not the case with other people and their experience… maybe it has to do with the area… Anyway, it has been very positive for us.
I would like to go on record as saying that my commitments are to JESUS-not to any person. My faithfulness to my Catholic faith does not depend on my pastor’s faithfulness to his call nor does my fidelity to my prayer commitments depend on the faithfulness of the founder of the movement to which I choose to belong. I am not going to leave the Church because of any MAN. I struggle enough on my own, thank you very much. The RC spirituality is very much Christ centered, and we commit to spending time meditating on the Gospel and focusing on the words and actions of Jesus. I intend to keep working on that.
By the way, when the Vatican speaks (or acts), we should take note. It’s not that the LOCAL people I know who took up for Fr. Maciel are bad… actually it’s just the opposite. They are kind people who see others through kind eyes. After being around them for so long, I have still never heard them say ugly things about others. I wish I could be like that! But again, when the Vatican speaks, we should take note… in a charitable but decisive way.
The mea culpa is fine–but the next question for the superiors of LC and RC–what did you know about Maciel and when did you know it?
This would also apply to the patrons of the LC in the Vatican?
Father Maciel, it seems, was a deviant. The weight of evidence leaves it rather difficult to refute, and it seems that the matter of his sexual preferences and indiscretions is the fulcrum upon which all bloggers are balanced. He was held to a higher standard, because he was called to a higher vocation, and he blew it. Death is a great leveller, and I rather hope that the Pope’s invitation to a time of reflection prepared Maciel to prostrate himself fully for the occasion. I did not like the man. I am not fond of the Baccarat Madonna he gave me, nor the gilded and bound leather album of photos of us together which he sent me. I feel a little sullied. Anyway, that is my position and it has been so since before these accusations ever came to light, which is why I feel compelled to put this down and enter the world of Blog.
Isn’t it true to say that David was a man with a major crush on a married woman? And didn’t he have the wherewithal to create a void in her life by arranging the murder of her husband? Doesn’t that make him morally suspect, or do we think David a case apart. Or is there a difference we are missing. David took advantage of his position and his personnel to achieve his end; Maciel took advantage of his position disciples to achieve his end. I will concede that within the Divine Right of Kings, David had an advantage – he had the right to shed blood. Still, both cases were motivated by a carnal desire, and both caused irreparable damage, but we do not cast out the Book of Psalms on that account.
So what are we looking at?And how does this affect the Legion of today? Firstly, David repented, and it is not evident from the Statement issued by the Legion that the suggested period of repentance was altogether thought necessary for Maciel. The difficulty for the Legion today is bound up in this statement, and the spin which is imposed – Maciel as martyr and Maciel as sacrificial lamb. Mrcial Maciel will make his own peace with God, and perhaps the damaged victims will learn in time to ask God to forgive him, even if understandably they can not do so themselves. But in a faith which attests to the infallability of the Pope, the Legion must question with whom its allegiance lies, because to whitewash Maciel for whatever reason, is to put in question the papal position. We must alwasy seek out the predators, and some of them are very charismatic.
Thanks for your post, Shannon! I have also had a positive experience with Regnum Christi. Having grown up in a nominal Catholic home, I was just learning my faith when I met the RC Movement. Through it, I learned much about a prayer life – a very personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and the importance of the Sacraments. I am greatly saddened by the news of Fr. Maciel. But it doesn’t change Christ. And, I am hoping to continue to grow closer to Christ through the RC movement. However, I belong, always and only, to Jesus Christ, through His One, Holy, Apostolic Church.
I spent a summer as a candidate in his order. I can testify that there are good people in it. They really challenged me to grow in faith in a way no other group I have come into contact did. I’m very grateful to them for the experience. They don’t aim low, and I am more aware of the possibilities of the life of faith because of them. They could have manipulated me into joining if they had wanted to. They didn’t. I was certainly vulnerable to that sort of thing at that time. If they deal with this well in truth, honesty and justice (especially for his victims) then I hope that good work continues in some form.
That being said, there was a lot that turned me off. I didn’t warm to the cult of personality that surrounded Maciel. In one of the videotaped talks they showed us he spoke about the “enemies of the Church”, and included in the list “communists, masons, and zionists”. It was the last one that upset me. He sounded paranoid and anti-semetic. He almost certainly was. The one brother (a seminarian) I spoke to agreed with me somewhat. It reminds me now of the sicker parts of my rad-trad relative’s views on the world.
Still I went through a profound shock when the first allegations came out. But when faced with the competing conspiracy theories (“He’s a serial pedophile and the order is covering up for him” versus “The supposed victims and accusers are lying and under the control of the devil, persecuting us just like Jesus predicted his followers would be persecuted”), I knew which one was more likely true. So this is very sad but not really shocking now. Anyway, I keep my former candidate brothers, many who are now LC priests, in my prayers. It won’t be easy for them.
Ingvar, ex-cLC.
I’ve been involved in RC for 4 years. I got involved through the apostolate called Challenge. I was so moved by how the girls loved Christ and how they behaved and strived to be good role models. I was always turned off of Fr. Maciel and what I never really understood until now called the “cult of personality” it just never sat with me right so I never talked about him. I did however talk about Blessed Jose who was, at the age of 14 executed for his faith shouting “Long live Christ the King” when soldiers told him to renounce his faith before they shot him. Blessed Jose’s love for Christ inspired Fr. Maciel like nothing else and it inspired me because it only happened within the last 80 years. I have a lot to learn and am obviously easily duped because this is the third time I’ve been involved in a personality cult. The first two were secular. I guess I just have to avoid strong personalities in the future. I do love RC very much because the women I’ve grown to know and love are so strong and dedicated mothers who really care and sacrfice. Role models I can trust. People who genuinely strive to serve the Kingdom of Christ. RC was the first place I ever considered vocations for my kids. RC has taught me that kindness is part of charity. RC has taught me the value of obedience. I didn’t know that God says “obedience is sweeter than sacrfice”.
Sadly, I don’t know if there is a future for the LC or RC but perhaps its God’s will for our time to be up and we are to dispand and move into other orders and movements serving the Church.
Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.
The Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand!
There is a letter from F. Alvaro Corcuera, LC
http://www.religionenlibertad.com/noticias/estamos-viviendo-unos-momentos-dolor-sufrimiento
Pray for LC and RC, for Catholic Church. In this and in all cases, God wants to prevail justice and mercy, truth and love.
Amy, your husband and you family are blessed by the blessed Cross of Christ the Lord. I just have known your blog. Me and my family are close to you sufferings. +
That letter says absolutely nothing meaningful. Obama could have written a better one.
Two trivial copyediting nits:
(1) “Here is the text of the communique, which was intermidably parsed here and other places, ….”
interminably, “N”, not “D” (without end; variant of terminal, terminate). Perhaps the better word is “often”, “frequently”, or, if you insist, “endlessly”. For clearest communication, a good rule of thumb is to use short anglo-saxon words when possible. Unless the purpose is to conceal or deceive, avoid latinate variants in both speech and liturgy.
(2) “That said, the book on this affair will be long and complex. Torturous, in fact.”
That would be tortuous, no “R” (meaning twisted; having many turns; convoluted). Perhaps the pun was intentional, and and you meant to say that not only would the book be complex, but also that reading the book would induce pain comparable to torture.
Tom Hoopes! – You lying wimp! You issue what appears to be a ‘from the heart apology’ and then 25 minutes later you backpedal with a “To be clear: I’m not in a position to say which allegations are true and which false. I don’t mean to leave the impression that all are true. It appears some are.”
THE VICTIMS OF MACIEL KNOW WHICH ARE TRUE!!!!
Who do you believe now? Your MASTERS who covered for Maciel, or the real VICTIMS, STILL UNACKNOWLEDGED by them?
You are a real piece of $!#$, what kind of MAN are you?
Where, just exactly, do you stand? What, precisely, are you apologizing for? That lying puff piece ‘Maciel Exhonerated’ where you or your paper LIED and turned an unsigned fax from the WRONG Vatican congregation, mistranslated ‘not foreseen’ into ‘there will NOT be a trial’ — way before you knew the outcome??????
TELL US EXACTLY – ‘WHAT ARE YOU SORRY FOR?’
Working for a bunch of idiots, while true, isn’t it.
No longer impressed Tom. Sad that you are going back on what you said.
Bubba,
I think what Tom Hoopes was trying to say is he is sorry, as am I, for whatever wrongs there were. I am in no position to know which allegations are true and which are not. Some of them obviously are, that does not automatically make every allegation true though.
For those harmed by Fr. Maciel’s actions I apologize and pray that God gives you the comfort you seek.
I am fairly new to RC – about 4 four years and have never really experienced the cult like aspects mentioned. What I have experienced is a way to grow and strengthen my faith through a discilplined prayer life and also how to be a better husband and father following Christ’s loving example.
There are great fruits coming from the Legion and RC that must not be lost. Those fruits do not in anyway excuse or take away the bad things done, but to destroy those things would only enlargen the scandal.
Mr. Bubba,
When someone who has been a staunch defender of something that turns out to have been false, it is the right thing to do to apologize. That is what Mr. Hoopes has done: “I’m sorry, to the victims, who were victims twice, the second time by calumny. I’m sorry, to the Church, which has been damaged. I’m sorry, to those I’ve misled.
There are many statements and charges that have not yet been fully investigated or about which the facts have not been made pubic. They relate not only to Fr. Maciel, but also to others; some critics lay blame on the entire LC/RC organization which might be taken to imply that every member is culpable. It’s worthwhile for him to make sure that his words are not taken to mean that. To state that one is not in a position to form a conclusion about those matters is not cowardly, irresponsible or characteristic of (as you elegantly put it) “a real piece of $!#$”.
I’m just wondering. This is from their 1st General Chapter:
“469. Since it has been ordained by God that the person and life or Our Father Founder cannot be separated from the life and spirituality of the Legion, we the Chapter Fathers recognize the necessity to carefully gather and conserve all material dealing with the person, life, work and word of Our Founder.”
Does this mean they will “carefully gather and conserve” his lover and daughter?
you can get the facts at zenit.org. Please don’t believe all that you hear from ex-LC blogs. If you want to know what “statements” or decisions are being made by the LC “leadership,” then go to a reliable source, the “Church Seen from Rome” is a good one (Zenit.org).
I have to add, I have been in RC for just over 3 years, and have also never experienced any cult-like aspect. Instead, I have grown deeply in my faith and love for Christ. Christ has and is truly changing me through my RC formation.
I am deeply hurt and sorry for the hurt caused by this sad news. But for me, I did not join RC for Fr. Maciel, I joined for Christ, and so I am solid in my vocation. I am not surprised that Fr. Maciel was a man with sins…for the only perfect man was Christ. But that does not mean that Christ doesn’t use the gifts and talents of others to speak through. But that’s just it, it is Christ whom we encounter in spite of the man.
I should also add that as in the case of anyone’s sins, we never know the circumstances or the states of one’s soul, and so while being hurt, and while feeling sorry for those hurt by this, I am not in a place to judge, criticize, or make assumptions. This is true of any human being. God is the judge, and only God knows the heart of the sinner.
I don’t think anyone in Regnum Christi or the Legion is trying to make excuses for anything. The spokeman has stated the facts, and the rest the Legion acknowledges is just not yet known.
Christ has done so much good through the Legion and Regnum Christi, and perhaps is using this to re-focus attention back to him (to Christ and only Christ), so it can be even more truly the Christ-centered Spirituality it was meant to.
I realize we´re coming from different places — both literally (I live in Mexico) and figuratively (my focus is on politics and history) — so my perspective of RC and LC will be radically different.
While the spiritual needs of individuals are something outside my area of expertise, the damage done by the LC in Mexico and other Hispanic nations has been immense. Marciel´s collaboration with dictatorships (Franco´s Spain, Pinochet´s Chile and Marcos´Phillippines) held back, or warped democracy in these nations. Maciel made no secret of his support for the Mexican fascists — the Synarchists — and fascist (in the very real sense of the term, not the loose sense of any right-wing political movement) youth groups, associated with RC have committed genuinely violent acts — attacking gays, Protestants, Mormons and indigenous people in Aguascalientes earlier this decade, for example.
When I wrote about Marciel, on my Mexican website, I received the nastiest, obscenity-laced comments I have received, ever. A rather strange manifestation of the Holy Spirit, to say the least.
You can see the facts at http://www.zenit.org as to what the Legion is saying.
I will echo RC Man’s sentiments. While some know what Maciel’s offenses were, all Hoopes was saying that he doesn’t know which are true but he is still sorry for whatever they were. Charity demands that stance. What Hoopes said is both charitable and honest. How can anyone call that backpedaling?
I will add that I am not nor have I ever been a member of RC. Nor a fan. I always thought it cultish.
Obedience IS sacrifice. It is the essence of any and all sacrifice. It was Christ’s obedience, expressed to the last drop of his blood, that saved us.
Bubba was a little harsh and maybe needs to hit the box! Granted the guy was overzealous in defending LC but he did acknowledge his mistake. I hardly think he was wrong to at least qualify his comments as he has no way of verifying every accusation.
There seems to be a lot of people who live their lives bitter about LC. I think many of the complaints have some validity, but I think that despite the Founder being immoral there is more good than bad with LC.
I was a member as was my wife and many of my friends in RC for 4 years. My children attended LC schools as well and I have had many great personal relationships with numerous Preists and Brothers as well. I have never witnesed any of the cult like characterists mentioned and to the contrary thought the LC preists were nothing short of outstanding.
However, the school was a mess from a organization stand point once the LCs came in, but the issue was just plain incompetence. The RC leadership was fair and the committment was too much for us but it was a positive.
Anyway, I feel for the great preists and lay people as well as the true victims. Perhaps now that the truth is out about MM everyone can move on…
I was with the RC for 5 years and am grateful to them in teaching me how to talk to God and helping me understand that He is real and not some God that is distant in the sky as I once perceived. I believe the devil wants us to dwell on this terrible insident and shake our faith. A true Catholic knows his faith is from God not in us fallen humans which are stained with original sin. If you have any faith you will pray for this man and for his soul and secondly the souls of all that will be affected by this information or first hand encounters. As Jesus says,” you that has not sinned cast the first stone”. Hopefully this scandle is not causing you to sin futher
From what I am aware of RC and LC, most of the people joined for the right reasons, and many have grown in spiritual faith as a result of it. This represents a vast amount of spiritual resources, that the Church desperately needs moving forward. I strongly recommend taking stock of those assets, in a “What Color Is Your Parachute” style, and find a way to offer those resources up to the service of the Church. Don’t throw the baby away with the bath water.
I understand that there are a lot of intense feelings from varying perspectives. I am not defending the Legion of Christ, Regnum Christi, or Marcial Maciel. (to be honest I was a Legionary for seven years).
Please consider the people you are talking to. All of us have been hurt or deceived. Our reactions will be different but they will be intense. Let’s not let the lies and deceit turn us on one another.
Please don’t excuse the pain and real suffering that some have endured by offering false cliches. People have a right to demand justice. Let people voice their hurt, their pain, or their outrage. Christ did not die for us to be wounded authorities.
But, please don’t attack those who have identified with RC|LC|MM so much that they can’t yet make sense of this.
There is only person responsible: Marcial Maciel. The only other people responsible are those who knew the facts and did nothing. I am convinced (having been very intimately involved in the Legion) that only a handful knew. And many of them were afraid, overwhelmed, and confused. They have thousands of people to think about including the victims. The Legion|RC answers to Rome and the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life. What will happen is up to the Vatican. If they do not take appropriate action you can always appeal to the media, or the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.
I am not a member of the RC or LC or even a Roman Catholic anymore. But, don’t turn on one another. This is just another opportunity to tarnish the Good News of Jesus Christ and to sin against brothers and sisters in Christ.
I offer you my understanding and my prayer as we all deal with this news.
Blessings.
The Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life
Pertinent telephone numbers are:
His Eminence the Cardinal Prefect +39. 06. 69884121
His Excellency Archbishop Secretary +39. 06. 69884584
receptionists +39 06. 69884128 and +39. 06. 69884980
FAX +39. 06. 69884526
E-mail: civcsva.pref@ccscrlife.va (Prefect)
civcsva.segr@ccscrlife.va (Secretary)
vati059@ccscrlife.va (information)
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops
Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life & Vocations | 3211 4th Street, N.E., Washington DC 20017-1194 | (202) 541-3033
Email clergy@usccb.org
This seems to be a refreshing departure from LC’s longstanding approach of “deny and discredit”. Was it done for damage or spin control, or are the current leaders hoping to transform the order?
I agree that there are many good and sincere folks associated with LC, but organizational culture is extremely difficult to change. How can they do it when the focal point of their spirituality has been exposed as a fraud and a hypocrite? Not that I am without sin, but I also did not encourage the practice of referring to me with the opening words of the Lord’s prayer “Our Father…” (Nuestro Padre”).
Signs that they are serious:
1. Public acknowledgment and unambiguous public repudiation of Maciel’s behavior.
2. Public release of ALL RC/LC from the “Fourth Vow”, which prevents members from publicly criticizing RC/LC or any of its members.
3. Public apology and reparations for Maciel’s victims.
If we see these signs emerging from the smoldering wreckage of LC, our hope will increase that the many good men and women can continue their apostolates for the service of the Church and mankind.
It is more likely that claims of reform will be made, but without the required atonement and transparency to make it credible and verifiable….at least to non-members!
There are so many ways in which we can voice our feelings of joy or despair in the Legion, and God Bless those who wrestle their damage, or those for whom any criticism dredges up feelings of indignation. Let’s remember, sad as it may seem, that much is learned in adversity. And let’s remember to pray for the young men, and women, who suffered from this small, (I am sure they were few), predatorial elite.
The main question now, though, two years on, (which in past eras was considered the required mourning period for a parent or spouse), is not so much about individual experience and bringing it into the light – that is already done; instead, the question begs – was the influence of the founder and his “in-the-loop” co-operatives responsible for passing down a flawed charism? It is the formation of the current Legionaries which the Pope, in his wisdom, will question and guide. The Legion has acceded to this, according to interview. It is he who will ultimately, then, decide upon the restructuring of the Legion and the continuance of a charism which will be subject to the highest of direction. Those of us who consider ourselves ex-friends of the Legion have prayed for a change in the leadership for years, because of the many fine priests who are within it. A great sadness has been to watch how many who were called to a Legionary vocation have been dismissed and ostracized, told that they have no vocation, or who have felt that something was not quite right and managed to withstand the invoked guilt and left of their own accord. It wasn’t easy for them. These are the matters of a flawed charism – but it can be put right. Because we believe, it will be. How do I know this? Because I have hope, and so do we all!
This place is filled with such a mixed bag of postive/negative commentary. I’m a +8 year member of RC. Never in those years did I encounter a cult, never,never anything negative. I have been led to a better life of prayer, love for Christ, desire for the Sacraments, and intense love for the Roman Catholic Church. I loved JPII and I’m learning to love B16. My RC friends are holy, Catholic, fun-loving zealous women. Yes, zealous! Zealous for the life in Christ that we are called to live-knowing Him better, loving Him, and serving Him.
Take your negativity and stuff it, friends. Go to Church, and pray for Her before Christ in Adoration! Don’t stick your head in the sand, but live according to the principles of the Church. Justice will be accorded in its time.
Charity, folks. Walk it!