From the Vatican statement:"The serious and objectively immoral behavior of Fr. Maciel, supported by incontrovertible evidence, at times constitutes real crimes, and manifests a life devoid of scruples and of genuine religious feeling. The large majority of Legionaries were unaware of that life, particularly because of the system of relations created by Fr. Maciel, who had skillfully managed to build up an alibi, to gain the trust, confidence and surrounding silence and strengthen his role as a charismatic founder."
I know someone whose son went into the Legion as a teenager and was sexually abused. It is a tragic truth today, but blind trust, even in those that seem squeaky clean, is foolish. I met a group of Legion seminarians at a Wanderer Forum years ago and was impressed by them, but the order is tainted by the sins of their founder. Pray that the Legion can be salvaged for the good work they have done and pray even harder for those hurt and abused by Fr. Maciel and his like-minded cohorts. (More here.... )
I have other misgivings about the Legion for Cash..um Christ. What about their take over of Southern Catholic College in Atlanta, and their shutting it down mid semester? There is some controversy there, too. Had minimal contact with them. Never been a fan.
ReplyDelete"Blind trust" is a problem, but in many of these so-called "new" communities, the leaders require such trust of their followers; being a survivor of a charismatic group, I bear first-hand account of damage done. Hence my concern with Voris's promotion of Opus Dei a month or two back.
ReplyDeleteI salute the Holy Father for taking this responsible step, and keep all the good people of the Legionnaires and Regnum Christi in prayer.
The Pope did not "take control" of the LC. That is not Benedict's style anyway. He may appoint people that seem to want to do that, but he cannot force them to do things….they have to live the life established for them and adjusted for them with the help of the Holy See. He is not forcing them, he is working with them. To do otherwise is to deny human freedom. He is helping them….and you know, they welcome the help because they lost their papa. If they were resistant they would have behaved differently during the Visitation. In fact, Chaput was quite complementary of them, and encouraged the US priests that left the order to stay.
ReplyDeleteThe Pope did not "take control" of the LC. That is not Benedict's style. He is helping them, he wants them to live in freedom and find the goodness in their vocation. He may appoint people who seem like they want to take over, but that does not mean Benedict himself will do it. We do not yet know how long the delegate will be in place and what he will do, but the order is more than happy for the help. Be careful not to read into what Benedict has reserved for himself to decide. As far as Southern Catholic is concerned…well who really cares, unless you have kids there? It's got a lot of immigrants and a student population and culture that they probably what to improve. Don't worry about it.
ReplyDelete