Tag: Cult

Letter to Pope Francis regarding Reform of the Legion of Christ

By Xavier Leger
Lyon, Sunday March 31, 2013
Solemnity of the Resurrection of Christ

Most Holy Father,

It is now two weeks since the College of Cardinals chose you to be the new bishop of Rome. Your benevolent pastoral concern for the most unfortunate, for the most fragile and the poorest has caused many of us to entertain new hopes. That is why I decided to write you on behalf of my old companions from the Legion of Christ who, like me, have seen their lives deeply affected, if not shattered, by this congregation and whose sufferings have not been to this day understood or taken care of by the competent church authorities.

We hoped that on discovering the endless list of Fr. Maciel’s crimes, your predecessor would have launched an investigation into the heart of the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi to discover the effects of the founder’s vices on the life, customs, actions and thoughts of his disciples. However, it has been our painful experience that Fr. Maciel’s faults were facilitated by his entourage of the time who to this day go unpunished. Even more, the twisted spirit of the founder has sown in the hearts of his followers ambiguous and anti- Gospel behaviors hidden under a veneer of apparent holiness. Real discernment was needed, together with strong and appropriate measures, in order to bring an end to so much psychological and spiritual damage done to myriad souls.

Today, all the signs lead us to believe that the Apostolic Visitation was not intended to really search for truth and justice but to save the Legion and prevent Legionaries from jumping ship.

The least that should have been done was to put a halt to recruitment and priestly ordinations, at least for the duration of the investigation and spiritual reform. Was it reasonable to allow young people to join the Legion while it was still evident the congregation was affected by seriously devious sect- like dysfunction? Is it logical to continue to ordain young men to the priesthood knowing that they have not freely chosen their path?

The conclusions of the investigation seem to have been reached prematurely and haphazardly. Of the five Visitators only one met with Maciel’s victims: Mons Watty Urquidi. He was ill at the time and according to the victims, listened to them in an absent- minded way, without taking notes. The other Visitators interviewed Legionaries of Christ exclusively. So they only wanted to believe the infatuated members of a controversial organization, without having any knowledge of what a sect- like organization looks like. The Visitators should have started with those who had experienced the founder’s crimes and who had been able to step back and take a critical look at the situation.

Unfortunately, none of the latter was ever consulted. Worse still: in France, a dozen individuals and families explicitly asked to meet with the Visitators but they were never listened to.

Holy Father, the same mistake that had exonerated Fr. Maciel in 1958, at the end of the first Apostolic Visitation, was made again in 2010. In fact, in 1956, the superiors at the Congregation for Religious, alerted by several accusatory letters (from superiors and professors at the Jesuit University of Comillas, Spain, from some bishops and from two important members of the order) had sent Fr. Anastasio Ballestrero of the Holy Rosary, superior general of the Carmelites to carry out an investigation. Fr. Anastasio was not taken in by Maciel’s and Legion superiors’astuteness and his report dated February 11, 1957 is devastating. Later, in an effort to save the Legion, the Congregation for Religious sent more investigators, less perceptive than the first, who put together a new dossier from scratch, adopting the erroneous version defended by Maciel and the superiors appointed by him, despite the evidence at their disposition. The Legionary members, all of whom were under Maciel’s influence, lied so as to protect the Legion and the Founder. And that is how, after having white- washed Fr. Maciel in 1958, and continuing to let him prey on his seminarians and other vulnerable people, once again in 2010 the Vatican has white- washed an organization which continues to attack the integrity of the people who fall into its clutches. When will the nightmare end?

Most Holy Father, do not trust appearances. Blackmail, lies, manipulation, self- deception, guilt, ideology, moral harassment? all these techniques, working together, produce a devastating and deceptive effect which specialists call cult infatuation and which lies behind the prima facie success of the Legion of Christ. The true fruits of the Legion of Christ are not the hordes of seminarians who invade St. Peter’s Square to declare their love for you, but rather the thousands of human lives which are scorched by the infernal flames of this system and who no longer possess the strength to raise their voices. There are also innumerable collateral damages: specifically, broken families, as well as a number of people Fr. Maciel manipulated to get at their inheritance. And even more, although the damage is not quantifiable, there are the sins of omission: such as everything the Legion of Christ has not done and prevented from happening, such as the fight against poverty, against social injustice and corruption, particularly in Latin American countries. By systematically aligning with the rich and powerful has not the Legion of Christ ultimately aided and abetted iniquity? Is it enough for this religious congregation to produce a few charitable works, which are rarely effective in the long run, to erase that dreadful reality?

Most Holy Father, there are two ways to disobey you: the first, simple and direct, is to reject your authority and to walk out slamming the door behind. This way has at least one advantage: it is explicit and clear. The second way, Fr. Maciel’s and his disciples? way, is more perverse: it consists of playing the seduction card, going up front and telling how much they love you, promising you unconditional loyalty and so forth with the sole intention of influencing your judgment and selling you miracle solutions to all the Church’s problems; miracles which are no more than smoke screens. For the love of God do not make the same mistake your predecessors made! The fruits of this order may appear to be beautiful and attractive but behind the appearances they are ineffective, counter- productive, and even deadly.

The situation is dire because the Legion of Christ has had immense responsibilities entrusted to it during the past decades. For example, it ran a month- long summer course in Italy to train future leaders of diocesan seminaries. What a tremendous responsibility for the Church’s future! How not to be concerned when we realize that the instructors are almost all Legionaries of Christ, who live isolated in their own community without hardly any pastoral experience! To train a priest you need more than doctrinal knowledge because faith is not an ideology. What is most important for a priest is to know how faith takes on life in a parish, that is, to become a humble servant as you have reminded us last Thursday by washing the feet of the youth at a Roman prison!

Most Holy Father, all this is shocking, but it is only the beginning of the nasty surprises. Although the coercive system of the Legion conditions the religious to convince themselves that they are happy, the reality is that they suffer a martyrdom that has gone on for too long. I beseech you to start the investigation of the Legion all over again, radically changing the investigative method; we have to begin by spelling out very clearly the real story of Maciel and the congregation and this involves using independent outside experts, as well as psychologists well versed in the cult phenomenon. It entails doing justice to all the victims of the Legion and Regnum Christi, seeking their true well- being and not the institution’s material interests.

After I began to discharge my grave duty of conscience denouncing the sectarian aspects of the Legion, I was contacted by a number of former members of other Catholic religious communities, for the most part new, who have had similar experiences to mine in the Legion of Christ and so I realized that the Maciel debacle is not an exception or an isolated case; there are other, maybe worse, scenarios. Just as with the Maciel affair, their letters of denunciation sent to the Vatican were not heeded. All controversial Catholic religious communities should be investigated. As for those Vatican prelates who did not take the accusations seriously, they should be demoted for grave negligence and abuse of power.

Though grave, the situation can be overcome. Antidotes exist. I would like to inform you that for some time the International Cultic Studies Association, ICSA, a prestigious world- wide psychological and sociological organization, has been looking closely at cultic tendencies within the Catholic Church, in collaboration with competent priests and religious.

The explosion of studies targeting the cult phenomenon has created a marvelous opportunity for humanity and for the Catholic Church in particular. This research, the result of a multidisciplinary approach, offers us precise knowledge about the psycho- social processes at work in sectarian groups, and thus to grasp and identify the elements involved. The Church has a lot to gain by embracing these studies; they also provide her with an excellent examination of conscience with which to analyze her own practices with a critical eye. I truly believe that the Church could play a saving role in society, as Mother of Mercy, if she were to support and encourage combating and preventing sectarian groups.

I thank you for your attention and I hope you realize that this letter, just like all the other efforts I have made over the past few years, is nothing more than the exercise of my prophetic mission as a baptized Christian, following the dictates of my conscience. Be assured that I am willing to go to the Vatican, if you so desired, to answer all your questions in person.

Your humble servant in the Lord,
Xavier Leger

ReGAIN Comment:
ReGAIN feels that Xavier Leger has accurately expressed in his letter to Pope Francis in a respectful manner the key issues that have been on the hearts and minds of many of us former members and family members of Legionary and Regnum Christi consecrated members. We sincerely hope that those who are still concerned about the failed reform process will take similar actions to express their concerns to Church officials.

There are a number of recommendations stated or implied in the letter including the following:

Recommendations:

  • Stop recruitment until the reform process has been completed.
  • Stop ordinations (and consecrations) until the reform process has been completed.
  • Consult with those who have been victimized by Fr. Maciel and by his organizations and take action to provide justice.
  • Review the information from previous investigations.
  • Consult with qualified psychologists as well as knowledgeable cult and mind control experts.
  • Review especially the coercive methodology and use of manipulation and deceit.
  • Make further investigations into other controversial cultic groups within the Catholic Church and take action to bring effective reform (or suppression) as needed.

Rome Has Spoken

COMMUNIQUE ON VISITATORS OF LEGIONARIES OF CHRIST
VATICAN CITY, 1 MAY 2010 (VIS) – The Holy See Press Office today published the following communique:

To view this document on Vatican Information Services Website Click Here

  1. On 30 April and 1 May, the cardinal secretary of State chaired a meeting at the Vatican with the five bishops in charge of the apostolic visitation of the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ (Archbishop Ricardo Blazquez Perez of Valladolid, Spain; Archbishop Charles Joseph Chaput O.F.M. Cap. of Denver; Archbishop Ricardo Ezzati Andrello S.D.B., of Concepcion, Chile; Bishop Giuseppe Versaldi of Alexandria, Italy; and Bishop Ricardo Watty Urquidi M.Sp.S, of Tepic, Mexico). The meeting was also attended by the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, and the substitute of the Section for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State.

The Holy Father was present at one of the sessions, at which the visitors presented a summary of their reports, which had already been previously delivered.

During the visitation more than 1,000 Legionaries were interviewed, and hundreds of written testimonies examined. The visitors went to almost all the religious houses and many of the apostolic works run by the congregation. They heard, orally or in writing, the opinion of many diocesan bishops of the countries in which the congregation works. The visitors also met many members of the Regnum Christi Movement – although it was not the subject of the visitation – especially consecrated men and women. They have also received a great amount of correspondence from lay people and family members of those involved in the movement.

The five visitators spoke of the warm welcome they received and of the constructive spirit of co-operation shown by the congregation and the individual religious. Though each visitator acted independently, they came to substantial agreement and a shared viewpoint in their assessments. They testified to having met a great number of exemplary religious who are honest and talented, many of them young, who seek Christ with genuine zeal and are offering their entire lives to spread the Kingdom of God.

  • The apostolic visit was able to ascertain that the behaviour of Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado has had serious consequences for the life and structure of the Legion, such as to require a process of in-depth revision.

    • The very serious and objectively immoral behaviour of Fr. Maciel, as incontrovertible evidence has confirmed, sometimes resulted in actual crimes, and manifests a life devoid of scruple and of genuine religious sentiment. The great majority of Legionaries were unaware of this life, above all because of the system of relationships created by Fr. Maciel, who had skilfully managed to build up alibis, to gain the trust, confidence and silence of those around him, and to strengthen his role as a charismatic founder.

    Not infrequently, the lamentable discrediting and dismissal of whoever doubted the correctness of his behaviour, coupled with the misguided conviction of not wanting to harm the good the Legion was doing, created a defence mechanism around Fr. Maciel that rendered him untouchable for a long time and made it very difficult to know his real life.

  • The sincere zeal of most Legionaries, which emerged in the visits to the houses of the congregation and to many of its widely-appreciated apostolic works, has in the past led many people to believe that the allegations, which gradually became more insistent and widespread, could not have been anything other than calumnies.

    • Thus, discovering and coming to know the truth about the founder has caused the members of the Legion surprise, bewilderment and deep pain, as the visitators have made clear.

  • From the results of the apostolic visitation the following elements, among others, have become clear:

    • a) The need to redefine the charism of the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ, preserving its true core, that of the “militia Christi”, which characterises the apostolic and missionary activity of the Church and which is not the same as efficiency at any cost.

    b) The need to review the exercise of authority, which must be linked to truth, in order to respect conscience and develop in the light of the Gospel as authentic ecclesial service.

    c) The need to preserve, through appropriate formation, the enthusiasm of the faith of young members, their missionary zeal and their apostolic dynamism. Disillusionment concerning the founder could call into question this vocation and the core of the charism which belongs to and distinguishes the Legionaries of Christ

    .

  • The Holy Father wishes to assure all Legionaries and members of the Regnum Christi Movement that they will not be abandoned. The Church is firmly resolved to accompany them and help them on the path of purification that awaits them. This will also mean dealing sincerely with all of those who, within and outside the Legion, were victims of sexual abuse and of the power system devised by the founder. They are in the Holy Father’s thoughts and prayers at this time, along with his gratitude to those of them who, even in the midst of great difficulties, had the courage and constancy to demand the truth.
  • The Holy Father, in thanking the visitators for the sensitive task they have accomplished with skill, generosity, and profound pastoral sensitivity, reserves to himself the task of soon instructing how this assistance will be organised, beginning with the appointment of a delegate of his own and a commission to study the Legion’s constitutions

    • .

    The Holy Father will send a visitator to the consecrated members of the Regnum Christi Movement, who have insistently requested this.

  • Finally, the Pope renews his encouragement to all the Legionaries of Christ, to their families, and to all the lay people involved in the Regnum Christi Movement, during this difficult time for the congregation and for each of them. He urges them not to lose sight of the fact that their vocation, which originates in Christ’s call and is driven by the ideal of being witnesses of His love to the world, is a genuine gift from God, a treasure for the Church, and the indestructible foundation upon which each of them can build their own future and that of the Legion.

    • OP/ VIS 20100503 (1040)

    Fr. Peter Cronin on Leaving the Cult-like Legion

    By Fr. Peter Cronin

    [Introductory number of NETWORK, October, 1992, from REGAIN archives]

    Dear Friend:

    Greetings and Welcome to NETWORK. This newsletter is an effort to create a network of former members of the Legion of Christ, a way to keep in touch, communicate ideas, share our personal experiences (and maybe a few laughs), analyze and evaluate our past and, hopefully, offer support to each other. The past is prologue [Shakespeare].

    As you can see from the list of names, we have the beginnings of a network that extends to many states in the US and other countries. Please contact others you know who would be interested, mail the list and articles to them, and invite them to send me a letter or an article, a personal history or bio, thoughts or refelections which I will be happy to copy and send on to all Network members. Send all communications to:

    Peter Cronin
    St. Bartholomew’s

    You can FAX letters to me at… or reach me by phone at (301)…

    I think all of us agree that in the realm of social phenomena leaving the Legion of Christ is a unique experience. Is there anything quite like it? It is unique for several reasons:

    Firstly, the lifestyle we shared prior to leaving. We progressed through a series of stages postulancy, novitiate, juniorate, philosophy, apostolic practices, theology and maybe even ordination and the priesthood. We were the Curso Intensivo in Salamanca, Prefectos de Disciplina in Mexico, Vocational Directors in the US and Spain. We moved in a clearly defined world in which we absorbed ideas on the spiritual life, the priesthood, the Church, the apostolate, the Legion. [Spanish] Words such as quiete, Primerisima, Cesare, Cotijas, Cumbres, Kranz, modestia de la vista, Nuestro Padre, Tercer Grado [3rd Degree], Monticchio, la seccion femenina [female section] and so many others became part of our everyday vocabulary and even ingrained in our subconscious…

    Secondly, leaving the Legion is unique onto itself.

    It is not easy to leave the Legion. One is encouraged, advised and directed to stay by the Superiors. We went through a lengthy period of personal discernment before taking the step.

    Prior to leaving we could not share the crisis with anybody except the Superior. This resulted in gradual isolation that we had to cope with and overcome.

    Before leaving, we went through a difficult period of disagreement with the Legion on basic issues: aspects of priestly formation, Apostolic Schools, lack of diversity or individual freedom, lack of dialogue, the practice of confession and spiritual direction with the superior, relations with one family. With whom could we share these concerns? Where did we seek counseling? What forum was there for a free, healthy, honest discussion of these issues?

    When one leaves the Legion it is kept a secret within the order for as long as possible. Why?

    Thirdly, our experience after leaving the Legion is quite special in that we emerged from such a close-knot organization into a world in which we are faced with the excitement and challenge of personal decision-making everyday.

    “Un Legionario se es o se despide” [You either are a Legionary or you take your leave!]. That is precisely what we did. However, it was our decision. The time came when we realized that it was not what we had originally looked for; the Legion did not meet our expectations or answer our needs for spiritual growth, or respond to our vision of priestly life or religious experience. We left because we had to leave. Personally, I consider my decision to leave and my departure from the Legion as a grace-filled, liberating and ultimately salvific event. It was the will of God!

    After I left, I found the company and support of Declan Murphy, Kevin Farrell and Paul Lennon in the Washington DC area to be most helpful. Thanks, guys, if I never said it before! I am very happy now as a priest in the Archdiocese of Washington. I find my ministry to be diverse, challenging and rewarding. If any of you are ever in the DC area you have a place to stay right here. Is that Espiritu de Cuerpo esprit de corps- or what!

    We have all gone our separate ways, adjusting to our new reality; some in the priesthood, others in the lay state, married or single. But, we have a common past and experience which was wonderful, fulfilling, graced, happy, funny, silly, disappointing, sad, horrendous, unjust, inhuman…(add your own adjective). We have a lot to share. I will try to send out Network every other month. Mail or fax your articles to me or call me on the phone 24 hours a day (although, preferably, in the normal waking hours).

    It has been fun putting these thoughts together. I look forward to hearing from you.

    Yours truly,
    Peter Cronin.

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