Do everything! Just don't introduce the Traditional Mass in your Institute!

All's well that ends well.

Or not so well:

The troubled Legion of Christ religious order is electing new leadership for the first time since its founder was revealed to have been a pedophile and fraud. The process starting Wednesday will formally end the Vatican's three-year rehabilitation of the movement, a reform the Legion is touting as a success and critics have dismissed as a sham.

The Legion was once held up as a model by the Vatican, which turned a blind eye to the Rev. Marcial Maciel's misdeeds as the order became one of the fastest-growing congregations in the Catholic Church and brought in millions in donations. After three years of Vatican-imposed reform though, questions still remain as to how the Legion can exist when its founder was a criminal and its core mission remains unclear.

The Legion's hope is that following the monthlong meeting, Pope Francis will approve a new constitution that explains the order's mission, hierarchy and rules and will allow the Legion to move on without any more Vatican oversight. The Legion's top superiors and 42 priests elected as representatives — including many close to Maciel — will finalize the constitution during the meeting and then elect new leadership. [Associated Press]

Thankfully, Maciel only abused male novices and fathered babies... If only he had introduced the Traditional Latin Mass, then the Legion would have been abolished, and their buildings burned down, and the earth beneath them salted.

Beyond Belief: a Neoconservative Reality Show




Carol Reed directs Rex Harrison as an armored Julius II
in The Agony and the Ecstasy

A disgraced superior of the most powerful of the "new movements" favored by John Paul II under the protection of the most powerful of the Secretaries of State. One of the superior's right-hand priests. The most prominent woman in the Church's higher administration and a distinguished legal mind in the most prestigious university of our age. Journalists in the most influential Catholic news agency. 

Roman intrigue. Family connections. Illegal relationships. Secret liaisons. Illegitimacy. Shadows in the highest echelons of the Vatican. Silence and mutual protection up to the last moment within a Catholic elite and media too enamored with close access and exclusive information.

A lousy and poorly written novel? No, the truth.

So, that is it in the Church of Vatican II?! We get Renaissance-like scandals with no Renaissance art, no Renaissance beauty, no Renaissance liturgy, no Renaissance popes dividing the world between Catholic powers, no Renaissance heroes sailing the oceans, discovering new lands and conquering new worlds for the Faith, no Renaissance Men? Bring back Julius II!

For the record: Pope Francis confirms De Paolis mission Purification of Legion of Christ reaches new stage

The letter sent by Pope Francis to Cardinal de Paolis was released today:

To my Venerable Brother Cardinal Velasio De Paolis

In an audience on May 27th, you explained the progress of the ministry of Delegate for the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ which my beloved predecessor, Benedict XVI, entrusted to you on June 16, 2010.

I would like to thank you for having brought me up to speed on what you have done in fulfilling this delicate task. As well, I would like to assure you that I have carefully considered what you presented to me in the report you sent with your letter on May 10th, as well as the content of the prior reports and the material regarding the Apostolic Visitation which took place in 2009 and 2010.

Vatican leaker and accomplices: what do they want to disrupt?

Salvatore Izzo is a well-respected religion correspondent for Italian news agency AGI, and sent this note today to the Papa Ratzinger blog:

A newspaper [La Repubblica, the reference is to the article posted by us here] has published other Vatican documents, and it had done so in an attempt to redimension the responsibility of Paolo Gabriele.

It is an unacceptable operation. At the same time, it is clear that the documents have the same origin, therefore we may reasonably presume that it was an accomplice of PG - who had received them prior to the arrest - who handed them to the paper. This assumption seems coherent with the affirmation by Father Lombardi that, on this matter, has said: "we have seen anonymous and signed documents published for months, it is clear that whoever has received this great amount of texts is not considering the intention of making everything known at once and leaving us in peace".

On the other hand, in the article, a true and actual attempt to blackmail the Pope's private secretary and the Cardinal Secretary of State is hinted. It seems to me that journalism has nothing to do with this. We speak here of theft and blackmail, of media operations guided from afar and attempting to block the cleaning operation that Benedict XVI has ordered and that causes so much fear in the old curial apparatus, particularly those compromised with Father Marcial Maciel, and not only him. Among other things, the psychological conditioning that may have induced PG to betrayal recalls the conscience control operated upon the Legionaries by their criminal founder, and this makes us wonder. What also makes us wonder is the coincidence of the offensive of the moles and the path towards reconciliation with the Lefebvrists, that disturbs part of the faithful and of the Hierarchies so much.

The Macielists

The Cost of Father Maciel

From the June / July 2010 edition of First Things:

Cardinal Sodano has to go. The dean of the College of Cardinals, he has been found too often on the edges of scandal. Never quite charged, never quite blamed, he has had his name in too long a series of depositions and court records and news accounts—an ongoing embarrassment to the Church he serves. The Vatican has been responding in a disorganized way to the frenzy of recent press stories about often thirty-year-old abuse cases. What it should do is put its own house in order, moving out the unhelpful remnants of the bureaucracy that allowed those scandals to fester for so long.

***

...The deeper point is the lack of consequences— visible consequences—for failures and missteps and wrong associations in the Vatican. The real problem is that heads haven’t rolled, penalties haven’t been exacted, for Fr. Maciel’s deceptions.

For many years, Cardinal Sodano received money and benefits for his projects from the Legion of Christ, and in 1998 he halted investigations into sexual abuse by the Legion’s founder. That apparent quid pro quo ought to have a price.

It ought to have a price precisely because the scandal of Fr. Maciel is so deadly. The child-abuse cases were a corruption in the Church. What Fr. Maciel attempted is a corruption of the Church...

Communiqué of the Holy See

[on the Apostolic Visitation of the Legion of Christ]

1. On the days April 30 and May 1, the Cardinal Secretary of State chaired a meeting in the Vatican with five bishops in charge of the Apostolic Visitation of the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ (Bishop Ricardo Blazquez, archbishop of Valladolid, Msgr. Charles J. Chaput OFM Cap., Archbishop of Denver, Mgr. Andrella Ricardo Ezzati SDB, Archbishop of Concepción, Mgr. Giuseppe Versaldi, Bishop of Alessandria; Mgr. Ricardo Watty Urquidi, M.Sp.S., Bishop of Tepic). It was attended by the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life and the Substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State.

One of the sessions took place in the presence of the Holy Father, to whom the Visitators presented a summary of their report, which had been previously submitted.

During the visitation over 1,000 Legionaries were met in person and hundreds of written documents were examined. The Visitators have visited almost all the religious houses and many of the works of the apostolate directed by the Congregation. They heard, orally or in writing, the opinion of many diocesan bishops of the countries where the congregation operates. The Visitators also met several members of the "Regnum Christi" Movement, although it was not the subject of the visit, especially men and women religious. They have also received considerable correspondence from laity and family members of the Movement.

The five Visitators testified to a sincere reception and a constructive spirit of cooperation shown them by the congregation and individual religious. While acting independently, they have reached a widely convergent evaluation and a shared opinion. They testified that to having met a large number of honest and talented religious individuals, many of them young, who seek Christ with genuine zeal and offer their entire lives to spread the Kingdom of God

2. The Apostolic Visitation was able to ascertain that the behaviour of Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado has caused serious consequences in the life and structure of the Legion, so much so, to require a journey of profound re-evaluation.

The serious and objectively immoral behaviour of Fr. Maciel, supported by incontrovertible evidence, at times constitutes real crimes, and manifests a life devoid of scruples and of genuine religious feeling. The large majority of Legionaries were unaware of that life, particularly because of the system of relations created by Fr. Maciel, who had skilfully managed to build up an alibi, to gain the trust, confidence and surrounding silence and strengthen his role as a charismatic founder.

Not infrequently the lamentable disgracing and expulsion of those who doubted his upright conduct, and the misconception of not wanting to harm the good that the Legion was doing, had created around him a defence mechanism which made him untouchable for a long time , thus rendering knowledge of his real life difficult.

3. The sincere zeal of the majority of the Legionaries - which also emerged from the Visitation of the congregation houses and their many works, and which is appreciated by many - led many in the past to believe that the charges, which gradually became more insistent and widespread, could only be slander.

Therefore the discovery and knowledge of the truth about the founder resulted in surprise, dismay and deep sorrow among members of the Legion, as clearly evidenced by the Visitors.

4. From the results of the Apostolic Visitation it has emerged clearly, among other elements:

a) the need to redefine the charism of the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ, preserving the core truth, that of "Militia Christi", which characterizes the apostolic and missionary action of the Church and which is not identifiable with efficacy at any cost;

b) the need to review the exercise of authority, which must be conjoined to the truth, in respect of conscience and to develop in light of the Gospel as an authentic ecclesial service;

c) the need to preserve young people's enthusiasm of faith, the missionary zeal, the apostolic dynamism, through appropriate formation. Indeed, disappointment about the founder could call into question the core of this vocation and charism that belongs and is specific to the Legionaries of Christ.

5. The Holy Father would like to assure all Legionaries and members of the "Regnum Christi" Movement that they will not be left alone: the Church has a strong desire to accompany them and help them in the path of purification that awaits them. It will also mean sincere confrontation with all those who, inside and outside the Legion, were victims of sexual abuse and of the power system devised by the founder. It is to them, at this time, that the thoughts and prayers of the Holy Father go, along with his gratitude to the many who, even in the midst of great hardships, had the courage and perseverance to demand the truth.

6. The Holy Father, in thanking the Visitators for the delicate work which they competently carried out with generosity and deep pastoral sensitivity, assured them that he will soon indicate the modalities of this process of accompaniment, starting with the appointment of a Delegate and a Study Commission on the Constitution.

The Holy Father will send a Visitator to the Regnum Christi Movement, in response to insistent requests from consecrated members thereof.

7. Finally, to all Legionaries of Christ, their families, committed lay people in the Regnum Christi movement, the Holy Father renewes his encouragement during this difficult time for the Congregation and each one of them. He urges them not to lose sight that their vocation, which originated from Christ’s call and is animated by the ideal to witness his love to the world, is a true gift from God, a treasure for the Church, the indestructible foundation on which to build their personal future and that of the Legion.

[Source: Bollettino of the Holy See Press Office]

Important papal events

1. The future of the Legion of Christ is to be decided in the next few weeks and months following the personal meeting of the Holy Father held today with the visitators investigating the internal proceedings of the congregation founded by Fr. Maciel Degollado.

2. The Pope paid a personal visit to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith today, including the new offices of the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei".

On Groupthink and False Obedience

Sandro Magister's latest newsletter has an exclusive interview with Fr. Thomas Berg, formerly of the Legionaries of Christ and now a priest of the Archdiocese of New York, and director of the Westchester Institute for Ethics and the Human Person.

The interview has the following passages on the groupthink, false obedience and unhealthy exclusivism that has been inculcated into the minds of not a few Legionaries. As should be easily realized, these passages apply not only to the LC, but to many other major ecclesial movements and religious societies, some of which have the same inability to self-examine and to admit error, sometimes condemning even well-meaning and constructive criticism.

As someone who has friends in the Regnum Christi and who is aware of the good that God has drawn out from the works of the LC and RC, it is my humble prayer that the LC and RC -- and the other movements in the Church that now suffer from similar problems -- will move to a spirituality more in accord with the mind and tradition of the Catholic Church.

Q: What would be your suggestions to the five visitors?

A: I will limit myself to one overall suggestion: help the Legionaries to engage in an honest and objective self-critique. What I have found most unsettling of late is the kind of group-think that has settled in among the Legionaries: "We really don't think there is anything wrong with the internal culture of the Legion, but if the Holy See tells us to change things, we will." The docility to the Holy See, though laudable and correct, masks a huge internal flaw: the Legion's corporate inability to engage in a healthy self-critique. This is no time for a business as usual approach, but that has been the impression one generally gets from the Legionaries over the past five months of the crisis. That inability to see and honestly recognize the flaws and errors that so many people outside the Legion are able to see speaks volumes. The Legionaries should be reminded that it is not the task of the Holy See to reform the Legion. The Legion will only be genuinely reformed when it reforms itself from within. But that can only begin with a self-examination that arises from within the Legion and owns up to the Legion's errors.

***

Q: What are the issues you think should change in the internal culture of the Legion, especially related to the recently suppressed "vow of charity", meaning the vow not to criticize one's superiors?

A: At the core of serious problems in the internal culture of the congregation is a mistaken understanding and living of the theological principle - in itself valid - that God's will is made manifest to the religious through his superior. The Legionary seminarian is erroneously led to foster a hyper-focusing on internal "dependence" on the superior for virtually every one of his intentional acts (either explicitly or in virtue of some norm or permission received, or presumed or habitual permissions). This is not in harmony with the tradition of religious life in the Church, nor is it theologically or psychologically sound. It entails rather an unhealthy suppression of personal freedom (which is a far cry from the reasoned, discerned and freely exercised oblation of mind and will that the Holy Spirit genuinely inspires in the institution of religious obedience) and occasions unholy and unhealthy restrictions on personal conscience.

Furthermore, Legionary norms regarding "reporting to," "informing," "communication with," and "dependence on" superiors constitute a system of control and conformity which now must be considered highly suspect given what we know about Fr. Maciel. They furthermore engender a simplistic, and humanly and theologically impoverished notion of God's will (its discernment and manifestation) that breeds personal immaturity.

More seriously, the lived manner in which Legionaries practice obedience is laced with the kind of unquestioning submission which allowed the cult of personality to emerge around the figure of Maciel in the first place and covered for his misdeeds. Legionary seminarians are essentially trained to suspend reason in their obedience and to seek a total internal conformity with all the norms, and to withstand any internal impulse to examine or critique the norms or the indications of superiors. Granted, the primary motivation behind such living of obedience is the ideal of total "immolation" of oneself for the love of Christ as embodied in the relentless living of all norms and indications of the superiors. This "immolation" of intellect and will is at the heart of the "holocaust" that the Legionary is invited to live for love of Christ and the Church. While the motivation is valid, and generations of Legionaries have pursued this in good faith, in the long run it not only proves profoundly problematic, but also explains the negative personality change which many, if not most, Legionaries undergo over time: the shallowness of their emotional expression, the lack of empathy and inability to relate normally to others in so many contexts, the general sense of their being "out of touch," etc. Only exceptionally do Legionary priests move beyond this, but only thanks to the multiple talents and human gifts they brought with them to the Legion.

Q: What elements do you find more disturbing and in need of special attention from the visitors?

A: Just to name a couple. Why, for example, were approximately 25 Legionary priests convoked yet again - as groups are every year - to a two-month long "spiritual renewal" at the Legion's center for spirituality in Cotija, Michoacan Mexico, housed in the very house (now retreat center and museum) that Fr. Maciel grew up in? Why there? Why in Cotija? Why now?

Why, furthermore, has the Legion continued to engage in vocation work? Now? In these circumstances? It would be a very honest gesture for the Legion of Christ to simply call a halt to all vocational work at least for the duration of the canonical visitation, and even better until it finally gets its house in order.

And one of my deepest concerns is that current Legionary seminarians are not presently in a position to adequately discern what Christ is calling them to do. And this is because they are systematically deprived of the kind of information they not only have a right to know but a fundamental need to know: a complete presentation of the basic facts of Fr. Maciel's double life; the understanding that the religious life, with its norms and internal discipline, they have come to live is deeply problematic and in need of thorough scrutiny and review; a thorough presentation of the reasonable criticisms that have been leveled against the Legion and Regnum Christi; and an honest admission on the part of the major superiors of the Legion's errors. We should all find it deeply disturbing that most Legionary seminarians - and the same can be said of consecrated members of Regnum Christi - to this day live their daily lives largely unaware of most of these things, shielded as they are from virtually all negative information about the Legion and Regnum Christi. Consequently, they lack the requisite interior freedom to genuinely discern God's calling in their lives at present. This is something to which the visitors need to pay careful attention.

Visitation

1. The Apostolic Visitation within the Legion of Christ/Regnum Christi had been widely known since at least before the Papal visit to Africa. It is good to see that it has been made public by the Holy See and the Legionaries today.

For the developments which led to the current Visitation, read our previous posts on the suspension of Father Maciel, the Founder, the praise of Father Maciel after his death by the leadership of the Legion ("Church is Sanhedrin, Pope is Pilate, Maciel is Jesus"), the suspension of the "Secret vows", and the new revelations regarding Father Maciel.

2. In other news, the very religious government of the People's Republic of China has once again arrested a Bishop, while the Chinese situation is being discussed in the Vatican.

Maciel

A Mexican commentator calls it "the last nail on the coffin of the founder of the Legion of Christ", Father Marcial Maciel Degollado.

The accusations, the suspension, the repeal of the secret vows, and now, past his death, the revelation of his double life: mistress, children, secret money withdrawals.

_________________

Which, once again, proves how Pope Benedict XVI is a just and loving father in how he deals with all matters. Just as he was fair in his acts towards Maciel Degollado, even though many did not understand and support him, especially within the Legion of Christ and within the Roman Curia, he is right and acts with full knowledge of all consequences in his dealings with the Society of Saint Pius X. How unfair and treasonous has been the behavior of the wolves in the Curia who cannot be named and who remain unknown and of the wolves who can be named.

Pope repeals "secret vows" of the Legion of Christ

Excerpt of an article published yesterday by the Mexican daily La Jornada:

The derogation of the secret vows of the Legionaries.

The Pope has derogated the private vows of the Legionaries of Christ, precisely those which were used by the superiors of this religious congregation to protect themselves from possible complaints. The sources of news agencies indicate that these are "parallel measures" to the disciplinary penalty imposed on Marcial Maciel for sexual abuses in 2006.

Pope Benedict XVI had personally asked for the repeal of the private vows professed by the seminarians and priests of the Legionaries of Christ. These were oaths, related to the internal life of the order, which assured its secrecy and impermeability: the first [oath of "charity"] prevented any kind of criticism of superiors and their decisions by members, while the second [oath of "humility"] forbade the religious men from aspiring to positions within it.

Church is Sanhedrin, Pope is Pilate, Maciel is Jesus.

Secularists often like to accuse men of faith of "self-righteousness", as if all religion were condensed in pharisaical concern and pride for self.

There are moments, however, in which even a Catholic who is only trying to save his soul must recognize what is charity and religious concern, and distinguish it from what is self-righteousness.

The Pope's decision (it was from first to last HIS decision: HE guided this process, HE knew what was to be offered, HE finally approved the measure) on the affair of Marcial Maciel Degollado was officially recognized through a communiqué which is an example of concern and charity.

Canonical legalism is absolutely irrelevant to this matter: Yes, the Pope could have punished Maciel Degollado with much harsher measures; he could have abolished the movements he founded. Those who dispute this have no idea of the absolute gravity of the charges and of the evidence involved in the case, or wish to portray events through false lights. As Il Giornale's Andrea Tornielli himself titles his article today: "The distress of the Legionaries of Christ: Their leader was a molester". Yet, the Holy Father is a man of justice, but he is first a shepherd: "Feed my lambs... Feed my lambs... Feed my sheep".

Perhaps, one of the regrettable features of the media-dominated environment of this age is the fact that all feel the need to speak, even when silence and restraint are much more appropriate. Hence, while the Holy See's communiqué was clear in the distinction between the founder and the movements he founded ("Independently of the person of the Founder, the worthy apostolate of the Legionaries of Christ and of the Association 'Regnum Christi' is gratefully recognized"), the Legion of Christ institutionalized the personal misgivings of Maciel Degollado and rushed to issue its own "Response" to the communiqué, a response which can only be described as galling and offensive.

Read carefully this passage: "Facing the accusations made against him, he [Father Marcial Maciel] declared his innocence and, following the example of Jesus Christ, decided not to defend himself in any way".

Now, the imitation of Christ is a duty of every Christian -- but this proclamation of Christlike qualities surpasses every measure of virtue. For here, the accusers are the victims (or even the supposed victims) of most horrendous crimes. Even if the accusations were false, which does not seem to be the case, is it appropriate to compare a man accused of these most grievous offenses to the Spotless Lamb? The Lord was accused of specific points of law, not of offenses committed against specific victims: and was convicted for the "blasphemy" of declaring that He was, indeed, the Son of God and, thus, Divine.

Yet, that is not all: By comparing Maciel Degollado to Christ under trial, the "Official Response" makes clear the indirect reference it wishes to make. Maciel is Christ; the competent Church authorities -- the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Holy Father himself -- are the Sanhedrin and Pontius Pilate (and Herod, the only one before whom Christ was actually completely silent).

The man was accused of serious misdeeds. The investigations led to "results" -- this means (let no one be fooled by the Vatican's diplomatic words!) actual results, tangible results, which could have led to much harsher measures. Yet, in his exercise of Petrine authority and Christian Charity, the Holy Father guided his ministers "to invite the father to a reserved life of penitence and prayer, relinquishing any form of public ministry" and gave his approval to this charitable measure.

It is certainly fair to call this "invitation" a "cross": even fair punishments are crosses we are to bear. Yet, here once again, the "Official Response" crosses the boundary of appropriateness: "he [Father Marcial Maciel] has accepted this communiqué with faith, complete serenity and tranquility of conscience, knowing that it is a new cross that God, the Father of Mercy, has allowed him to suffer and that will obtain many graces for the Legion of Christ and the Regnum Christi Movement". The troubling messianic aspects of this paragraph are evident.

Instead of remaining silent (which one would expect from a "obedient" son) or of THANKING the competent ecclesiastical authorities for the unbound concern they showed for the health and age of the man, and for the future fortunes of the movements he founded, the "Official Response" even presents the "suffering" as a privileged means of grace for the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi. This while the Holy See itself was careful to distinguish the person of the founder from the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi.

"Salus animarum suprema lex" (Can.1752): it was wonderful to watch the Holy See apply this overarching principle of law once again. What a misfortune that such a beautiful spirit had to be squandered by sectarian gall. This official response only deepened the links between the Founder and his movements, which the Holy See had been careful to separate -- and, instead of the spirit of a Saint Joan of Arc, was filled with the spirit of self-righteousness. There may have been pharisees in this succession of events -- but they were not in the Vatican.

Legion of Christ Founder’s Public Ministry Suspended

By Brian Mershon

From the May 25 issue of The Wanderer

Father Marcial Maciel, founder of the Legionaries of Christ, one of the fastest-growing priestly communities in the Church, has been officially restricted by the Holy See in his public ministries, according to officials of the Holy See.

The restrictions, to be released officially by the Holy See perhaps as early as the week of May 21, essentially will conclude that at least some of the sex abuse accusations against Fr. Maciel are well founded. A source to the Vatican said that more than 100 interviews have been conducted by Msgr. Charles Scicluna, the Vatican’s promoter of justice and investigator in the Maciel case.

At press time, May 18, after a request for an interview, Legion of Christ spokesman Jay Dunlap said, “We know nothing about this. We do not have anything to say.”

While priestly laicization is an extremely rare canonical step, this action, approved prior to Easter by the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith, is very serious, and will limit Fr. Maciel’s public activities such as offering Holy Mass publicly, giving public lectures and presentations, and giving media interviews, among others.

John Allen, of “The Word from Rome,” initially reported this story, with an unnamed Vatican official saying the action against Maciel should not be read as an indictment of the Legionaries of Christ or its lay branch, Regnum Christi.

However, with more than 100 essentially corroborating interviews from the U.S., Mexico and Ireland, the statement issued in a Legion of Christ news release last Fall (not dated on their website), had their newly-elected general director, Father Alvaro Corcuera Martinez del Rio, 47, saying the following: "I wish to express my desire to remain faithful to the charism of the congregation and to the person of the founder, and to continue his work at the service of the Church."

The questions that some former members of the Legion of Christ’s lay apostolate, Regnum Christi, are raising appear to question the prudence and wisdom of the Legion’s new general director in remaining to lead the congregation of priests in the charism of the person of the founder. The Legion news release cited Fr. Maciel’s age as one of the reasons he declined re-election last Fall on the heels of news that the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith was continuing interviews with new alleged sex abuse victims.

The late Pope John Paul II often praised Father Maciel publicly, especially for the tremendous growth of his priestly congregation. It has been speculated that the Pope’s upbringing under Communist rule made him automatically disregard any allegations against priests or others regarding homosexuality or sexual abuse, as this was a common smear tactic employed by Communists to ruin the reputations of their enemies. Indeed, as late as 2004, Pope John Paul II wrote a letter to Fr. Maciel thanking Fr. Maciel for 60 years of "intense, generous and fruitful priestly ministry."

The Regain Network, an organization for former Legion of Christ priests, seminarians and members of Regnum Christi, the lay apostolate, was formed to assist those recovering from psychological, spiritual and sexual abuse within the priestly and lay groups.

Author Genevieve Kineke is a former women’s section head of Regnum Christi, and was in the apostolate for 7 years: “Members of Regain are delighted with this first step, understanding that laicisation of elderly priests is extremely rare,” she said. “The Holy See’s acknowledgement of probable misdeeds become magnified considering the stature of Fr. Maciel,” she said.

“It causes all members of the movement to consider the long-term suffering of the accusers who have been rebuffed and dismissed for so long,” Kineke said. “This first step will never ameliorate their pain, but it is a measure of balm for them to be taken seriously after so many years,” she said.

Back in 1997, after an initial group of nine ex-Legionaries reportedly filed canonical lawsuits and made public accusations against the Legion, the Legion’s crisis communications plan time was quickly disseminated throughout the Legion and its lay apostolate. After a hastily-called meeting of nearly all of Legion of Christ priests in North America to categorically deny the charges, they were instructed to relay to their Regnum Christi lay members the message that this was a modernist, liberal, anti-Church plot by those who hated the Church and wanted to destroy Fr. Maciel. The Legion of Christ website with details can be accessed here.

After the past several years of the hundreds of cases of sex abuse among clergy becoming public, perhaps the perspective that many Catholics need to move away from is that this happens only to “liberals” and to “dissenting” dioceses and priestly organizations. Perhaps the time has come for adult Catholics to realize that sin exists everywhere, and this problem is not limited only to liberal, homosexual-infested dioceses and religious priestly organizations, even if it may be more prevalent.

Father Maciel’s apparent unwavering support by the late Pope John Paul II has perhaps confused the faithful, and it is essential to understand how papal support was simply a clever bulwark employed by the Legion against criticisms, Kineke opined. “It allowed the Legion to dismiss all complaints about the Legion's as attacks on ‘orthodoxy.’"

Catholics need to understand in their very being that so-called “orthodoxy,” although necessary and desirable, does not shield anyone from sins of the flesh. Original sin and concupiscence are real and are just as much of the spiritual warfare for “orthodox” Catholics as they are for others. The other lesson may be that Catholics need to learn their Faith in its fullness and understand that infallibility and orthodoxy and even suspected holiness of popes, like Pope John Paul II, does not extend to every public word the pope utters nor necessarily to an endorsement of everything about a particular movement or movement’s founder, nor its charism.

Mike Petrik, 49, is a corporate tax attorney in suburban Atlanta, who cautions against drawing too many initial inferences from this apparent action against Fr. Maciel directly with the rest of the Legion or its lay apostolate, Regnum Christi. “It is important to remember that "St. Augustine said: 'God judged it better to bring good out of evil.’"

Petrik explained that it is quite common for religious orders to extol their founders, and it would be a serious challenge for the Legion of Christ to be able to overcome the practical difficulties associated with attempting to distance itself from its founder.

“It is understandable that there are people who welcome this apparent new development,” Petrik said. “I just hope that such responses are grounded in the desire for justice for any victims and the genuine love for truth rather than some disproportionate animosity for an order that by most accounts has brought many people closer to Christ and His Church,” he said.

Lee Podles is a journalist and author and is currently writing a book entitled, Sacrilege: Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church. His reaction to the current news against Fr. Maciel was the following:

“The Legion is disliked and even hated by some Catholics, and not only liberal Catholics, because of its secrecy and strict control of its members, tactics which are both foreign to the American and the modern mentality,” he said.

“A successful attack on Maciel would discredit not only him, but also the Legionaries,” he continued.

“The bishops and the Vatican tolerated abuse by obscure priests for decades; the bishops and the Vatican would have an even greater motive to cover up allegations against Maciel,” Podles said. “The Legionaries are a large and rapidly growing organization, extremely important in keeping Hispanics in the Catholic Church; the Vatican to this point has not been eager to discover any evidence its founder might be a pederast and homosexual.”

_________________________________

Update (1200 GMT): Vatican Information Service official communiqué:

VATICAN CITY, MAY 19, 2006 (VIS) - With reference to recent news concerning the person of Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado, founder of the Legionaries of Christ, the Holy See Press Office released the following communique:

"Beginning in 1998, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith received accusations, already partly made public, against Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado, founder of the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ, for crimes that fall under the exclusive competence of the congregation. In 2002, Fr. Maciel published a declaration denying the accusations and expressing his displeasure at the offence done him by certain former Legionaries of Christ. In 2005, by reason of his advanced age, Fr. Maciel retired from the office of superior general of the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ.

"All these elements have been subject to a mature examination by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and - in accordance with the Motu Proprio 'Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela,' promulgated on April 30 2001 by Servant of God John Paul II - the then prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, authorized an investigation into the accusations. In the meantime, Pope John II died and Cardinal Ratzinger was elected as the new Pontiff.

"After having attentively studied the results of the investigation, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, under the guidance of the new prefect, Cardinal William Joseph Levada, decided - bearing in mind Fr. Maciel's advanced age and his delicate health - to forgo a canonical hearing and to invite the father to a reserved life of penitence and prayer, relinquishing any form of public ministry. The Holy Father approved these decisions.

"Independently of the person of the Founder, the worthy apostolate of the Legionaries of Christ and of the Association 'Regnum Christi' is gratefully recognized."