Of Cults and Cult Leaders and the Sad Story of Fr. Jonathan Morris

It's painful to read the stories about former priest, Jonathan Morris, and his exit from the Legionairies of Christ and the priesthood. Steve Skojec wrote about his own experience with the Legionairies in Why I'm Not So Quick to Judge Jonathan Morris for Leaving the Priesthood. I laughed a little when I read the article (about not judging) because, as my colleague Chriss experienced personally, Skojec can be pretty quick to judge someone if he or she dares to disagree with him even in small matters. But that's a discussion for another day.


Michael Hichborn of the Lepanto Institute also wrote a sympathetic post on Morris in his Catholic Week in Review.  If anything, Morris' story illustrates the danger of letting others take control of your decisions about life. It didn't just happen to young men in the Legionairies. A friend of mine was involved with the Mother of God charismatic community in Gaithersburg for about twenty years. She wrote about it on her blog, Restore D.C. Catholicism. The Archdiocese of Washington finally took oversight of the community whose leadership were so extreme they were making decisions about whom young members should marry! If you have the time or interest you can read a series of articles about the Mother of God community from the Washington Post. I confess I attended a few charismatic meetings back in the 70s. It was never my cup of tea and later I saw too many people walk out the door into other religions after their time in the charismatic "renewal."

The bottom line is that if something feels like a cult where leaders are using pressure and manipulation to control the lives of members, if they make it hard or impossible to leave, if they guilt you over feelings and beliefs that are morally neutral....flee! Something is very wrong. Remember Lord Acton's statement that "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely!" Some people become tyrants when they hold a little power. And what a rush they get from trying to make others do their will. Sometimes, as the Legionairies and the Mother of God community illustrate, the tyrants assume to themselves power that belongs only to God.

We all need to be critical thinkers who study the truths of the Church and the writings of the saints as well as good histories that illustrate both the fallibility of man and the characteristics of the saintly. Chesterton has a way of popping the puffed up pride of the arrogant, for example. Not only that, but the lessons of the past can teach us a lot about the present. It's hard to mislead a person well grounded in truth.

I'll be praying for Jonathan Morris while I'm on retreat and for all priests living and dead, especially those personally involved in my life. My spiritual directors and confessors, my friends in Roman collars and those with whom I've tangled over moral issues. Priests are under particular attack by the demon. How many "commandoes" does he have attacking the pope and the cardinals and our own parish priests.

Our Lady, Queen of the Clergy, pray for us!