Baltimore archbishop demands greater accountability from religious order
Print Friendly VersionO’Brien says he will ban the Legionaries if they fail to comply
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Orlando, Florida
Demanding what he calls greater “transparency and accountability” from the controversial religious order known as Legionaries of Christ and their associated lay movement, Regnum Christi, Archbishop Edward O’Brien of Baltimore has directed both groups to disclose all activities within his archdiocese, and to refrain from one-on-one spiritual direction with anyone under 18.
The ban on counseling minors, O’Brien said in an interview with NCR on Wednesday, is related to concerns that the Legionaries and Regnum Christi practice “heavily persuasive methods on young people, especially high schoolers, regarding vocations.”
Both the Legionaries of Christ, a religious order of priests, and the lay-led Regnum Christi are typically seen as part of a galaxy of “new movements” within Catholicism. Both are known for missionary zeal, as well as staunch traditionalism in faith and practice.
In a June 11 interview on the margins of the spring meeting of the U.S. bishops in Orlando, Florida, O’Brien said he’s prepared to take the “next step” of barring the Legionaries and Regnum Christi from the archdiocese entirely if they do not comply.
The directives came in the form of a June 6 letter from O’Brien to Fr. Alvaro Corcuera Martínez del Río, the Superior General of the Legionaries. They cap a lengthy series of contacts between the Legionaries and the Baltimore archdiocese, O’Brien said, which began under his predecessor, Cardinal William Henry Keeler, who resigned in July 2007 at the age of 76.
In a two-page letter, O’Brien instructed Corcuera to appoint a Legionary priest who can serve as a liaison with the Baltimore archdiocese. That priest, O’Brien wrote, must provide:
• The names and ministries of all Legionary priests in the archdiocese;
• Identification of all Regnum Christi groups in the archdiocese, including their activities and methods of recruitment;
• Identification of all youth programs connected to the Legionaries or Regnum Christi, again including their activities and recruitment methods;
• Identification of all other activities connected to the Legionaries and Regnum Christi, including their location and the frequency of their meetings.
O’Brien wrote that the priest-liaison should inform all pastors of parishes where groups connected to the Legionaries or Regnum Christi are active, and keep pastors informed about any changes in those activities.
With a specific eye to work with youth, O’Brien directed that the archdiocese is to be informed of any summer programs for young people run by the Legionaries or Regnum Christi, including the names of participants. He also asked to be notified of candidates for the priesthood or religious life from the archdiocese who intend to enter a Legionary high school seminary or boarding school, saying that the information will be reviewed “with the parents and pastors of those candidates.”
“I want to ensure that encouragement of vocations is carried out in a way that respects the rights of parents in the upbringing of their children and the rights of young persons themselves to be able to make free and fully informed decisions about their futures,” O’Brien wrote.
Finally, O’Brien asked to be updated every six months about the activities and objectives of Legionary and Regnum Christi groups in the archdiocese.
The full text of O’Brien’s letter to Corcuera can be found here:
The full text of O’Brien’s letter to Corcuera can be found here.
Both the Legionaries of Christ, a religious order of priests, and the lay-led Regnum Christi are typically seen as part of a galaxy of “new movements” within Catholicism. Both are known for missionary zeal, as well as staunch traditionalism in faith and practice.
The Legionaries have long been controversial, in part due to allegations of sexual abuse against the order’s late founder, Mexican Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado, made by former members. Both Maciel and the Legionaries denied those charges, but in the wake of a lengthy Vatican investigation, Maciel was asked in 2006 to observe a life of “prayer and penance.”
The June 6 letter, O’Brien told NCR, represents a last-ditch effort to repair relations. O’Brien said he actually reached a decision two to three months ago to ask the Legionaries and Regnum Christi to leave the archdiocese, but was persuaded to stay his hand by three Vatican cardinals who asked him to meet first with Corcuera.
That meeting, O’Brien said, took place earlier in June.
In the NCR interview, O’Brien also expressed skepticism that the Legionaries will be able to implement needed reforms until they come to terms with seemingly persuasive evidence that Maciel, the founder, engaged in activity that was “less than honorable, and maybe even sinful.”
Excerpts from the NCR interview with O’Brien can be found at the end of this article.
Baltimore is not the first American diocese in which the Legionaries and Regnum Christi have generated controversy. Most notably, Archbishop Harry J. Flynn of the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese effectively expelled the Legionaries in late 2004.
Counting 750 priests, 2,500 seminarians and more than 70,000 lay members, the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi are currently active in over 40 countries around the world.
Interview with Archbishop Edwin O’Brien
June 11, 2008
Can you describe what led you to issue this letter?
When I came into the archdiocese, I was told by our Vicar General that there had been a long series of exchanges between the cardinal and the locals of the Legionaries about programs going on in the archdiocese that our pastors didn’t know about, didn’t know the extent of them, didn’t know the nature of them. There were seemingly heavily persuasive methods used on young people, high schoolers especially, regarding vocations.
Have the Legionaries generated a lot of vocations in Baltimore?
I don’t know. Once again, we don’t know. They have the Woodmont school in our archdiocese. [Note: The Woodmont Academy is a private K-8 Catholic school with an enrollment of over 300 located in Cooksville, Maryland.] Academically, they’re abiding by all the expectations of our Superintendent of Education. We’ve got no problems there.
But what goes on in the one-on-one counseling … there seems to be a tendency to say, ‘We represent God. You can tell us anything, and you better believe that what we tell you is from God too. If your parents disagree, we know better. We’re in the God business, and they’re really not.’ This is a caricature, but it’s there.
They sponsor father/son weekends. The father drives 14 hours, brings the kid up to New Hampshire and drops the kid off at 11:00 at night. Where’s the farther going to stay? Well, there’s a place about 40 miles away you can stay, so the father’s sleeping in the car overnight. Next day they’re ready for the hike, but no, the fathers don’t go, it’s just the counselors and the kids. That’s the tendency.
Who’s in charge of this? Who’s responsible? Each time you meet with an official, [they say], ‘Oh, no, that didn’t happen, did it? You should have let us know right away. That’s not right.’ But it happens over and over again.
Are these activities organized by Regnum Christi?
Regnum Christi, yes. I’m really talking about Regnum Christi all the way through here. To what extent the priests are involved … the Legionaries of Christ are a religious order. My thought is that where lay people are involved, it’s called Regnum Christi. The priests are there for spiritual direction. Who’s setting the agenda? Obviously the priests are, but they’re very clever with their organization. They have several different corporations, and we can’t figure out which is which. As far as property goes, responsibility for various organizations, the Legionaries stay pretty far away on the books, though practically speaking they’re very much involved.
There’s a lack of transparency, as I’ve called it. I’ve met some extraordinarily fine members of Regnum Christi. They’ll talk about what had happened before they met Regnum Christi. Every priest they went to, they got a different story about what the church taught, and then finally they got it [from the Legionaries]. What they’re hearing usually is right. But it’s the tactics that get you. The question is, will some of these very good people be disenchanted someday? For that matter, should they be disenchanted now? Do they know all the facts? I don’t know. I’m not in there to break up Regnum Christi, I’m in there just to see that Regnum Christi is as accountable as every other group should be to the ordinary of the diocese.
What kind of response have you had to the letter?
I know Fr. Alvaro [Corcuera, Superior General of the Legionaries of Christ] from my days in Rome as rector [of the North American College.] He’s always been very cordial. I got calls from some very highly placed people in Rome when they heard this was going on, some cardinals, asking me not to do anything until I spoke with Fr. Alvaro. They said he’d take the next plane over here if I wanted. I said no, we’d wait until his next trip, which was this past week. It was cordial.
He’s in a tough spot, taking over after Maciel [Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado, founder of the Legionaries.] I think he’s trying to straighten a number of things out. I think he’s been told to straighten a number of things out, and I want to give him a chance.
I’ve always suspected the flaws in the organization are endemic to it. There’s no remedying them, because it’s so deeply ingrained. There’s a sense of secrecy right from the seminary. The seminarians move two-by-two wherever they go. If one criticizes anything about the institution, the other one has to report it. … All this flows into Regnum Christi as well. Nothing happens in Regnum Christi without the Legionaries.
I had been thinking that this endemic, but this [the letter and the Legionaries’ response] will prove the case. I hope I’m wrong. I hope they can be at ease in working with the ordinary of the diocese, before the ordinary has to come in and say ‘I don’t want you in my archdiocese at all,’ as Archbishop Flynn did.
Have you spoken with other bishops who have had experiences with the Legionaries and with Regnum Christi?
I did, briefly. Our chancellor has called, I guess, maybe half a dozen other chanceries involved. They can almost finish the sentence, every sentence. It’s the exact same tactic everywhere. It gets me, because these are good, solid clergy I’m speaking with in the Legionaries, but they all seem to be so surprised all the time. Now if they’re really convinced that they have been misled, there’s something about their judgment that has to be called into question.
Could one say the same thing about their judgment of Fr. Maciel himself?
When I speak to the Legionary priests, they just shake their heads. There’s no attempt to defend [Maciel]. Within the community, however, I think they do [defend him]. Their whole thing is that any setback, any challenge, any obstacle is part of the cross we bear, and we’re going to grow as a result.
That was the language of their statement after the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s action regarding Fr. Maciel was made public.
That’s why at the core of the whole operation, I’m just wondering if there’s not a flaw that allows such blind allegiance and operations to continue. I’d love to know, for example, the percentage of priests who stay after ordination. Everything is reported … there’s nothing said even in passing to a Legionary by someone like myself that’s not recorded and reported to someone in authority.
Do you believe that any reform in the Legionaries has to involve coming to terms with the charges against Fr. Maciel?
It’s got to be faced. They really have to face it. First of all, they have to come to grips with it themselves, within their own community of Legionaries. They have to squarely face it. They need to be able to say, ‘The evidence seems to be that this man engaged in some activities that were less than honorable, and maybe even sinful.’ Of course, I don’t know what the evidence is, but …
One presumes that the CDF would not have reached the judgment it did without compelling evidence.
Absolutely. Without facing that, I think it casts a pall over any other objectivity, any other integrity, they claim to put forth as their qualifications to deal with lay people and with the Catholic church in general.
You asked in your letter of June 6 that the Legionaries appoint a priest to be a liaison with you and the archdiocese. Has that happened yet?
Yes.
Who is it?
It’s the superior in Washington. I just got word on it this morning, so I don’t even know his name. Fr. Alvaro was completely open to everything we asked. In fact, here’s how it started. I had this letter, and he hadn’t seen it. No one knew about it expect our own inner sanctum. Fr. Raymond Cosgrave was with him. He’s really [Corcuera]’s right-hand man. He was over here a couple of months ago to talk about these things. That’s when I said, ‘I think it’s at the core of things and the whole operation is irremediable. No matter how much we speak, we always come back to the same point.’ I told him, ‘You mention the Legionaries of Christ to most groups of diocesan priests, and it’s the same reaction everywhere. It’s not just us and it’s not just me.’
We sat down again with Fr. Raymond the other day, who accompanied Fr. Alvaro. After Fr. Alvaro said a few things, Fr. Raymond said, ‘If only you would appoint a liaison we could work with. We’ll appoint a liaison, and he will follow every step that you suggest. If only you would give us a list of the things you want us to do, specifics.” Well, it was already in the letter, though they hadn’t seen it yet. They were asking for it. I didn’t expect that. When I showed it to them, I think they were relieved.
I think that if we’re going to have a shot at this, if it’s going to work, it will depend upon Fr. Alvaro. He said he’s working on things, but I said, ‘Father, it has to get down to the grassroots. It’s got to get down to the school up there, and to [activities in] New Hampshire and Rhode Island. We can’t wait forever for that to happen, for the seepage to take place and people get the message three years later. Fr. Alvaro said he’s working on doing that, getting the word out to everybody.
What that word will be, I don’t know. It’s going to be very hard for them to acknowledge Maciel, because Alvaro and Maciel were very close.
You also directed that they’re not to engage in one-on-one spiritual direction with anyone under 18. Are you satisfied that they’re prepared to comply with that?
They say they are. I think they see the handwriting on the wall. If they don’t, we’ll just have to take another step.
What would that other step be?
To do what St. Paul-Minneapolis did. That would be tough, because they’ve got a huge investment in that school out there. I don’t want to hurt the people, and that’s what the upshot would be. I want to give them every chance. I think they were walking along with us as we discussed things, they saw what our concern was – among other things, that there is undue influence on the part of Legionaries over very impressionable young people that not even parents have. That’s just not fair. If the parents don’t realize it, we have to awaken them to it, or at least speak up for the innocent one.
This is serious enough and important enough to you that if they don’t comply, you would be willing to take that next step of barring them from the archdiocese?
I think we’d have to.
Were there any specific incidents that led to the issuance of this letter?
No, it was just on-going stalling and lack of a real sense of cooperation. Those who are out of the Legion say that they will always yield to authority, and they themselves say that openly. One told me, ‘You tell us tomorrow to pack up and get out of here, we will pack up and get out of here, and I assure you that you will not get one nasty letter from any Regnum Christi member. That’s the way we are.’
Short of that, however, what you get is an impression of total obedience to the church, but with a ‘but.’ The impression is, ‘We’re the Legion, we do things a little differently, and the bishop really doesn’t understand. Also the priests don’t understand, because we’re Legionary priests, and the Holy See has established us to do certain things.’ There’s that kind of looking down on others, belittling them.
The Legionaries are not the only group that has attracted this kind of attention over the years. Some of what you’ve said is reminiscent of things said not so long ago about Opus Dei, for example. Do you think there’s something unique about the Legionaries?
I don’t have to deal much with Opus Dei. To my knowledge, Opus Dei is not that active in Baltimore. Even when I see them active, I find among the Opus Dei priests a lot more transparency and accountability.
Has that always been the case?
I remember years ago when I was in the New York chancery … the Holy See sends out forms each year for the Annuario [Note: the Vatican’s annual statistical yearbook of the church], and each year they change. One in particular wanted to know about the religious in the archdiocese, how many are there and so on. The only one I couldn’t get word from was Opus Dei. They said, ‘We just don’t give that information out.’ I said, ‘Cardinal Cooke wants it.’ They said, ‘I’m sorry, the Holy See has exempted us from those things.’ I don’t think that happens anymore with Opus Dei.
Opus Dei was founded in the late 1920s and the Legionaries in the 1950s. If one wanted to be an optimist, is it possible to say that the Legionaries are moving down a path that Opus Dei and others have travelled before, and that they too will change?
I hope so, because it does a lot of good. It’s 96 percent good work, and 4 percent that’s almost a sect. It’s just 4 percent … but if it’s a question of immoral or even illegal operations, even if it’s just 1 percent, you’ve got to address it.
One could say that the Legionaries face a special challenge, because nobody accused the founder of Opus Dei or other groups of sexual abuse.
But even without that, it’s still a problem. Had those accusations never arisen, what’s going on still has to be deal with. It’s still that 4 percent. On the other hand, you’re right that this complicates it tremendously, the fact that there are accusations which have not been acknowledged.
I know all this is unpleasant for them. My letter will draw unfortunate attention to the seamier sides of their organization. I’m trying to say that I think there will be cooperation. If I didn’t think that there are real, solid grounds for trusting their commitment to this agreement, I would not have gone through it.
I’ll be completely honest. Two or three months ago, I told our Priests’ Council, ‘We’ve gone to the end. We can’t go any further, and we’ll have to ask them to leave the archdiocese.’ There was spontaneous applause.
Your priests have been supportive?
Yes, by all means.
Do some of them wish you would go further and faster?
Yes. In my last meeting with them, I had to pull back. I told them that the Holy See has asked that we wait until I have a meeting with the Superior General. They were understanding of that, but you know, the bishop still has a right in his own diocese to do certain things. I want to give it every opportunity.
Just to be clear, you had actually reached a decision to ask them to leave?
We were tantamount to doing that.
Then it was an intervention from the Holy See that asked you to meet first with Fr. Corcuera, and your letter came out of that process?
That’s right, yes.
When did the Holy See step in?
I got a call 20 minutes before my meeting with Fr. Raymond [Cosgrave] two months ago. Then I got a letter from another cardinal, and a phone call from a third cardinal the day before I met with Fr. Alvaro.
The tenor of all three was to give Fr. Corcuera a chance?
Yes. One of them said, you have the authority to take many actions here. We just ask you not to take any action until he has a chance to speak with you.
Are there any other groups in the archdiocese with which you have similar difficulties?
No.
So this isn’t the first of other letters to other groups?
No, I certainly hope not. It isn’t pleasant. I’ve met with a number of disenchanted members of the Legionaries of Christ, who have first-hand experience. I also met, however, with ten active members of Regnum Christi. I was deeply impressed. I had known Legionaries and Regnum Christi members in passing, but this meeting was my first formal get-together. It lasted almost two hours, and I could see the anxiety, the tension, they have. They want to be faithful to the church and to the bishop, but they are also so deeply grateful and involved in the good works they see Regnum Christ doing.
That was after my first meeting with the priests, when I said that we’re going to have to take the strong action of closing them out of the archdiocese. I saw the good that was being done, but I was already on the record. People were saying, ‘You’re going to back down, you’re going to back down.’ I don’t feel I did. By the way, the reaction on both sides so far has been pretty good, meaning active Regnum Christi members and former Regnum Christi people. The ex-members are saying, ‘Do you really think they’re going to discontinue [these practices]?’ Some of them are skeptical that’s going to happen.
Knowing Fr. Alvaro, however, and because they know my resolve, I have good reason to believe that they’ll follow through. If they don’t, there’s no hiding it. Sooner or later, it’s going to come out.
Regardless of the value of
Regardless of the value of your post is not the problem identified the failure to obey and be transparant to the local, authoritative magisterium? If "loyalty to the magisterium" is a characteristic of the Legionaries the bishop has no problem, but he seems to...
Other comments that I have
Other comments that I have heard from Regnum Christi members are:
1. Because they have not experienced the dark side of the movement they cannot believe that it exists.
Here is my challenge to you: I believe that God is strategically placing former members, who have first hand experience with the dark side of the movement, all over the country. I believe that He has called these former members who were at one time very visible and very respected members to reveal the truth to those who might not have any other way of finding out. Prayerfully consider the people that God has placed in your life. Are there any people in your life who were active members at one time but are now inactive? Have you ever asked them about that decision? Have you been advised not to ask them out of charity (typical LC damage control). Has their reputation been maligned and now they are considered an enemy of the movement? In that case, definitely ask because I bet they know a lot. They are probably waiting for you to ask.
2. "Even if others have had bad experiences it has been great for me and my family."
That is a very weak and self-centered argument. Lies, deception, flattery, psychological manipulation and abuse, physical abuse, etc... should never be ANYONE’S experience and to support a movement that perpetrates this type of abuse in the name of God could be considered guilt by association.
3. The good fruits are proof of the authenticity of the movement.
From a former member:
"I wanted to comment on the conclusions that I drew from the "signs" of God's favor(apparent good fruit) that seemed to be present in RC. If God seemed to be blessing something that we did in RC, for example, a team resolution, a Pure Fashion Show, the fruits of a Familia study, a K4J camp, etc..., I automatically assumed that it was a "sign" that he was totally in favor of RC/LC/MM. This assumption was definitely encouraged by the LC. We were constantly led to believe that all of the good fruit were signs of God's favor for the Legion. I see now that God was blessing our efforts in spite of the mixed agendas of RC/LC/MM not because of them. He was meeting us in our efforts to serve Him and trying to draw us closer to Him and His ways and not necessarily RC. Similar to the first reading we read last week when we read about David defeating Goliath. At first it seemed to King Saul that God was blessing his kingship when, in fact, he was preparing for David to become king. Saul misread the "signs." Another example is the way that God seems to bless other Christian denominations in their efforts to serve him. They may assume because of those "signs"(the good fruit) that God is totally in favor of the whole organization and that they corner the market on salvation.
I think God will bless anything that we do that is good, true and beautiful but we have to be careful not to jump to the wrong conclusions when he does."
The following is from another post that I think applies to this one as well:
"We are well aware of the difficulty in discerning whether or not this movement is from God. Time will definitely tell. We have been given a discernment that you have not yet been given. We were members in good standing and experienced the evil that is at the root. We know for certain that it is there. Remember, we are dealing with a diabolical deception. Satan is far more intelligent than we are and knows very well how to deceive the elect. But in his arrogance he always shows his tail. That is what we have seen. Remember Satan can appear as an angel of the light. How else would he reach orthodox Catholics? They would not be deceived by the same tricks that those with the liberal bent would be deceived.
"Persecution of the Church has taken many forms. In former times Christians were incited to renounce Christ; now they are taught to deny Christ. Then they were forced, now they are taught; then violence was used, now it is deception; then one heard the shouts of the enemy; now, he prowls around, gentle and insinuating, it is difficult to recognize him. Everyone knows how he tried to force Christians to deny Christ: he tried to attract them to himself so that they would renounce him; but they confessed Christ and were crowned by him. Now they are taught to deny Christ by trickery, because he doesn't want them to realize that he is drawing them away from Christ"(St. Augustine, Commentaries on the Psalms, 39:1).
He draws us away from Christ by the way we treat others.
Christ would never treat people the way that MM/LC does in secret.He would never value them for their ability to bring in money or new members. He would never lie or deceive to evangelize. He would never believe that the end justifies the means. He would never psychologically abuse or intentionally manipulate our emotions to secure our obedience or our silence when we have 'caught on.' He wants us to respond out of FREEDOM and LOVE.
'False messiahs and false prophets will appear, performing signs and wonders so great as to mislead even the chosen if that were possible' (Matt 24:24)."
This does not shake my faith in the Catholic Church in any way but on the contrary, only strengthens it.
Holy Mother Church will have the final say. She is not quick to judge. She is very patient and with heresies she waits until they are full grown(harvest time) before she cuts them off. In the beginning stages it is hard to distinguish the weeds from the wheat. She does not typically attempt to uproot them in the beginning because in doing so she may uproot the wheat along with the weeds (schism?). She "tests all things; holds fast to what is good" (1 Thess. 5:21)and this takes time. The CDF is now aware that there are more than one set of constitutions and that the set that was approved by the Church is not authentic. What the Church had approved is now being reinvestigated based on MANY new testimonies. The Church is now aware that she has been "duped." The real "fruits" of the LC are ripe and we are close to harvest time. The "sensus fidae" is growing about the real agenda of the LC. I have complete trust in Holy Mother Church and I realize that my experience, along with so many others, will help to "bring into light that which is hidden in darkness" and will help to " disclose the purposes of hearts."
Some years ago (about 20 I
Some years ago (about 20 I would guess) there was trouble in a NJ diocese between the bishop and The Sword of the Spirit. The diocese listed 6 characteristics of a cult. I wish I could remember them all. But they included centralized authority manifested in one man, the insistence on absolute obedience and the subordination of women. And all this without a trace of irony. If anyone remembers the incident and has the list, I would ask that you share it.
Pete Vere wrote a good
Pete Vere wrote a good article on this topic in This Rock magazine:
http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2006/0607fea5.asp
Thanks for the reference.
Thanks for the reference. It's another indication that cafe members are the best read thinkers on the web!
I posted a comment yesterday
I posted a comment yesterday and it is not here. Anyway, I was in the Legion for about 11 years and none of the above comment from Tori corresponds with reality. Short and sweet.
I,ve been a member of RC for
I,ve been a member of RC for over 8 years. I have never been so close to Christ as I am now. And I owe it in part to being part of the Regnum Christi movement. I Have never seen anything like what has been described in other comments. That doesn't mean I find disbelief in them. I think that if there are things like this happening, then they are isolated cases. Then again, I find it interesting that I only see this story in a news outlet who is in direct competition with the Legionaries news outlet, The National Catholic Register. Whoever here said the Legionaries are evil, couldn't be farther from the truth.
Mr B
I wanted to clarify
I wanted to clarify something that I hear over and over again. Members of RC/LC frequently say that those who speak out against them are "liberal" Catholics who hate the Church, the pope, the truth, etc... I've also heard it said that those who speak out are afraid of the light and are trying to put it out; that RC/LC have the most truth in the Church and that they are persecuted because of this like other saints have been in the past. When they know of a former member who is an orthodox Catholic who speaks out they say it is out of pride or hints of classified dark knowledge are given by the LC that would discredit the testimony.
All of this is very far from the truth. The people who are working the hardest to bring the truth about the LC to light are orthodox Catholics who LOVE the Church, the pope, the truth, etc... We are not trying to put out the true light, only a counterfeit that seeks to siphon off the Church's best and brightest. We really believe that 99% of the RC/LC members would not want to be a part of this if they knew and could believe the truth about the dark side of this movement. Hence, our testimonies. There is no amount of good fruit that can make up for the evil that is at the heart of it.
Many of us believe that God's plan is that we "hate what is evil but hold fast to what is good," by sifting the wheat from the tares. We are to discern all of the good we have gained from our time in the movement and use it to directly benefit our parishes with no hidden agenda of recruitment or fund raising for LC. We want to use the "good fruit" to help ALL people and not only those on our recruitment lists.
I believe that God has allowed this in the Church at this time because He wants us to see a few things very clearly:
1. The good fruits to be used in a more pure way - community, apostolates, evangelization, the sacraments, etc..
2. The evil of elitism, lying, deception, flattery, psychological manipulation and abuse, using people as a means to an end, putting the movement ahead of souls (how many times has it been said, "for the sake of the movement..."),slander, calumny, etc...
I believe that when we have learned all that we are supposed to from this God will lift the veil from the eyes of the innocent active RC/LC members and they will join us in truly building up the Church. I look forward to that time of grace in the Church. Please join the hundreds of others in praying the rosary each day for this intention. Many are also praying 7 Hail Marys in honor of the 7 sorrows of Our Blessed Mother for this intention.
"There is no amount of good
"There is no amount of good fruit that can make up for the evil that is at the heart of it. ... The evil of elitism, lying, deception, flattery, psychological manipulation and abuse, using people as a means to an end, putting the movement ahead of souls (how many times has it been said, "for the sake of the movement..."),slander, calumny, etc"
Tori, do you realize that in these two sentences in your post you describe the Vatican leadership and Vatican history? Since like tends to attract like, is it any wonder there seems to be so much corruption at so many levels within the Catholic Church? I believe that is the main reason that approximately 10% of the US population are people who have left the Catholic Church, and the reason that more leave each day.
I too am praying daily for God to lift the veil of deception that blinds our leadership so that the Catholic Church can become the true essence it was intended to be, a true expression of the Holy Spirit, not the dark shadow it has become.
Thank you so much for this
Thank you so much for this information. I was a member of Regnum Christi for 7 years, 5 of them as 2nd degree. I left after serious disillusionment. I struggled with serious red flags for 3 years before I could finally make the decision to go inactive so I can empathize with the anxiety felt by the 10 members who met with the Archbishop. I feel that the evil of the LC is endemic to the very structure of the organization. The evil that I experienced was the same as others have experienced all over the country. Thank God for Regain! It is the LC priests that are the culprits. They use Nazi-like methods to psychologically manipulate members, especially members that they want to go inactive because they are beginning to catch on to the bigger picture. It is very traumatic. I complained about the "reporting system" that is used across the board and the lack of confidentiality in spiritual guidance. I was disturbed by the grave abuses of charity, the supposed queen virtue of the movement, that the LC priests were encouraging. From that point on a process of psychological abuse began to induce me to go inactive. The following is a summary of the abuse:
I was a member of RC for many years. I was very (100%) committed to it for a long time. I remember when I first heard stories about abuse in LC/RC. I had a panicky feeling that if these stories were true what would I do? If I had to let go of RC I don’t know if I would know who I was. My very identity was tied to this movement. So I did what every member who is inordinately attached to RC/LC does; I rationalized every gnawing feeling I had. I found a way to blame the accusers. I let the mesmerizing words I heard from the LC priests drown out the voice of my conscience. But God did not let my peace from this “coping mechanism” last for long. He began to gradually reveal the reality of the situation. I was living in an illusion. I really thought that LC/RC were a foundation in my life. I associated this foundation with Christ. What I came to find out through much heartache was that my faith in RC/LC was built on sand. Through a series of events my eyes were opened to the truth and I began to question and object. At that point I became not useful to them any longer. Once you become useless to them psychological abuse takes the place of the previous flattery that had been the Modus Operandi.One of the modern techniques(so much more is known about psychology) that is used today by evil is inverted psychiatry(psychological abuse to destroy minds). There are subtle threats to damage your reputation if you let the truth be told; you are purposely isolated from your close friends; the LC priests purposely try to stir up jealousy between you and your friends; the LC priests try to provoke outbursts of anger by stirring up your pride or vanity; whisper campaigns are started against you to undermine your influence as you are indirectly pressed to go inactive. The legionaries are trained in emotional manipulation. The know exactly how to say the bare minimum with just the right look or sigh to plant seeds of doubt or to steer your very dear friends away from you. At the same time they appeal to the pride and vanity of your friend with flattery to secure an inordinate attachment to them and this is another potential source of division between the flattered friend and the rejected member. These are just a few aspects of the MO that is part of the methodology of the movement. It is not just the weakness of the priest. This is the way the more integrated priests of the LC are trained to force the useless member out of the movement. Stories like this are common in all parts of the country.
When someone is considered “useless” to RC/LC it is usually because that person has begun to catch on to the bigger picture of what is going on simultaneously with all the “good fruits.” Their conscience has begun to be very bothered over the very uncharitable way seemingly holy priests, consecrated women, and other formators treat certain people and this member begins to question and object to these sins against charity (the supposed “queen virtue” of the movement). This causes a gradual disintegration for the disillusioned member. That is when the methodology of “promote to remove,” “press to release,” and “isolate” come into play. As if that is not enough, the psychological abuse goes deeper. At the same time the LC priests cover their tracks legally by publicly offering the secretly blacklisted member aids to persevere in their RC vocation so it seems to the rank and file members that everything is being done out of charity to help this person who is struggling with their vocation. What the rank and file members do not see are the psychological abuses that are going on simultaneously. On a side note, The blacklisted member has never been directly told that they are being “kicked out” so he/she is very confused as he/she tries to read between the lines. Talk about evil. Many accusations like these are being investigated by the vatican.
The best way to defeat this evil, I believe, is to cooperate with God in using our suffering for the good of the Church. We are so lucky to have the charism of redemptive suffering available to us.
God willing, as we, the victims of LC/RC, grow in true charity by offering up our suffering(in union with Christ especially in the Mass) for the very ones who inflicted this on us,God will act and all will work for the good(Rom 8:28). This suffering can also be used for penance for our own personal sins as a purification(purgatory). In the mean time we are given the opportunity to grow in the patience of God and true charity(love Him above all things and everyone else as He loves us). As we attend Mass and offer ourselves and our suffering with Him our hearts will begin to heal and we will be overcoming evil with good(Rom 12:21) Our suffering will not be in vain. It will be used for an eternal purpose. Our speaking out is very important as well. I found needed support from Regain as have many others. The isolation that is part of the psychological abuse of the legion is greatly overcome from the testimonies of Regain. The gates of hell will not prevail against the Church. Our Blessed Mother will help us to be a part of crushing the head of the serpent and to defeat him by “blood of the Lamb(Mass) and the word of their testimony”(regainnetwork).(Rev12:11)Let us unite together for this purpose. Thank you regain for letting us know that we are not alone!!!
Having been involved with
Having been involved with Conquest clubs, Legionary Priests, and currently as a Regnum Christi member I find this article disingenuous and frankly an afront to many faithful Catholics who are involed with Regnum Christi and Legionary priests.
The article states Archbishop is considering banning the Legionaries for what offense? For unsubstantiated allegations of pressuring youth to vocations? Is he also ready to ban the Jesuits, Franciscans , parish priests, catholic school teachers? I am sure one could find individuals would could to make unsubstantiated accusations about these groups too.
The scrutiny Regnum Christi be under is surprising. Will RC be the only organiztion being monitored for its members, meetings, locations and recruitment? Will dissendent organizations within the Church be subject to the same scrutiny? I wish Mr. Allen would have purposed that question!
Also, Mr. Allen mentioned Bishop Flynn's ban on the Legionaries but failed to mention the many other Bishops who have invited Legioaries into their diosoces. Is this fair and balanced journalism from a catholic newspaper? One also has to question how the National Catholic Reporter handles the views and tactics of dissident"catholic" groups and dissident priests and nuns on it's own staff. Are they subjected to this kind of one sided witch hunt type journalism?
In conclusion One has to look at the real problem, which is twofold:
1. The Legion is growing in vocations while local dioceses may have stagnant growth. Therefore, some may think the Legion is "stealing" vocations. But Doesn't a vocaton come from God? And Could it be possible that individuals are attracted to Legionaries formation and tradition? Could it be that some dioceses do not do enough to foster strong Catholic idenity and formation in our youth. Perhaps a re-evaluation our "catholic" schools might be a good place to start. It would make for a great journalism to have NCR look at the poor qulaity of catholic education some of our schools are providing.
2. There is a battle for the Church in America. It seems if an individual or Order promotes a loyalty to the magisterium, there is an inherent evil. Why? Because it interfers with the agenda of "catholics" who favor women priest, married priest, abortion, same sex marriage. Therefore, the attack to discredit these groups and Orders.
Thank you for the opprotunity to respond.
The comment from the
The comment from the Archbushop stating, "If one criticizes anything about the institution, the other one has to report it. … All this flows into Regnum Christi as well."
I have been in RC for 8 years and I have never experienced the reporting of anyone, or been asked to do so. There is a support structure, but I am sorry I just don't see what he's talking about. I have actually found the LC to be pretty responsive to suggestions for improvement. I have sometimes seen a confusion over the meaning of docility, and we are asked to speak well of others, but never to be silent about something that isn't right or that could be better.
Remember that suspicion is the work of the devil. The Archbishop does not seem to know why or have any evidence to feel the way he does. I pray that he will not see a problem in the future.