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.

Cardinal Sodano and the Maciel Scandals

I just posted on the Fr. Haley blog about Cardinal Sodano. We are living in times that appear to be rivaling the leadup to the Protestant Revolt. The corruption at the highest levels of the Church is disheartening. Don't let it damage your faith. If you do, that will be spiritual suicide.

Spend more time before the Blessed Sacrament praying for priests, especially those at upper levels in the Church. Many of them have a lot for which to answer.

Pope Takes Control of the Legion of Christ

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.... )

The Legionaries of Christ: an example of blind obedience

Chiesa News has an interview with Fr. Thomas Berg, a former member of the Legionaries of Christ. The Vatican investigation of the order begins this week and Fr. Berg, who is now incardinated in the Archdiocese of New York, addresses some of the problems in the Legion. He gave an extensive commentary on the Legion's practice of "unquestioning submission" to superiors:

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.

It is more important than ever for Catholics to understand what constitutes legitimate authority and obedience to God's will. Those exercising authority may never infringe on the legitimate exercise of free will by those under them. Pray for the discernment of the Legionaries and their openness to God's will.

Diiogenes on Fr. Maciel's Treachery and the Legion's Dishonesty

The Legion of Christ & its founder

In the News

Latest on the Legion from Inside the Vatican by Robert Moynihan

From the compassionate and tolerant halls of liberal academia: Lawsuit Filed after Professor Calls Student 'Fascist Bastard' for Sharing Beliefs on Faith and Marriage

From the paper of liberal record comes one more example of conflict of interest: New York Times Bias Exposed Again as Company Caught in Donation to Planned Parenthood

From Canada, a scandalous statement by Fr. Paul Rennick defending selection of pro-abort speaker, Cokie Roberts: Priest/Catholic U President: "Abortion is Not an Infallible Teaching"

Cardinal Rodé commenting on the Vatican examination of American religious life says some nuns, "have opted for ways that take them outside communion with Christ in the Catholic Church, although they themselves may have opted to 'stay' in the Church physically," but he sees hope in new religious communities.
America's disappearing nuns: what the apostolic visitation can and should find

The Legion Comes Unglued

The myth of the "saintly" founder of the Legionaries of Christ has completely unravelled with the revelation that Marcial Maciel Degollado fathered one or more children in his latter years. Since his priestly faculties were suspended by Pope Benedict a few years ago, the Legion hasn't been quite as loud in their defense of Maciel, but still released an imprudent statement when he died about the "departure of its dear Father Founder... to the heavenly homeland." He died, they said in a letter to affiliates, "with the peace that always filled his soul." It would have been more to the point to beg for prayers for his salvation instead of this near canonization.

I've never trusted the Legionaries of Christ. Call it a woman's instinct, but I just couldn't stand the worship fest and rule that made "the founder" the center of the universe and shrouded him in secrecy and forbade any criticism. (Pope Benedict nullified those two private vows a few years ago.) Only one man belongs at the center of our faith and he's depicted, not as a man of honor, but humiliated and despised. "There was in him no stately bearing to make us look at him, nor appearance that would attract us to him. He was spurned and avoided by men, a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity, one of those from whom men hide their faces, spurned, and we held him in no esteem." (Isaiah 53) That is certainly not the picture of Maciel who always appeared to relish his place of honor and fostered his image of living saint.

What should happen now with the Legionaries? Canon Lawyer Edward Peters says what "must not happen" is "Any more language whatsoever from Legion leadership that tries to spin this disaster." He decried their initial reaction which he felt treated people as "idiot children." He's also made some sensible suggestions that include the possibility of disbanding the Legion and reestablishing it as a new order releasing those who wish to go into the diocesan priesthood or elsewhere. A serious examination and a fresh start may be exactly what's needed, but not with the leadership that circled the wagons and fostered the myth of the saintly persecuted founder for so long. Some of them had to know the truth. And we've seen enough of secrecy and dissembling among churchmen in the past decade to last a lifetime. Those who helped cover up Maciel's secrets belong repenting in a monastery. With all the U.S. bishps who covered up sex abuse there are enough to start an entire order - how about the Order of Atonement. Part of their rule can be two hours a day scrubbing floors and cleaning toilets at a local jail reflecting on where they deserve to be.

For other reactions to the breaking scandal see Phil Lawler of Catholic World News, Rocco Palmo, of Whispers in the Loggia, and Damian Thompson of the UK.