The superiors of the Legion of Christ are opposing change – why not sack the lot?

What we have here is a cult within a Cult…..an enigma inside a paradox.

One explanation: Cash counts

“I just can’t get a handle on it: perhaps my readers can explain to me what the great secret is.”

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Well said! It is sometimes good to point out what should be obvious. A support network could be set up for the members; to counsel them and find them new orders to enter or direct them to dioceses that would welcome new blood.

I couldn't agree more with William Oddie. The Legion and Regnum Christi need to be suppressed. I have met Fr. Fichter and was present at a long and in-depth meeting he held with Church officials and families who were trying to cut ties with the Legion because of the harm done to the children. I'll never forget it. Fr. Fichter's story is compelling and disturbing and he has been damaged by the order; he is open about this to those who will listen. The socialization and the formation of its priests is not changing. The profoundly warped view of the internal forum and external forum with regard to formation, spiritual direction, confession is not changing. And finally, the Legion's nefarious financial machinations are not changing. I realize closing the thing down would be a painful; much deprogramming and confusion would ensue, but it needs to happen.

Maggie you really hit the nail on the head! I'ts the blind leading the blind! (Spiritually speaking) But they really see very well.!

There are very many genuine people in the Legion of Christ and in Regnum Christi that must be considered. What is to happen to them if the organisation is closed ? They have no means of support, no careers, no homes (in many cases , apart from being a burden ontheir families) and know no other lifestyle. This is what the want to be and what they want to do, . Unfortunately they are cuaght in a conundrum, their motives are pure but there leaders are corrupt……not unlike many (normal human) organisations . Are they not also victims ?

It's ok if they're in their 20's, or ven 30's, but what of those who have , sincerely, dedicated their lives to their priesthood for 30, 40 or 50 years ?

Of course there's the money as well. to dismantle any operation of the size of the Legion will take a long time, look at the mess we see in Western economies with the rotten banks. None of the were instantly dismanteled even though the long term outcome is inevitable .

Thje Vatican moves at a very slow pace, watch and see. This Pope has moved only with long term solutions, even where the immediate impact has been disastrous, like the paedofile clergy.

These guys control all the wealth. Rome can't control the outcome. These guys can walk away with an unbelievable amount of wealth.They are no fools.

First, Mr. Oddie, you should read De Paolis' actual letter and not rely on faulty reporting before writing a column like this. What was reported is not what De Paolis wrote. Second, considering the state of Fallen Man, there are very few organizations that could survive if they were dismantled because of the sins of their founders. Hospitals would have to shut down, charitable efforts would have to cease, educational institutions would have to go away. Is that what you have in mind? The great work of the Legion priests and the Regnum Christi members on a national, parish and personal level is astounding, if often invisible. The spiritual disciplines, the call to prayer and holiness, the loyalty to the Magisterium, and the exploration of using one's gifts in the Church, are all perfect reasons to keep the movement alive. It is tragic that the founder himself didn't apply these principles to his own life. Still, those principles came not from him but from Scripture and many great minds within the Church. He simply accumulated them and applied them to the movement. So the practices and the legitimate work of the movement remains even now. That's what Benedict understands and why he cares to invest the Vatican's time and resources to see the movement through this terrible period. The blind cynicism of those who simply can't get beyond their conspiracy theories or personal issues with the Church at large has distorted this entire discussion.

The upper echelon has kept it going for 3 reasons only – to get more money, to get more power and to impress the hierarchy and rich powerful Catholics. They have an army of brainwashed slaves who work for nothing, pretending to be nuns but who have surrendered all their human rights having been manipulated into thinking they are serving God as an elite group. They have friends in high places in the Vatican. Why would the leaders want to change anything? They have over $30 billion already and more is pouring in.

At the end of the day, it is a matter of faith. We Catholics express our Christian faith through the Church. As a third party looking in, my observation is that LC and RC are comprised of many good people who want to do good in the world. However, it is also my observation that people in LC and RC have lost perspective; they have abandoned communion with the Catholic religion in favor of a man and the comfort he offered as a god-like figure that gave them order and structure through fervent “conservative” Catholicism. In the meantime, they got lost along the way. Isn't that exactly what cult leaders do? There are many pat answers given by LC and RC when they are confronted by the problems of their orders. But this is the problem. They default to such responses as defenses-they are more committed to the order than their faith, they are more committed to defense of their orders than their faith. The true test of faith for these people will come when they are forced to find a way to integrate into the communion of faith of the Catholic Church, unencumbered by the restraints of the secretive and reactionary orders. The true test of faith will come when they are asked to abandon the ideology of “conservatism” in favor of the Catholic Church. The issue is not whether the people of LC and RC have done much good in the world–they have. In that respect, they are no different than all people of good faith in the Catholic Church who are not members of LC and RC, and no different from people of good faith from all true faith traditions throughout history. The issue is whether these people can find solace in their Catholic faith without the bonds of LC and RC. These groups should not be brought down because of the sinfulness of its founder–although that certainly plays an important part in it. Rather, the group should be brought down because it is an impediment to a true expression of Catholic faith. It is astonishing that Fr. Fichter is not called out for his complicity in the financial wrongdoing in LC. He knew what he was doing was wrong. He had no illusion about that. His explanation that he was blinded by his devotion to Maciel is exactly the point. He and the other “leaders” of LC had reached a point where they worshiped Maciel…that is cult-like behavior. Missives about their devotion to Christ and the pope are just that. They have not lived their faith–they have been devoted to a man who I believe they knew–in their hearts–was guilty of spectacular wrongdoing. Spokesmen of LC and RC who now admit that they always knew there was something not right about the orders' canned responses to allegations should have known better. It is time for these people to put aside the allure of sentimentality (to a time when all “good Catholics went through majestic rituals that gave them a sense of togetherness apart from the rest of the world, a more exalted identity). That sentimentality that cause LC and RC to yearn for the “good old days” when Catholics were more part of a pilgrim church is a false faith. It is time for these people to put aside their devotion to a political-like “conservatism.” We are a people of faith called to follow the teachings of Christ–not Maciel, and not a particular political point of view. These people strike me as the modern-day Pharisees, who became so myopic in their imposition of Jewish laws and rituals that they lost sight of God. Then, when God was in their midst, they had not eyes to see nor ears to hear God's call to faith. If these people feel they cannot live and worship as faithful Catholics outside of LC and RC, their faith is truly lacking. I beckon all of you to return to the Catholic faith.

Not sure who you are referring to: Charles Curran perhaps. I read the correspondence between them: Cardinal Ratzinger was always courteous, not so his interlocutor. If I remember rightly, he merely pointed out the incompatibility between Curran's views and his holding a licence to teach Catholic theology.

And who told you that it is “The One, Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church???? Man told you that! There is nothing in the Old or new Testament that tells you that. You have been lied to by the best. that is the Devil himself.

If you cannot be “heartbroken ,as God is heartbroken” over the evil that the RCC has done over millenium(s), then how can you call your self what ever it is you call your self?

What is ; “by their very nature mean? PROTESTANT!….a protestor is a good thing ,when you are confronted by evil in the form of supposed “good” God gave us a mind to conform or to use to the best of our ability. Use yours.

Have you ever heard of generational brainwashing? You can get some good books on it .. Many are what the Muslims did and still do to their people. You know if it could happen to them, why not also to you?

Yes it is shocking. But does that invalidate all the good that was done within the Church?

Also: do you think that there is no child abuse in Protestant denominations? Do you then say that everything that is taught within those is wrong? If not, why not?

You feel betrayed. Those men did betray their calling. So did Judas. What did the Apostles then do? Did they say: well we might as well pack up. No. They replaced him with someone more trustworthy.

Thanks, Ben62, I was not aware of ReGain.org. In what way have they been badly treated, is there a link re this?

Let's remember the Borgia popes!!! There is clear evidence in the history of the Catholic Church that her Founder meant what He said in Matthew 16:18! Inspite of sinful men at the helm, the Church will survive till the end of the world. Thanks be to God.

Let's pray for Fr. Maciel's soul, the Legion and Regnum Christi.

Many members of the LC truly bought into the Maciel-myth. Maciel knew how to garner his image using cult-like strategies that covered any blemishes and magnified only the goodness in the sight of his followers. LCs were taught to poverty – total financial accountability, use of non-descript articles of clothing, etc. Maciel wore Lacoste and other designer-wear items, ate exquisitely, etc. LCs bought into the “saint” needing his special care to continue God's work… Unlike the current cadre of superiors of the LC, Fichter left long before any of this scandal went as public as it has. Unless you are personally aware of complicity he had with Maciel's dark side, I don't know how you can say that. As the LC's CFO, he was basically rubber stamping the “saint's” demands blinded by the cult to the Founder (capitalized in LC-speak) he had grown up with in the LC. I think Garza and co. are showing how complicit they were/are in allowing the cult of Maciel. Garza's refusal to step aside, methinks, belies his fear of having to respond a la Nuremberg for his part in the cover up. He was effectively the #2 man in the LC before Corcuera took Maciel's place at the helm. The big three in the LC – Garza, the vicar, Corcuera, the general, and Sada, the gen'l secy – are far more complicit in the cover up. Giving these 3 the benefit of the doubt, tho, all 3 were groomed by Maciel from their teens when they attended LC schools in Mexico – there is reason to suspect their allegiance to Maciel, in part, may be the result of them being sexually abused by Maciel as teens (and/or beyond as faithful LC subjects).

There seems to be reason to believe that the “big 3″ current leaders of the LC (director & secy general and vicar) were entangled with MM as youths… therein lies their own coming to terms with MM's fall from grace…

What draws Christians to be part of a religious order or to support it with donations is the belief that that order represents the ideal of Christian organizations; otherwise one would simply support a diocesan group or parish. Successful orders rely on the impeccable roots and trajectory of their founders and their principles, they inspire admiration, and that’s why they work.
There is no way you can get very enthusiastic about a religious order that is struggling to justify itself, or that is barely acceptable to the community. It just doesn’t work, it has to be exemplary, ethical, respected or it simply won’t grow.
The Legion will shrink slowly and painfully. It is better to dissolve it now, and try to rescue the good that there still is.