Who says there's no 'LC' in irony?

Lol! DaniNZ, you want the lawyerly defence!

Very well, 'Still RC - for now, anyway' offers the best defense when she said: "1) What false accusations did Pete Vere make? Please provide the examples." You will notice that in making the accusation 'Fed up RC' does not actually cite from the text of my blog entry.

'Fed up RC' needs to re-read what I wrote. Carefully. It appears she may be reading stuff into my comments. I won't speculate as to why, you need to ask her.

However, lets parse my comments:

"Giselle says I shamed her into posting about how the Legion churns out Fr. Eye Candy for women."

If you head over to Giselle's website, that's precisely what she said I have done. Also, she provides some photos of Legionary priests that other women (not just Giselle) tell me are aesthetically pleasing to their sex, one a book cover. I've got hundreds of books written by priests, theologians and canonists. None have their photos on the cover except for a handful, and it's always a small bio photo on the back. On the other hand, my wife and I have a few celebrity biographies, which have these types of large photo on the front cover. Since the purpose of the cover is to sell books, I think the "Fr. Eye Candy" comment is within the realm of fair criticism.

"I also don't know of any other Catholic order so particular about its grooming practices as to reportedly include them in its institutional norms."

I don't know of any. That's not to say that other orders aren't as particular or more, I simply haven't come across one.

"Moreover, as a guy I know there are certain priests - HLI's Fr. Thomas Euteneuer being a good example - that just strike us as a men's men."

Fr. Euteneuer strikes US as a manly priest. Others may disagree, but that's how Father strikes a lot of people. It's just something about his presence and demeanor, probably the fact he's an exorcist, activist and former Marine.

However, suppose I had said "Father Euteneuer IS a manly priest." Have we been so traumatized by certain heterodox trends in the Church after Vatican II that we now consider being manly an insult to clergy? Priests are suppose to be manly. After all, they're men.

Most Regnum Christi members I have come across are women. Most OD members I have come across are men. I clearly state that this is my personal experience. Nowhere do I state that this is an official breakdown of membership according to gender.

"Giselle says..." That's what Giselle said, you can visit her blog. Also, several of her readers allege similar experiences, which they describe in detail. So the impression is more than just Giselle's.

"Some of the nastiest annulment cases I have ever participated in are those in which a priest came between husband and wife."

That's been my experience. However, if you keep reading, it is clear that I'm speaking about parish priests - an area of ministry usually not identified with Legionaries in North America.

"However, I don't see 'princess' as appropriate to an audience of wives and mothers."

I personally don't find this appropriate. I'm speaking personally here, even though I back up my opinion with reference to St. Paul in Holy Scripture.

"I find it charming when our parish priest greets my daughters before Mass, saying 'Hello princesses.'"

Unless you're willing to come here and attend our parish one Sunday morning, you will have to trust me that this is how my parish priest addresses my daughters. Other members of our congregation can vouch for me. None of us see a problem with this. Father is a good priest and my daughters like to be addressed as princesses.

Would I find it creepy if Father addressed my wife in the same way? Yes. But he hasn't, so this is not an accusation.

"What pops into my mind is St. Ignatius Loyola's Thirteen Rule of spiritual discernment - a rule drilled into the head of every Jesuit prior to ordination:"

That's what St. Ignatius said. Since St. Ignatius was the founder of the Jesuits, and since discernment of spirits is a major part of the Jesuit charism, this rule is drilled into the head of every Jesuit. I'm not claiming anything here that isn't common knowledge to the Church, or readily admitted to by Jesuits.

"Beware of flattery. It's never from God and there is always some seduction behind it."

This can be backed up by Holy Scripture and the quote from St. Ignatius.

"And on that note, I'll end this post by answering Giselle's priestly pin-ups with my own:"

Giselle offered a couple photos of priests which she and other women on her blog basically described as pin-up quality.

That being said, what I offered was not a photo but a video clip which was anything but "pin-up" quality, leading Giselle to reply I still didn't get it. Point taken. I was wrong to call this a pin-up, and I apologize.

"What you see, dear reader, is 100 percent Semper Fi!"

From the "NZ" in your handle, I'm thinking you might be a New Zealander. If so, I can see how that comment might be misunderstood. It's steeped in Americana.

If you saw the video clip, you will notice that Fr. Euteneuer did not let Sean Hannity push him around, but rather Father stood his ground for the Catholic faith and responded to Mr. Hannity blow-for-blow. Here in North America, Sean Hannity is considered a combative radio and television host - generally for conservative causes, but not in every case as we saw here. Only rarely does a guest on his show give as good as Hannity dishes it out, and Fr. E was one of these rare individuals.

Additionally, "Semper Fi!" is a common expression used by the U.S. Marine Corps, the branch of the U.S. military considered heaviest on the teeth (combat trades and training). It's short for "Semper Fidelis", the Marine Corps motto meaning "Always faithful".

So there's a bit of a double-entendre there, in that I'm saying Fr. Euteneuer is still 100 percent Marine in his bearing and character, which in American society is generally a compliment and not an insult. I'm also saying that Fr. E. is 100 percent faithful, always, to Catholic teaching, which I think he proved by going toe-to-toe with one of America's most combative television personalities, to defend Catholic teaching that most non-Catholics find medieval and many Catholics don't practice.

So other than the Eye Candy comment, where do I accuse Legion priests? And if I didn't accuse them, I most certainly did not slander them. In short, Fed up RC is accusing me of something I have not done, and she does so without offering any proof. Thus I would remind her of her own words here: "It is a sin to make false accusation without [sic.] subtantial basis to prove the facts."

Now I'm pretty sure I can guess what most Legion apologists are thinking right now. Good. Before those thoughts leave your mind, go back and re-read every statement from the Legion concerning this crisis that you now proffer as proof to the rest of us that the Legion has apologized to Maciel's victims.

For everyone else, I encourage you to check out the comments on Giselle's blog. Combined with accusations in Spanish-language media that Maciel seduced wealthy widows, and a reported lawsuit against the Legion from a family of one such widow, I believe there's enough concern being expressed by a wide group of people to justify discussion on the topic.