The Legion of Christ is apparently admitting that its founder, Marcial Maciel, led a double life and fathered a child by his mistress. They have not admitted the truth of the accusations of sexual abuse of boys that led Benedict XVI to discipline Maciel.
I have nothing personal against the Legion, but I wonder why so many wealthy, intelligent people abandon all prudence when dealing with the Legion. Why are these people so naïve?
John Paul II must bear much of the responsibility Pius XII had deep suspicions about Maciel and it seems that Pius XII was about to remove Maciel but the Pope’s death stopped the process, and in the interregnum a friend of Maciel made sure he was in good standing before John XXIII was elected.
But John Paul II refused to conduct a thorough investigation about Maciel, despite the numerous accusations, and Cardinal Ratzinger was obviously frustrated and angry because he was unable to act against an abuser. When of the first acts of Benedict XVI was to discipline Maciel.
The founders of religious orders were imperfect men (and women). Ignatius had a temper tantrum a few days before his death, and I have heard that St Jose Maria Escriva, founder of Opus Dei, was known and feared for his temper.
Maciel was not simply imperfect but was duplicitous. No founder of a religious order was ever guilty of such crimes. The closest parallel was Joseph Calasanctius, founder of the Piarists. Himself an austere man, Calasanctius covered up sexual abuse by Stephano Cherubini because the new order needed the support of the influential Cherubini family. Calasanctius retired, and lived to see his order taken over by the abuser and collapse in rebellion against this corruption. Karen Liebreich iscovered this story in the documents of the Inquisition, and recounted it in Fallen Order: Intrigue, Heresy, and Scandal in the Rome of Galileo and Caravaggio.
A Jewish acquaintance explained to me why such charismatic, narcissistic scoundrels succeed: people are always looking for the Messiah, and will not wait until he comes, but will willingly fall under the spell of a false Messiah. I think that someone else has warned us about this.
You nailed it Lee! Despite all the corruption and deceit that has finally been exposed in recent years, many still seem to take almost anything said by some church officials as ‘the Gospel.’ This attitude is not healthy for adults and is very dangerous for children.
David Clohessy
National Director, SNAP
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
314 566 9790 cell, 314 645 5915
SNAPnetwork.org
SNAPclohessy@aol.com
Despite their holier-than-thou PR spin, people like Maciel, and, say, Dale Fushek in Arizona, start these organizations involving youngsters to gain access to an ongoing supply of fresh meat. Fresh, young, vulnerable, malleable meat.
Now the facts are out there and there is no way around it. Denying it, downplaying it or minimizing it in any way is impossible.
It matters not now whether of not Maciel was a favorite of Pope John Paul II or defended to the hilt by the recently deceased Cardinal Dulles because those who were defamed by the Legionaries of Christ have been vindicated and thank God it has happened.
What’s next?
Pope Benedict XVI should realize that his 2006 decision to let Maciel retire to live a life of prayer and penance and let it go at that with the hope that Maciel would fade in memory after his death is no longer sufficient.
Maciel should be denounced for the totality of the harm and evil he has perpetrated and visited on others.
There should be no doubt that this group, the Legionaries of Christ, has operated for all of its existence as a religious cult and as such should be suppressed.
All LC assets should be seized and there should be an extensive investigation of those in the administrative and leadership positions in the Legionaries.
In all liklihood some priests should be dismissed and lacized but those good men who are LC priests should be given the option of going elsewhere, to religious orders or diocesan clergy.
Wow, Lee, You are as always a font of information. Welcome, helpful – even though sometimes I feel like my head is exploding learning about all this. . .
Before becoming all excited and agog about some charismatic leader, religious or otherwise, it would be wise to check out Matt:24:23 seq: “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. “
My greatest has always been that the focus always falls on Maciel and not on the Legion itself. I was in for a number of years, and based on my experiences, and the stories of other former members, I have no doubt about it being a cult. Maciel designed and built it, he formed the members, especially the top leadership whom he chose, in his own image. It is, ultimately, a cancer on the Church, thriving unfortunately on a vacuum of the Church’s own making – disenchanted, conservative Catholics. There are many good men in the Legion. They, unfortunately, believe that serving and obeying the Legion is for the good of the Church.
And now the Legion has made its position known. They are ‘spinning’ the news. They won’t acknowledge, apologize or help the greatest of Maciel’s victims – the minor seminarians sexually abused by the man they most trusted. They have been forced to acknowledge a love affair, given that walking, talking genetic evidence is hard to deny. It’s even in the realm of ‘forgiveable’ for those gullible members – a natural human weakness, a sin that must be forgiven. And so, now they pledge to ‘go forward’ ‘continue serving the Church’ and to ‘be faithful to charism given by God’.
It’s all lies and deception. Cult leaders doing what they were trained to do, doing what now comes naturally to them. Above all else, the group must survive, it must be loyal, it must soldier on in the face of opposition and disappointment. Thus go the lives of cults and their members. No reform, no elimination of the cult methods – they work, besides they are ‘approved’ and ‘from God’.
Lord, have mercy.
I am an abuse survivor myself. It was physical and sexual abuse as a child at the hands of nuns in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and one flubbed attempt at rape by a priest when I was in college and drunk. Nothing happened…I was not THAT drunk! But I guess my viewpoint makes me jaded on all of this….as a former seminarian myself in high school and my first two years of college, I know how insular and artificial clerical life can become. It is a universe unto itself. These people can hide from reality quite easily if they choose to do so. And it becomes apparent in their fantasy lives. I tend to see nuns and priests having forced sex (or any sex) with children in that light. These people are sociopaths of the worst kind. They know it and don’t care. And I believe that they do not care because in many ways, they are spoiled children. They have never grown up. The clerical life will keep someone infantile. I have seen that a lot.
Tom Barnes
http://www.themcgurk.vpweb.com
More compelling, perhaps, is a Catholic Caligula.
exLC pretty much said it all. Unfortunately, Maciel is responsible for more than the immediate harm. Many will lose their faith and many will turn away from the Church because of his hypocrisy. Something tells me that more bad news is to come. You would think that the fear of a millstone would have caused some repentence and reparation while he had the chance. Oh my!
At least Opus Dei can be trusted. hahahaha. “I have heard that St Jose Maria [sic] Escriva, founder of Opus Dei, was known and feared for his temper.” Why did Escriva require a food tester at meals to check for poison? Escriva’s endlessly bizarre behavior and the writings of David Yallop and Lucien Gregoire make it clear that Escriva was feared for more than temper. Study the fate of JPI, “In God’s Name” and “Murder in the Vatican.”
I would be careful about John Allen’s writings on Opus Dei. While he was doing his investigations, he was wined and dined by an American-born priest of the Work who teaches at their seminary in Rome and handles a lot of media relations stuff for them (e.g., the DaVinci Code). I’m not making an accusations against them, but Allen took a lot of the stuff they gave him at face value.