...as opposed to Legion of Christ founder Marcial Maciel who said:
[When] I meet up with the strength of youth withered and torn apart in the very springtime of life for lack of Christ, I cannot hold back the cries in my heart. I want to multiply myself...
There's an old cliche that a stopped clock is right twice a day. So I suppose a false prophet is permitted to be right twice in his lifetime. (Maciel also reportedly told his followers during his lifetime that if the Legion failed to serve the Church after his death, he would come back and destroy it.)
Teenage snickers aside, this points to a problem for the Legion that I have mentioned on several occasions. The medium is the message. Thus it is impossible for many - including orthodox Catholics - to take seriously the Legion and Regnum Christi's message about building God's kingdom when their medium is Fr. Maciel. We can read Ignatius, Thomas Aquinas and John Chrysostom without giggling every time one of these saints mentions "passion" and "youth" in the same sentence. Not so with Maciel, knowing what we now know about his life.
When one speaks with the forked tongue of the devil, nobody is sure which meaning the speaker intended. The sooner you recognize this and act upon it, the sooner you move forward with the healing process.
While the Fr. Maciel story is an important one, it's disturbing to me that Catholic Light has become exclusively focused on this story. Is there absolutely nothing else going on worth commenting on?
Pete,
This is what I meant in my comment on "Fr. Neuhaus - from apologist to prophet" about the Legion having been hit below the waterline.
It's done. They are toast. The fat lady has sung.
And it has been over for a long time, we just didn't know it. They could have done everything right from May 2006 on - repudiated the founder, made sincere apologies and so on - and these would have been the right things to do, but in the end it would have made no difference regarding the long term survival of the Legion.
We are seeing the sound and fury, but it signifies nothing.
The question is not about saving the Titanic. Nor is it about those waiting on the shoreline for the voyage home. Rather it's about the thousands of passengers still on board the ship, with neither lifeboat nor lifejacket to save them from the rise of icy water.
Do we in the Barque of Peter simply watch in horror as Davey Jones claims their souls? Or do we throw out as many lifelines as we can, knowing that while we cannot rescue all, at least we can reach some?
Hi, Gordon!
I've welcomed Pete's posts on the Legion/Regnum issues; they're a real service to the faithful.
If there's any imbalance, it's because the rest of us CL bloggers haven't been posting a lot in recent months!
I really appreciate your focus on this story Pete. Thank you!
Not only do I appreciate Pete's coverage of this ongoing scandal in our Church, I hope he will one day write a book about it. Not only does he possess the credentials to comment, as a canon lawyer. He has also demonstrated, over many months, wisdom and charity, along with a deep love of the Church. I have enjoyed his perspective and will continue to check in at Catholic Light.
Is it possible that gordonzaft is feeling uncomfortable because Pete's comments are undeniably reasonable in their assessment of the Legion scandal? Is Pete upsetting gordonzaft's applecart of denial?
I, too, am grateful for Pete's coverage of this story. For those of us whose lives have been very much affected by this scandal, it is such a relief to have a canon lawyer's validation that something is very seriously amiss with this organization.
Keep up the good work, Pete. It's much appreciated!
Thanks Rich, but this is my fault for not making introductions sooner. So I would ask our newer readers to please not walk away thinking Gordon's big meanie. He's a long-time reader and a great guy who, when we met face-to-face in Arizona several years ago, kept my wife and me laughing over ribs and Tequila at a family-owned Tex-Mex.
I'd love to do it again. And Gord, if you ever make it to Northern Michigan, we'd love to return the favor.
But Gord is right in that our long-time readers are owed an explanation as to why Legion-related news and commentary has taken over the blog. Basically, this was also one of my concerns when the topic heated up again, until Richard assured me it was okay when we discussed it via IM.
What's happened is that this blog has become one of a handful of sources of information and analysis for people still on the inside who are struggling with the issues, but cannot simply walk away. LC priests, seminarians and families whose paycheck is tied to the RC. So we're trying to reach out and provide them with the support they need to discern their way forward. However, this is not a permanent change to the blog.
To new readers coming in from the LC/RC-related threads, a couple clarifications: 1) Catholic Light is normally a blog where we discuss a wide variety of topics relating to Catholicism; 2) It's a group blog owned and run by Richard Chonak, who also oversees the St. Blog's domain (CL has several sister blogs you can check out at stblogs.org), and who kindly invited me to become part of the the CL team when I didn't have enough time to keep my own blog going. So If I'm able to blog exclusively on LC/RC stuff at the moment, it's because of Richard's generosity as this blog's host.
Which reminds me, Richard's been kind enough to use his full name on the Legion-related threads. However, he's generally known around here by his initials RC. So if you see references to this being a RC blog, please don't panic!
Thanks for the insights Pete, they helped me to see the light, so there is one soul saved!!!!!
I'm also very happy to have learned that those on the inside are reading it. It's because you were never a member of this particular org that you can talk about these things without the bitterness that characterizes other blogs at times -- not all the time.
Regarding this quote, this is THE Maciel quote that we all memorize in our "formation" classes. Also, regarding what he said about the destroying the Legion if it stopped to fulfill its purpose, the hierarchy also says that alot. If LC/RC stops being at the service of the Church, we will shut everything tomorrow. Yeah, right. Believed it then, not buying it now.
Thanks, Pete, for the "light"
Thanks Pete & Richard. I'm not a meanie, I'm not a member of RC or the Legion (though like many I had supported them in the past).
I don't object to Pete's coverage, it just seemed odd that the only thing on the blog was that. Thanks Richard for the explanation... now... get blogging!
LOL! Gordon, you're not a meanie, and neither is Jane whose contributions to the comments here, and on other LC-related blogs, are always insightful.
I was particularly struck by her comment on another thread in which she asks the following questions of a gentleman unsure about whether to disclose issues surrounding the Legion when recruiting young people into RC-affiliated apostolates:
"A good question ask youself - why would you recruit people to something you cannot speak frankly about? That you feel has elements to it which you would like to keep hidden?"
Anyway, this is my fault for not making the introductions sooner between new readers and long-time readers.
That being said, this is an issue that sparks passionate feelings because most of us are parents thinking of our own children.
Group hug!
Thanks Pete, you never fail to respond with grace and charity. I should try to follow your example more often!
Yes, we get very passionate about this topic. Occasionally, I have to walk away from all the commentary on the blogs - I get very discouraged. It is so difficult to see friends and yes, beloved priests who are not able to see the truth. I have left the movement, but I can't stop caring about the outcome. Will the damage to the Church never end?
Sorry, Gord, for pouncing on you. I look forward to "seeing" you around. God bless.
I was a Legionary, When I read the phrases of "Nuestro Padre" "I meet up with the strength of youth withered and torn apart in the very springtime of life for lack of Christ, I cannot hold back the cries in my heart. I want to multiply myself." It brings it all back to me the years I was in the legion, the daily reminder of the words of the founder, The green bound "cartas de Nuestro Padre". ALL LIES!!, ALL FALSE!!, All an image of santity. The problem today is that people can't wake away because they are too bound to the legion. The Legion of Christ is far worse than any sect or Cult. Because it sits in the Heart of the Catholic church but with the most rotten of roots. If the Pope allows the Legion to continue he is approving the work of a Peodophile priest as inspired by God!?
What should happen to the Legion? (as there are many good men in there) It should be desolved completely and a new congregation formed distinct from the Legion.