Tag: Velasio DePaoli

Fr. Richard Gill a Legionary Priest For 29 Years Asks: Ten Questions

Analysis of Legion Situation by Former Legionary Priest

By From Chiesa

Father Richard Gill, a Legionary priest for twenty-nine years and a longtime director of Regnum Christi in the United States has issued his analysis and report in CHIESA on the situation regarding the Vatican’s attempt to reform the Legionaries of Christ.
He left the Legion a year ago and is now incardinated in the Archdiocese of New York.

 

Fr. Richard Gill a Legionary Priest For 29 Years Asks: Ten Questions;

Fr. Gill points out how Maciel’s legacy continues to weigh negatively on the Legion through the superiors who were connected to him and who still lead the congregation. The Chiesa article including Father Gill’s analysis may be seen Click Here

Richard Gill shares his main reasons for leaving the Legion, following the sordid double life of the founder and his personal conclusion that such a person who he describes as the most despicable character in the Twentieth Century could transmit any valid charism.
But he says that the way the current Legion superiors (all of whom remain in place) failed to act or acted in ways to deliberately mislead the membership bothered him more than the actual scandals related to the founder. He observed a systematic effort to deny and minimize the facts.

He states that last year, the Legionary superiors attempted to rush through a revised version of the constitution but this was quickly turned down by Cardinal DePaolis.

He then lists 10 questions of the stumbling blocks that make the reform exercise a monumental and perhaps impossible task.
Some of the key issues identified in the questions provided include:

  • How can the Church accept the Legion as a work of God, considering the many defects?
  • There has always been great ambiguity and confusion regarding the charism and this has not yet been generally admitted by the Legion.
  • The Church and Legion superiors enabled Father Maciel in many ways over decades and allowed him to continue his abuse and immoral lifestyle. There is a need to delve into the history of the founder and to bring the true history into the light.
  • The version of Regnum Christi statutes approved in 2004 by Cardinal Rode was considerably different from that which promulgated among the members.
  • So far, individuals who took part in deceit relating to the founder’s secret life have not been held accountable. Further investigation and justice is required to avoid similar things happening in future.
  • There has been no change in leadership and this has led to questions relating to trust within and outside the Legion.
  • The long standing problems that limit real dialogue remain. Voices of dissenters were dealt with effectively over the years and this still happens. Modern technology has been recently implemented (including very aggressive industrial spyware) to improve monitoring of email correspondence.
  • Ex members with valuable insights have so far been left out of the reform process.
  • Richard Gill mentions the Latino mentality (which he says if more tolerant of misconduct and corruption and dishonesty) that pervades the Legion, continues to create stress particularly in Spain and America.

In his conclusion Father Richard Gill questions how a religious order can be reformed when the founder has been recently labeled as a false prophet by Pope Benedict XVI. Other Catholic religious orders that have reformed have based their reform on returning to the charism and example of the original founder. In this case that is not an option.

Regain Comment:

The excellent questions posed by Father Gill demonstrate the importance of having ex members involved in the reform process. Could he have written such an analysis at any time when he was a Legionary priest? Would he have been able to have access to information to allow him to formulate such opinions? Living in an atmosphere of blind obedience where nobody was allowed to criticize a superior in an open manner what would have happened to him if he had issued these statements? It is necessary to be outside to be able to see the Legion as a hall of mirrors.

The points he makes about the futility of any attempt to return to the founding charism and principles (and saintly example) of their founder, the cultural tensions and the problems of the collective attitude of the current superiors (who wanted to rush through a quickie update of statutes to get this little diversion over and done with) are going to be huge obstacles for the Apostolic Delegate to deal with.

For ReGAIN and friends who have been analyzing these sorts of issues for many years, we know that the excellent points and issues raised are only the tip of the iceberg. There has been overwhelming spiritual, emotional, sexual, physical, financial and mental damage done to many, many victims, inside and outsider, including volunteers, benefactors and unfortunately to the Roman Catholic Church itself.

Richard Gill touches on the Legion’s contribution to disharmony within the Church hierarchy at the highest levels, with two cardinals simultaneously expressing completely opposite views about the founder. He asked: what does it say about the internal culture of the Vatican that while Maciel was being praised at his 60th anniversary in 2004 by Cardinal Sodano, he was being investigated by Cardinal Josef Ratzinger’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith?
Insights into this disharmony may be found at Click Here ReGAIN reported on Jason Berry’s article in December about how the founder was able to buy influence in the Vatican at senior levels.

ReGAIN applauds Richard Gill for speaking out some things that need to be said and for asking that the facts be brought out into the light and dealt with in a way to avoid future false prophets from being welcomed and encouraged within the Catholic Church.

A Blow To The Legion’s Credibility

From Associated Press Article by Nicole Winfield regarding deceit and loss of credibility in the Legion

 

Nicole Winfield of Associated Press continues to bring more light into dark places. In her latest article Click Here For AP Article she reported that the Legion of Christ has sufferedanother blow to its credibility.

Father Alvaro Corcuera, the Director General of the Legion has publically made an admission that although he had been advised about Father Williams, the most prominent Legionary priest fathering a child as far back as 2005, he allowed him to continue in his work, teaching and preaching about morality. The Legionary Director General said that he simply believed at first that the story was just a rumour. He said that he did ask Father Williams about it and when Father Williams denied that it was true, he took his word for it without conducting further investigation. Father Corcuera said that after he became superior in 2005, he confirmed Williams’ paternity and asked him to withdraw from public ministry. However, in spite of this statement, Father Williams was allowed to continue his public ministry work until 2012.

Father Corcuera, the Director General of the Legionaries of Christ has written a letter to the members of the Legionaries of Christ and members and friends of Regnum ChristiClick Here for Letter by Father Corcuera

According to Nicole Winfield, Father Williams made a more recent statement stating he had resisted Father Corcuera’s encouragement to keep a low profile, saying he had hoped to move beyond the child this sin in my past to do good work for the church. Fr. Corcuera said that in 2010 he placed restrictions on Fr. Williams’ ministry, but as recently as last month Williams was the keynote speaker at a Legion-affiliated women’s conference in the Rhode Island and was scheduled to speak at another conference in October in Michigan.

AP reported that a U.S. victims’ support group, Survivors’ Network of those Abused by Priests, had called for Pope Benedict XVI to oust Corcuera, and said that if the pope wantsa more holy and pure and safe church, he can’t keep ignoring or rewarding serious wrongdoing.
The SNAP statement says:
Virtually nothing will change if the pope and other Church officials continue to let their colleagues and underlings act recklessly and deceitfully – year after year after year – and get by with saying, when they’re caught, ‘Oops, sorry, I goofed,’ SNAP said in a statement.

ReGAIN Comment :

Reading from Acts 20: 28-30
Keep watch over yourselves and over all the flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the Church of God that he obtained with the blood of His own Son. I know that after I have gone, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Some even from your own group will come distorting the truth in order to entice the disciples to follow them.

The skeletons continue to fall out of the Legion closet and it has finally reached the point where the spin doctors can’t disguise them any more. With the Vatican commissioner watching and with news reporters taking interest in what is happening it is becoming much more difficult to get away with distorting the truth.
A former superior in the Miles Jesus group – which had a similar problem as the Legion, i.e. a dysfunctional founder- stated in May 2012: It is not just enough to cut off the head; the head has already infected the body.

Fr. Maciel’s great anti-charism according to his critics (including ReGAIN) has been considered to be deceit. There has been suspicion, and now this recent evidence supports it, that the founder had infected the body and the superiors which he chose, including his dear Fr. Alvaro, with the disease of deceit. There are parallels between the founder’s double life and that of Fr. William and in both cases their actions were deceitfully covered up after the death of the founder by the current Legionary leaders.

Nicole Winfield provided a reminder in her article how the Legion did everything possible to cover up for their founder’s misdeeds. When DNA tests confirmed their worst fears andfamily membersstarted coming out of Father Maciel’s closet, the Legionary leaders had to backtrack and eventually admit the truth about their founder. They did their best to give an impression that it was unusual for prominent Legionary priests to father children and they acted very surprised and claimed that they just could not believe the truth about Father Maciel. Now with history repeating itself, the Director General, Father Corcuera, being backed into a corner fesses up that he knew for at least seven years that their most prominent spokesperson had also fathered a child and yet allowed him to continue with his work teaching moral theology.

According to the AP report, the Director General said that he had asked Father Williams to withdraw from public ministry. This statement is surprising because it means that either he did not do as he said (i.e. didn’t really tell Fr. Williams to withdraw from public ministry) or Fr. Williams simply ignored the order from his ultimate superior.

In either case, Fr. Corcuera appears to be inept, weak, incompetent and dishonest, not good qualities for a supreme leader. As Director General he had ultimate power and authority to ensure that the right thing was done. His power and authority over Father Williams would be comparable to that of an army general over a captain and in the case of the Legion, Fr. William would have made a vow of obedience. So Father Corcuera’s claim that he had asked Father William to withdraw from public ministry does not make sense considering that he kept on being involved in high profile activity in the field of moral theology.

Some of Father Williams’ statements are problematic. As mentioned in a previous ReGAIN article he had referred to the child as her child. This time he said he had resisted Father Corcuera’s encouragement to keep a low profile, saying he had hoped to move beyond the child this sin in my past to do good work for the church.

How does a priest move beyond the child? This statement seems callous, considering that a son or daughter is involved and the Father is a teacher of moral values. This raises questions such as was there hush money offered to the mother? What would be an appropriate and responsible way to deal with the situation that takes into account the other people involved in this situation?

We agree with Nicole Winfield that that main issue here (based on her headline) is Legion credibility. Based on a number of past articles and testimonies in this website, ReGAIN long ago concluded that there is deceit in Fr. Maciel’s kingdom. Unfortunately this is spilling over to give the entire Catholic Church a bigger black eye and this is evident in SNAP’s statement regarding leaders allowing priests to act recklessly and deceitfully – year after year after year?

We do not envy Cardinal DePaolis in his job of trying to reform the Legion because the leaders have shown willingness to cooperate in the reform process only in certain limited areas after their deceitfulness has been once again exposed by the news media or when the Vatican imposes changes.

 

Seeking A Superior And A Long Lost Peace

Based on article written by Andres Beltramo Alvarez in The Vatican Insider La Stampa

The real challenge will be to regain the serenity lost in an internal crisis that some members have been unable to withstand, falling into chronic physical illness or depression.

According to an article written by Andres Beltramo Alvarez in The Vatican Insider La Stampa Click Here for article the 3gf women of Regnum Christi are in the midst of seeking a new leader to replace Malen Oriol, who departed suddenly earlier in 2012 to form Totus Tuus, a separate religious movement in Chile. The article states that the 3gf women (reportedly over 700 in number) around the world are choosing a new leader plus four territorial leaders.

Regnum Christi is planning to establish a government that will consist of a Superior General who will take over from Agostino Montan (temporary replacement for Malen Oriol) and who will be assisted by new Territorial Directors. The selection of all of these positions is being done by a mail-in election. During the month of April, each of the 3gf women made her selections and mailed in the names to Rome in a sealed envelope.

The writer of the article claims that members of the movement are showing signs of suffering (from the current state of crisis) and that they feel insecure because of the various intrigues that were going on and suffering from illness and depression. The first paragraph actually mentions chronic physical illness or depression.
The author of the article states that DePaolis pushed for some changes in the movement but then lost control of the situation.

ReGAIN Comment:
The article paints a disturbing picture of the present situation for the 3gf women and for the Vatican delegate, Cardinal Velasio DePaolis and raises some interesting questions regarding the future of the Regnum Christi movement.

The first thing that jumps off the page is the mention of chronic physical illness and depression,

Since the Vatican commissioner took over leadership of Regnum Christi, has anything been done to improve the availability of medical treatment for the women? In the past there have been horror stories of someone in house being appointed to dispense aspirins and other over the counter remedies as a first line of treatment. When that was inadequate there were some volunteer doctors available to provide medical treatment. Unfortunately, the women were not covered by a regular health protection plan and in many cases were required to take their chances with whomever and whatever was available.

Now that there are a significant number of the 3gf women suffering from chronic physical illness and depression, are they receiving proper medical treatment for this? Have the current leaders brought in psychological counselors to deal with cases of depression or do the women just have to tough it out. Failure to provide adequate treatment could lead to more severe cases and possibly cases of suicide.

The topic of leadership raises a significant question regarding the spirituality of Regnum Christi. It will be healthy for the women to have new leaders to govern the administrative aspects of their organization. But who will be their spiritual guides and what will it be based on? There is no escape from the fact that their founder was proven to be a false prophet. In the Book Matthew 7:15, Jesus warns us to beware of false prophets. So it is obvious that the reorganized religious movement would be foolish to choose Father Marcial Maciel’s (false prophet) teachings as a guide to devote their lives to.

If the founder, who was said by the Vatican to be immoral and whose life was devoid of scruple and of genuine religious sentiment has been proven to be a false prophet, can there be anything from his teachings and rule that could be worthy of using as a basis for religious life? If not him, then who within the existing organization is there to step forward and become a true prophet, who could develop a unique spirituality and lead an exemplary life to be emulated by the others?

Is it reasonable for a young woman to give up everything she has in life including her sexuality, her free will and all of her money to become part of a religious group that offers little or nothing in the way of unique spirituality, inadequate provision for health insurance coverage and lack of provision for her senior years?

In recent years, the 3gf women discovered that their form of consecration was not recognized by the Roman Catholic Church even though they had been convinced over the years that the Vatican had approved everything to do with their way of life. Then they discovered that they had been deceived regarding the contents of the constitutional document that had actually been approved by the Vatican in 2004. Most of the norms and rules they had been obliged to follow had definitely not been included in the skimpy document that was approved in 2004.

In 2009, after the bombshell dropped about the fraudulent life of the founder they had idolized for so long they never skipped a beat in their recruiting and fund raising activities. There was little provision for them to mourn or to take some time out to reevaluate things or to think about the significance of what had happened. They were simply kept busy as always as if nothing had happened. When their (absolute) ruler became disgraced, there was not a new spiritual leader to replace him.

How confusing that must have been. At the time, in 2009, according to their restrictive rules and demanding schedules there was little time to think and little opportunity to openly discuss among themselves what was going on. The reform process, although painfully slow has resulted in enough positive changes that the 3gf women are now allowed to speak to each other to share their concerns and feelings and they have more access to the outside world and to their families. Now that they are being exposed to some of the horrendous truth is it any wonder that many of them are suffering from mental, physical and emotional illnesses?

Has their leadership provided adequate recognition of their situation and made adequate provision to promote healing? It is difficult to tell from the outside. However, from the information that has been provided by some of the more vocal ones of those who have left it would seem that the leaders have for the most part continued their damage control and obfuscation. The leaders have tried to soften the blow regarding their disgraced leader by emphasizing that he had a stable relationship with his women and children and deemphasized that he had more than one stable relationship at a time and that he had almost certainly over the years molested many children. Those who wished were encouraged to keep their pictures of the founder in their wallets and purses.

It was obvious from the wording of the Vatican communique in 2010 that the founder had acted deceptively and fraudulently. It is less obvious that the fraud and deception has continued after his death because the emphasis on the reform process has been focused on the immoral actions of Father Marcial Maciel and never on the current leaders even though they were selected and trained by him.

Statements made by Nieves Garcia Horcaja when she departed were quoted in the article in the Vatican Insider that provide strong evidence that there is still deception in the Legion and Regnum Christi from the existing leaders even with the Vatican overseeing them. She stated bluntly: I saw that there was a group of superiors who were not willing to seek the truth. The deception is not likely to improve after Cardinal DePaolis decides his work is done.

So, the newly elected leaders for Regnum Christi will certainly have their work cut out for them. In some ways they will have to pick themselves up by their own bootstraps to not simple replace previous leaders but to build a religious movement from square one, develop a charism, provide saintly example, develop an authentic form of consecration and make radical changes in direction all the while dealing with the chaos confusion including chronic illnesses and depression. There is another handicap that will be like a huge ball and chain impeding every step. Like a Siamese twin, Regnum Christi is joined at the hip to the Legionaries of Christ, having identical founders, charism (or lack of) and sharing the same pot of money.

We have not been hearing the party line that God is able to draw straight with crooked lines as much lately but that may be their only hope at this stage because some of the lines they are trying to draw with are badly twisted.

At ReGAIN, we support the 3gf women with our prayers and our thoughts and genuine concern. We believe that they are generally good and devout women who genuinely wish to serve God. We have no axe to grind with the women and believe they were of good character and formed in their faith before they became involved with Regnum Christi. We wish to emphasize that it is the (cult like) structure of the Legion and Regnum Christi, their hidden agendas and their manipulation and excessive control of people such as the 3gf women that motivate us to bring the truth that shall set people free. We wish for the 3gf women to ReGAIN their lost serenity that La Stampa refers to.

Prophetic Analysis Of The Legionaries Of Christ By Toronto Archbishop Collins In 2009 – If They Can’t Fix Themselves Then You Go To A Higher Level

Recent news regarding Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins brought to mind the presentation he gave two years ago regarding the Legionaries of Christ after the double life of the founder had become public.

 

Last year, Pope Benedict XVI called for an apostolic visitation of Ireland in response to the sexual abuse crisis. The process has begun very recently.
Four top English-speaking visitors are leading the review.

Details were recently reported in the National Catholic Reporter Click Here -Vatican Visitation to Ireland
One of the team involved in the visitation is Archbishop Thomas Collins of Toronto. ReGAIN editors remember the prophetic analysis that Archbishop Collins provided in his comments in March, 2009 and felt that it was worthwhile to share his insightful comments from two years ago.
Following is a summary of Archbishop Collins’ presentation:
When asked about Legion Founder, Fr. Marcial Maciel’s double life Archbishop Collins said there have been real concerns for years about him. He said that he had had extreme reservations about Maciel for other reasons. There seemed to be something wrong there. He said that Cardinal Ratzinger was the main one responsible for rooting this out and getting his officials (of the Church) to deal with these issues before he became Pope to his great credit and for the good of the Church. The Archbishop said that the whole culture seemed to be very strange, very controlled and there were some policy issues about who could hear whose confession and about criticism of the founder and these were very problematic in this group. He said some positive things about the good young priests who were attracted into it and about good Regnum Christi members. But the structure set up by Maciel provided some opportunities to do things. He said as you get in towards the centre there with the founder there were massive problems with him and now things have come out after his death that clearly indicate he had led a double life. Archbishop Collins said he felt sorry for the wonderful people who have been betrayed.

When asked if he knew of any precedent in the history of the Church for a leader who founded a religious order or who was given a charism who led this kind of a sinful life, the Archbishop said he could not think of any. The great founders of orders are often canonized because of the integrity of their lives. He said that God is able to write straight with crooked lines. If someone who is disreputable in his own personal life can tell people to love Jesus and serve the Lord they may respond to it but truth be told there is a lie there in terms of the person’s integrity. He said he would be concerned not just about the problem with the founder but about the structure a person leading a double life could set up that would make it possible to live such a life. That whole thing has to be totally reviewed and cleaned up. He said he would wonder how a person could lead such a double life without anyone within the organization being aware. He said he thought there should be certainly as a minimum a massive reorder (re-organization) of the Legionaries of Christ for the sake of those within the organization and with Regnum Christi who have been betrayed.

When asked what message he might have for disillusioned people still in Regnum Christi and Legion of Christ who are questioning their involvement he said that they might consider leaving and getting a fresh start in an order or in the priesthood somewhere where these real questions do not hang over them. He said he was sure many would consider leaving. He added that they should be proud of the work that they have done. But there is something not just personal in Maciel but this whole thing needs to be looked at and brought into the light.

The interviewer quoted George Weigel (Feb 9 article in First Things) and his discomfort regarding excessive veneration of the founder. He asked if there is too much emphasis on the founder. Archbishop Collins said that this is a major problem. When you get a cult of personality that is over the top. It is not a healthy thing. There is something wrong there. Even in legitimate groups where it turns out the founder is a perfectly good person, the group should tone down the cult of personality. Only Jesus walked on the water. We already have a Messiah.

Many of those founders who were canonized see themselves as humble servants serving the Lord.
He said it is always dangerous in the Church when any leader in the Church is treated with that kind of approach. It is not healthy. It turned out this man was a fraud. We should honor great people but we need limits. We should be servants of Jesus (and not of any human person). These people must be transparent.
When asked about the structural problems he had referred to and what options he sees, the Archbishop said he was not sure but off the top of his head there are several options he can see.

  1. Send in somebody to take over the order to the point of appointing a Papal representative to go in and take over the order and clean it up.
  1. Another possibility would be to shut it down and start anew. He said that has been suggested.

He added that sometimes in such cases as this it is good to have the Pope and the Holy See on board. Sometimes a group may be able to fix itself and that is always the first step. You should always start with the local level first. But if they can’t fix themselves then you go to a higher level. Some way of doing that needs to be done. He said that he did not know what is being planned.

ReGAIN Comment:

Archbishop Collins demonstrated both wisdom and knowledge in his comments in 2009. He showed good understanding of the problematic structure that was set up by a founder who Archbishop Collins had been aware of real concerns for years about him and he referred to a lie in the person’s integrity.

The Archbishop went on to say that you should always provide an opportunity for a group to fix itself first as a first step?.

This appears to be exactly what Cardinal DePaolis has been doing as many outsiders and loved ones of those directly affected eagerly (and sometimes impatiently) await a big hammer to come down. For those who think that Rome is acting too slowly, the above message provides hope that the big hammer is available if needed but not to be used as the first step in the overhaul process. The Legion leaders are most definitely being given a lot of opportunity to acknowledge what is wrong with the structure that was established and developed by Fr. Marcial Maciel and to make whatever corrections they feel are appropriate.

To date, apart from blaming things on the founder the Legion hierarchy does not seem to have demonstrated a good understanding of the structural issues, some of which were clearly identified by Archbishop Collins in his statements. Instead the Legion has shown merely a willingness to accept whatever measures the Vatican imposes on them, like a child forcing down some horrible tasting medicine.

A key issue in reformation of the religious order and movement established by Fr. Maciel is that there is no clear unique charism along with saintly example at the root to return to. Not only does the Legion have to recognize and correct their own defects; they must somehow miraculously come up with a purpose for being. To make matter worse, some of the Legionary priests who had good leadership qualities and who had maintained some measure of independent thinking ability have seen the writing on the wall and have left.

We can’t help but wonder what the higher level? that Archbishop Collins referred to will be in this case, because so far the Legion is not doing an effective job of fixing itself.

Deal Hudson, the Legion, and Strange Bedfellows

Until last year, the Legion of Christ used a testimony written by Deal Hudson (Editor & Publisher, Crisis Magazine) in 1997. When allegations surfaced of Mr. Hudson’s prior improper sexual relationships with a young female student surfaced, the Legion was quick to defend him. When Mr. Hudson resigned as an advisor to George Bush over the sex allegations, admitting his past errors, the Legion quickly dropped the testimony from their websitehttp://www.legionaryfacts.org
The testimony that praised the Legion follows. The link to the admissions of Mr. Hudson precedes.

 

Georges Pontier, Archbishop of Marseille, President of the Conference of Bishops of France, recently responded to calls for recognition of the human damage caused by ecclesial movements such as the Legionaries of Christ and others that are guilty of abusive practices. Click Here

The archbishop was responding to a group of forty victims of various abuses suffered as members of Roman Catholic ecclesial movements and religious orders they had formerly belonged to. One of the three leaders of the group addressing the archbishop was Xavier Leger, a former member of the Legionaries of Christ, who has posted several articles on ReGAIN.

The letter that was submitted by the victims in French may be seen at Click Here The Archbishop’s response is included with the above letter from the victims.

The article stated that:
Critics of the several new ecclesiastical communities had complained of the ‘destruction of personalities’ by cult-like practices. The complaints had centered on groups such as the Legion of Christ, the Beatitudes community, and the Community of St. John, all of which had seen formal charges of misconduct lodged against their founders.

The Archbishop, while warning against the dangers of generalization, did acknowledge difficulties with some groups, involving the manipulation of individual consciences, adding that French bishops oppose such practices, and that the Gospel of Christ, which we seek to serve, is a school of spiritual freedom.

Archbishop Pontier, in his address to the French bishops, gathered in a plenary session issued a call to denounce the human damage that the forty victims had suffered as a result of their membership in the religious orders and movements involved. Such damage he said included depression to suicide or destruction of personalities.

What was new in this case was not the reporting of sexual abuse that plaintiffs have suffered but the spiritual abuse that they suffered. The article referred to the way that founders of these groups have used their spiritual power on young impressionable people and how they take advantage of people by making them become dependent, thus creating an imbalance of power in some cases leading to destruction of personalities.

Another new issue in this case is that it is the first time that such a group of the new religious movements that have been seen as symbols of the new evangelization have been lumped together in these types of circumstances.

In his letter, Archbishop Pontier clarified in his letter that his main concern was the issue of spiritual freedom i.e. manipulation of consciences. He went on to explain that The gospel of Christ we want to serve is a school of spiritual freedom.

He said that in the past, some bishops have warned the public and families about certain groups but he now wishes all bishops to do a better job of listening to accusations from those claiming to be victims. Archbishop Pontier said that there needs to be respect for canon law regarding freedom of conscience.

ReGAIN Comment

We heartily endorse the work of Xavier Leger and the others who presented their testimonies and we are absolutely delighted to hear a member of the Roman Catholic hierarchy recognize that some groups, including the Legionaries of Christ do spiritual damage to some of their members. This is the message that ReGAIN and several others who have pounded away at for years, without positive acknowledgement from the Legion leaders or from the Vatican. It is obvious that until problems of spiritual abuse, manipulation of conscience and abuse of power and the resulting destruction of personalities that can lead to depression and suicidal thoughts are recognized and acknowledged, there will be no progress.

Perhaps if Cardinal DePaolis had dug a little deeper and spoken to ex members and some of Father Maciel’s victims during his three years as Apostolic Delegate, he might have become more aware of the extent of all the damage that has been done and is still being done by Legion leaders other than just the founder.

We sincerely hope and pray that Archbishop Pontier, who seems to have an understanding about human damage done by cult like practices will pass this information on to members of the Holy See and to the Pope so that they might become aware that a reform for a group such as the Legion requires more than superficial changes to their legal documents.

The Catholic Church’s neglect of the sexual abuse problems and failure to deal effectively with it resulted in horrendous consequences including additional suffering for victims, billions of dollars of settlements and loss of millions of Church members, who expected better of the One True Church established by Jesus Christ. We expect that if the Catholic Church continues to enable cult groups such as the Legionaries of Christ to flourish, while they are causing spiritual, psychological and emotional damage and if the Church fails to act, there could be another tsunami of shipwrecked souls, lost membership and further billions of dollars in costs. Can the Church afford for this to happen or can they find a more effective way to stop the spiritual bleeding of people who have a genuine desire to serve God and their Church?

What would Jesus want His representatives in His Church to do?

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