In his response to The monk who stole juxtaposition, Monk writes:
Nor do I indulge in speculation about the "final impenitence" of MM. That, I believe is truly beyond the pale and unbecoming of someone whose opinion seems to carry some weight for so many on this and "related" blogs.
For those just tuning into the conversation, the "final impenitence" (note Monk's use of "scare quotes") is a reference to the Like Founder, Like Sons thread.
To answer Monk's question, is it beyond the pale to speculate about Maciel's visible actions alleged on his death bed? I would agree if Maciel was merely a lone individual acting out his perverse fantasies - or nightmares, when one looks at the situation through the eyes of his victims.
However, Maciel was the founder of a large religious order and its lay auxiliary. He offered the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christ his (not His) methodology as a sure means of holiness and path to eternal salvation. Let's assume, for the sake of the argument, that LC and RC are reporting accurate membership numbers. That's 72,000 souls who have staked their eternal fate on the spiritual path revealed to them by Maciel.
Of course nobody but God is competent to judge Maciel's eternal destination. And given that Maciel's canonization is unlikely in the future, we will never know in this lifetime where he ended up in the next. Let us pray that he made his peace with God in his final moments. More importantly, let us pray that his victims make their peace with God before going on to the next life.
Yet with 72,000 souls at stake, the rest of us would do well to heed Maciel's alleged signs of deathbed impenitence. What's beyond the pale is that we would risk losing one more soul to his methodology.
SHUT. IT. DOWN.
Monk,
With all due respect to this heart broken lady, the monsters who twist affection for the Church into equating leaving the Legion with leaving your husband are BEYOND THE PALE.
"I would gladly leave RC and the Legion in disgust (because I don't want to be associated with sin and scandal anymore than anyone else) if God gave me leave to do so, but He has not. Just like He never gave me leave to abandon my husband or my children when they grievously offended me
with their behavior at times, and just like He has not given them leave to abandon me in kind."
Poor sentence contruction, but to be clear the folks who bound Jo to such thinking are the monsters.
The true monsters are those that drove Jo off the web.
Holla!
You're welcome to stick around and critique. We're pretty thick-skinned and always open to criticism.
However, I will have to ask you to find another handle. "RC" is already taken by our blog host Richard Chonak.
Thanks.
NotRC,
Would not be surprised if the LC/RC found her postings inconvenient and recommended deletion.
Leaving the internet is not quite on par with leaving a husband or children or the Church.
As for the relative merits of the Internet and the Legion I don't think either is quite up to running minor seminaries and forming youth.
Again I blame the Legion. Jo I admire.