Tag: Velasio DePaoli

Some Dissenting Opinions In The Legion – A Current Legionary Sends An Anguished Call to His Brothers

10 Reasons Not to Believe In The Legionary Hierarchy
Andres Beltramo in Sacred and Profane in Mexico has quoted a current Legionary priest, who has given 10 reasons not to believe in the Legion of Christ. This was written anonymously and at first was intended only for circulation among other current Legionary priests. Sacred and Profane was authorized to publicize this inside story about the Legion being now a hotbed of viewpoints.

Click Here for Spanish Article
Click Here for English Translation in Life-After-RC

The writer has identified that the major superiors have shown that they are unable to think for themselves. They have shown no indication that they intend to change except where they are forced to by the media or by the Vatican. For those Legionary priests who have welcomed change, the reform process to date the provisions and decisions of the Holy See continue to be seen as arbitrary, hasty, superficial and of relative value as well as open to interpretation?. The Legion leaders have shown a will to maintain secrecy, squelch all critical thinking and continue the manipulation, arrogance and deceit that was initiated by the founder.

After all this time, the old leaders all remain in place and many of them continue tocanonize Marcial Maciel. They continue to interpret Velasio DePaolis’ call for fidelity to the constitutions as Vatican approval of everything they have been doing. The Legion leaders seem to be in denial regarding the Church and the Pope defining the founder as an unscrupulous false prophet, devoid of religious sentiment. They continue to promote the belief that all instructions from superiors are to be seen as the voice of God and to encourage the fear that being unfaithful to the Legion could result in damnation.

The writer says that the rank and file in the Legion seeks to have clarity and transparency but those who attempt to think freely run into a wall of steel that causes them to feel powerless.

The unknown writer had believed that there would be an exodus from the Legion and that this is already in process. Some have left while others remain hoping that there will be real change.

ReGAIN Comment:

The Legionary priests who were hoping for real change aren’t the only ones who have been disappointed by the reform process to date. For ex LC’s and ex RC’s and for family members and loved ones of current LC’s and RC’s it has been frustrating and agonizing to watch the rescuers seemingly become the cheering section for the Legion.

The powers that be in the Legion and Regnum Christ have shown that they are incapable of reforming their ways and instead they intend to reassert the old ways a la Maciel, including secrecy, information and behaviour control, manipulation, deceit, instilling fear of leaving and spiritual malformation. They have shown no intention of recognizing the issues regarding freedom of conscience, following a false prophet, lack of unique charism and developing a healthier environment.

Is the Vatican giving the Legion leaders enough rope to hang themselves? There are several other obvious possibilities that we would prefer not to consider because they indicate a much deeper problem in the Church.

Revision of the Legions Constitutions Begins

Can Legion Priests Reform Themselves?

 

A central committee has been appointed to start making the revisions of the Legion’s constitutions. The committee will be presided over by Cardinal Velasio DePaolis. The committee will be made up of six priests including two of his personal advisors (Fr Gianfranco Ghirlanda, SJ and Fr Agostino Montan, CSI) and four Legionary priests (Fr Roberto Aspe Hinojosa, LC, Fr Anthony Bannon, LC, Fr Jose Garcia Sentandreu, LC, and Fr Gabriel Sotres, LC). The process will involve all members of the Legion and will last for several years.

ReGAIN and friends have been observing this process and hoping to see some desire within the Legion for the type of changes needed. To date it has been disappointing to see the exact opposite – a strong desire to defend the old ways, to keep a strangle hold on their remaining members and to influence the hierarchy of the Church to see things their way. The old guard has not openly shown that they recognize the structural problems that have resulted from following a leader who was found to have led a life devoid of scruple and of genuine religious sentiment(quoted from Vatican May 1 2010 communique)- Click here to read Vatican communique

Only time will tell if this group of mostly Legion priests will be able to significantly reform themselves. We would feel more optimistic if they showed some desire to change and if they were to consult with outside expertise that included victims, critics and dare we suggest cult experts.

==
ReGAIN Comment: When the Vicariate of the diocese of Rome intervened the Miles Jesu religious congregation, they made the whole leadership cadre resign.

Former Regnum Christi High School Students Petition Cardinal De Paolis

“Acknowledge the serious flaws within their life, culture and methodology”

“Truthfully recognize the past in a spirit of sincere sorrow”

“Taking responsibility and understanding how and why so much damage has been done is the necessary first step for any true reform”

During the summer, 2012, ReGAIN published an article that dealt with the spiritual, psychological and emotional abuse that was suffered by young women who had formerly attended a Regnum Christi run high school in Rhode Island when they were teenagers. The high school girls who attended this school were obliged to live under the same conditions as the Regnum Christi consecrated women and this was considered to be a way of preparing them for and encouraging them to enter into consecrated life after they graduated.

Several of the women who had such negative experiences from living an isolated militaristic, nun like life, started a blog in July, 2012 and provided some of their testimonies. Their blog is named 49weeksblogspot Click Here

A group consisting of seventy one of the former students from the school signed a letter of petition to Cardinal DePaolis, advising him of the suffering that they experienced and provided some recommendations. The letter was written in a very respectful manner and advised Cardinal DePaolis of the “Psychological and emotional difficulties�, including “nightmares and flashbacks, guilt complexes, scruples or inferiority complexes, and difficulties in re-establishing normal, healthy relationships with friends and family given the unnatural and forced nature of relationships encouraged during the Precandidacy�

The letter was published on 49weeksblogspot and it is available at the following link:Click Here

ReGAIN editors have noticed that the points raised in the letter to Cardinal DePaolis made reference to a number of the injustices, irregularities, unchristian practices that we have been identifying on this website over many years. It seems more horrific in this case because the ones being victimized were teenage high school children, whose care had been entrusted to a Catholic religious movement that was in good standing with the Church.

Some of the practices identified in the petition letter included:

    • Lack of truth and transparency
    • Lack of remorse on the part of the Legion and Regnum Christi leaders
    • Psychological and emotional difficulties including nightmares, flashbacks, guilt complexes, scruples or inferiority complexes, difficulties in re-establishing normal, healthy relationships with friends and family
    • Physical conditions such as stomach problems, back pain, migraines, eating disorders that are related to stress and lifestyle (while living under the rules and conditions imposed by Regnum Christi).
    • Systemic deception and duplicity ingrained in the life and culture of the Legion and Regnum Christi
    • Rules revealed gradually after a commitment had been made
    • Instilling fear based on failure to fulfill God’s will and even “betraying Jesus�
    • Questioning of rules not allowed and having to accept them as “God’s will�
    • Deliberate withholding of truth about the founder
    • Confiscating of personal mail from outside friends and family
    • Discrepancies between report card grading and official transcripts
    • Cult of the personality and the attachment to the person of the founder and idolization of him
    • Excessive focus on recruitment and fund raising
    • Lack of respect for conscience
    • Pressure to confide in spiritual directors, who were not obligated to confidentiality and who used information as a means of control
    • Excessive regulation of personal relationships – (personal friendships discouraged)
    • Cases of women who remained and became consecrated being sent home without any support or funding
    • “formators� had no expertise of their own in matters of formation
    • Almost total isolation from parents
    • eminently flawed Legionary/Maciel-inspired methodology
    • no public apology or even acknowledgment of the responsibility of the current leadership in these abuses.

The letter to Cardinal DePaolis concludes that the lives of hundreds of young women have been devastated and that mere cosmetic changes to norms and rules (in the current reform process) are inadequate.

ReGAIN Comment:

The petition letter to the Apostolic Delegate certainly raises the question:

“Are the issues raised by the women being adequately addressed and if not then whose responsibility is it?�

The Legion has always said that it would do whatever the Church tells it to do. However, before and after the death of their founder, they have not shown initiative to deal with the type of issues raised in the above petition letter or to respond to valid criticism from other former members. The Vatican Commissioner has claimed that he is not there with a big stick to force them to change their ways. His role still seems to be limited to overseeing the Legion leaders implement their own reforms and assisting with the rewriting of constitutions. So we have a vicious circle, where neither the Legion leaders nor the Vatican Delegate have shown a desire to accept responsibility for reforming the methodology that was put in place by Father Maciel and that has had serious detrimental effects on many peoples’ lives.

The lack of truth and transparency identified in the petition letter hits the nail on the head. Perhaps if the Delegate or the Legion leaders would publicly acknowledge that their methodology damages peoples’ lives, that they genuinely feel remorse and express a desire and a realistic plan to correct all forms of physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual abuse, we could have reason for optimism.

Unfortunately, as the months and years pass by since the dramatic revelations in 2009, it becomes apparent that the valid issues raised by victims of the methodology (including typical mind control techniques) are not even on the radar.

The mantra that “we were shocked to discover our founder’s secret life but we are loved by the Church and we are extending the Kingdom of Christ� continues.

Before the founder’s secret life was publicized, Legion leaders treated any alleged victims of sexual abuse as liars and discounted them, thereby adding to the abuse they had originally suffered. With the Church watching over them, how will the Legion leaders treat the 71 ladies who have come forward? Will they also be considered to be liars also or will they simply be ignored or discounted as being insignificant in the whole scheme of things?

We have another question.

When Cardinal DePaolis has completed his work of assisting in redefining the charism (another whole topic) and rewriting the constitutions and statues and has taken his leave, is it more likely or less likely that the issues raised by the 71 young women will be considered and addressed? It is obvious that if the Legion is unable or unwilling to acknowledge severe abuses in their Maciel designed methodology under the watchful eye of a Vatican Commissioner, there is virtually no chance that they will be inclined to make these sorts of positive changes after he leaves.

Legion’s Record Calls For Criminal Investigation

An article written by the National Catholic Reporter editorial staff, http://ncronline.org/news/accountability/editorial-legions-record-calls-criminal-investigation referring to the almost unimaginable fraud, offers an opinion that civil authorities should conduct a criminal investigation into the activities of the Legionaries of Christ based on their record. They also recommend that the Church proceed with extreme caution in considering allowing the Legion to continue.

The NCR refers to the two lawsuits in Rhode Island that claim the Legion defrauded elderly donors (Mrs. Gabrielle Mee and James Boa-The Chu, a Yale University professor).

The article suggests that the Legion’s striking pattern of fraudulent fundraising tactics by a religious charity and the bilking of elderly Americans stands out as a matter demanding investigation. and that the civil authorities might be interested in investigating further to discover what other fraud the Legion might be carrying out to sustain their multi million dollar budget. The writers say that the Church has a responsibility to excise from the body a cancer that has seriously damaged the community.

Calling upon the Rhode Island attorney general to open a criminal investigation of the Legionaries of Christ, they state that they have found in the past that it is difficult to get full accounts of criminal activities of church leaders unless civil authorities become involved.

At the same time, Fox News has reported http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/01/30/group-seeks-criminal-probes-disgraced-catholic-order/ that the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, (S.N.A.P.) is seeking a criminal probe of the Legionaries of Christ. David Clohessy, executive director of SNAP said recently that Rhode Island and Connecticut law enforcement should investigate. Mr. Clohessy stated the Legion’s known and suspected wrongdoing is so persistent and widely documented that we think action by law enforcement is warranted. No institution can or should be allowed to essentially police itself.

Bernard Jackvony, the lawyer in the case of Mrs. Gabrielle Mee had reportedly expressed disappointment when he heard that the attorney general was not planning to get involved in the case and treat it as a civil or criminal matter. A spokesperson for the attorney general’s office has urged Jackvony to take any allegations of criminal wrongdoing to state police.

ReGAIN Comment

According to the Fox News article, there have been no complaints against the Legion made to the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice but they have stated that if anyone did file a complaint, it would be reviewed and acted upon. So until someone is willing to take on the Legion and their lawyers, this will probably not happen.

One thing that has changed in a positive way over the last three years of renewal (not reform) is that there has been less information control over what the members listen to and read about what is happening. When members were restricted to reading friendly accounts of Legion news in Zenit and the National Catholic Register and other Legion controlled media, many members were often unaware of negative news about their leaders or the religious order they belonged to or they had a warped understanding of the true situation. We hope that with the small changes that have taken place, such as banning the secret vows and promises, allowing somewhat more free discussion and better access to outside truth that more members and 3gf women are redeveloping some critical thinking skills. The window of opportunity for this may be coming to an end unless Pope Francis has a plan in place for what to do when Cardinal DePaolis takes his leave within a few months. If the Pope fails to take action while he has a golden opportunity we feel it is quite likely that everything will tend to go back to the structure and methodology that suited Nuestro Padre so well for so long and the deception and fraud will continue.

Vatican Overseer Neglects Investigation of Legion Founder’s Inner Circle

Will Pope Francis be in an awkward position having to blindly approve new constitutions statutes and Legion leaders?

Who within the Legionaries of Christ in Fr. Marcial Maciel’s inner circle covered for the founder as he carried out his secret life style, traveling around the world to spend time with his different families under different aliases? If we were waiting for Cardinal DePaolis, the Vatican overseer to let us know, we could wait a long time and never know.

Jason Berry his written an article on the National Catholic Reporter
http://ncronline.org/news/accountability/ex-legionary-curial-overseer-neglects-investigation-inner-culture that identifies four Irish LC priests who were among Fr. Maciel’s closest confidantes and who wielded considerable power within the Legion. These included:

  • Fr. Anthony Bannon, who was chief fund raiser in North America
  • Fr. Owen Kearns, who led the media attack against Maciel’s pedophilia victims
  • Fr. Raymond Cosgrave, Maciel’s point man in establishing the Legion in Chile during the 1973 – 1990 dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet
  • Fr. John Devlin, Fr. Maciel’s secretary for decades and a keeper of the secrets ReGAIN’s Paul Lennon was quoted in the article. He provided some background information regarding
  • Fr. John Devlin, who entered the Legion in 1961, the same year as Paul. According to Paul, Fr. Devlin was one of Maciel’s right-hand men. He would do anything for Maciel.

Jason Berry points out that Fr Devlin was charming with the big donors and he cemented ties with Cardinal Angelo Sodano, who was one of the LC founder’s staunchest supporters and he questions where and how Fr Maciel found the millions of dollars he needed to support his two families while traveling between Rome and New England for decades.

Referring to the culture of lies within the Legion, Jason Berry’s article questions how long Fr. Maciel’s inner circle knew what was going on. He goes on to note that Cardinal Velasio DePaolis has avoided any direct confrontation with any of the inner circle members. He points out that the culture of structural lying is still vibrant within the order
Although there were numerous questions about these four members of Fr. Maciel’s inner circle, Cardinal DePaolis neglected to investigate any of the people who obviously had some involvement in the LC founder’s secret life.

Now that Cardinal DePaolis’ three and a half year term has been completed and so many questions remain (because of the failure to do any investigation) Pope Francis is likely to be left holding the bag. He is the one who will assume responsibility for (blindly perhaps) approving the revised constitutions and newly elected leaders and decide whether or not to continue overseeing the Legion.

ReGAIN Comment
Many people believed that the Vatican was conducting a reform of the Legionaries of Christ and of Regnum Christi. Obviously, Cardinal DePaolis had a very limited scope of work and the LC and RC leaders and members were aware that it was simply a renewalto develop new statutes and constitutions and elect new leaders. Now that has been done but none of the questions have been answered (or even asked it appears) the Pope will either have to buy a pig in a poke or send in another investigator who is willing to actually investigate who did what and who is still doing what inside the Legion.

So that means that once again another Holy Father in Rome will be exposed to criticism because of the scandals associated with Fr Maciel’s Legionaries of Christ. Pope Francis is already dealing with criticism from the United Nations, who have recently singled out Father Marcial Maciel. Based on the ineffectiveness of Cardinal DePaolis to even bother to check for anything untoward going on in the Legion during his three and a half years, will the Holy Father and the Vatican and the Catholic Church have to deal with serious consequences and valid criticism? If so, this is very unfortunate for those Catholic religious orders and movements that have genuine charisms from the Holy Spirit and who are devoting their lives and energy to do something beautiful for God.

If self-serving mind controlling cult groups with controversial child molesting founders and no obvious spiritual charisms who have a reputation for preying on wealthy seniors are considered as equivalent to other Catholic religious groups and are supported by the Vatican, then it waters down the genuine fruits and works that come from inspired religious groups.

We hope and pray that Pope Francis will be given the gifts of the Holy Spirit including wisdom and knowledge from the Holy Spirit that he may deal more effectively with this unfortunate situation than his predecessors have been able to.

Translate »
%%footer%%