April 2010 Archives

The Very Rev. John Shepherd, Anglican dean of Perth, Australia writes in the Times:

Music of quality, in the context of worship, does not entertain or divert. It reveals. [...]

Any work of art, be it sculpture, painting, literature, poetry or music, whose implications are immediately obvious and can instantly be grasped can never enlist our imagination, and so cannot equip us for mystery; and what cannot equip us for mystery cannot equip us for God.

This is why the Church should have no truck with banality. Yet, sadly, this is not universally the case.

Wisdom: let us be attentive! See the rest.

Mouse has the details here. Please note I will NOT be posting daily updates. So please drop by EWTN or Mouse's blog each day to join us for this Novena

Thank-you for praying for me and my lads during what has been a challenging week. Since I'm not sure when I'll be back, Deirdre (aka Mouse) has stepped up and taken charge of Novena duty. Starts tomorrow. To St. Joseph the Worker. For details, click here. To read the testimonies of some of the families for who we will pray, click here.

Today is the last day of our novena to Our Lady of Good Remedy for friends and family stuck in LC/RC. To find out more on Our Lady of Good Remedy, and how this novena began, please click here. Basically, it was under the title Our Lady of Good Remedy that the Blessed Mother miraculously helped St. John of Matha free thousands of Christians enslaved to Muslim overlords. Here is the daily Novena prayer, which I invite you to join me in praying for Catholics enslaved by Maciel's movement and methodology:

Suzanne - my long-time friend, fellow Canuck, and fire team partner in the trenches of Catholic pro-life activism in the Great White North - is coming under fire for having believed in Maciel's innocence and disbelieved his victims (click here). I can understand. We go way back and I can corroborate her following reaction and description of herself:

It was a shocking level of duplicity. Very hard to digest. When you live your life to be honest and as simple as possible, it's hard to imagine that anyone would be so two-faced.

Which is why I find it impossible to be angry with her, or to seek hidden motives for her reaction, despite our past disagreements over Maciel, or the movement he founded. There's a small community of orthodox Catholics and pro-life activists in Canada. We're about the same age, and we both became active around the same time, when our numbers were even fewer. Hence the temptation to believe that anyone who professed Catholic orthodoxy was our friend. Without my background in canon law and wide exposure to Catholicism in the U.S., I would likely find myself in her shoes.

So no hard feelings Suzanne. I may question LC higher-ups who claimed to known nothing of Maciel's duplicity, but I don't question Suzanne's integrity for having believed them. For me this is another tragedy of this scandal. That such a kind, honest and devout young mother like Suzanne - that such a supportive friend and loyal ally in Canada's culture war - was pitted against Aaron, Glenn Favreau, Paul Lennon and other honest men who I consider friends and allies in the Church's internal struggle against Maciel's methodology.

So no hard feelings, my friend.

Here is a snippet from the National Catholic Register:

I regret that in my defense of Father Maciel I took to task Gerald Renner and Jason Berry, the writers who broke the story, and their editors at the Hartford Courant. They didn't get everything about the Legion right but they were fundamentally correct about Father Maciel's sexual abuse and I ask forgiveness -- too late for Gerald Renner, who is deceased.

To Father Maciel's victims, I pray you can accept these words: I'm sorry for what our founder did to you. I'm sorry for adding to your burden with my own defense of him and my accusations against you. I'm sorry for being unable to believe you earlier. I'm sorry this apology has taken so long.

Click here to read the whole apology.

Patrick Madrid discussed the Medjugorje case today on Ave Maria Radio's "Al Kresta Show" today. Speaking from a favorable point of view on the alleged apparition was Fr. Neil Buchlein, a pastor from West Virginia. You can hear a replay of the show over at Patrick's blog.

While Fr. Buchlein got much more air time than Patrick did, he did seem to back off in his approach as the conversation progressed. He eventually resorted to saying that, for people who have good experiences at Medjugorje, Church approval really isn't all that necessary. I had to wonder if that might have been his first exposure to the skeptical case, brief as it was.

There's a reason the early Christians shared their personal testimony of how they encountered Christ. For most of us, a good story captures the imagination much more readily than dry theological treatises. Which is why I'm happy to see so many former LC/RC/3gf emerging in the blogosphere to share their personal stories of leaving Maciel's movement. One never knows when the Holy Spirit will use your story to help others in a similar situation. By sharing the truth of your experience with the movement, Christ is setting you and others free.

This is a question several parents - who are shying away from RC and its derivatives - have asked me over the past month. Where does one find a program that teaches kids self-discipline, self-respect, loyalty, faith and patriotism? A program that allows kids to socialize with other good kids, and that is at the same time easy on the budget and open to large families - both homeschooling and non-homeschooling?

If one needed proof that vocations from God are more hearty than LC/RC reportedly claim, Rachel Gray shares her experience at a Norbertine monastery this past weekend on a vocation retreat for young women. At one point during the retreat, a Norbertine nun spoke about how she had been a liberation theologian before having a change of heart and concluding her vocation with the 3gf. But God had other plans, as you can read here.

[UPDATE (5/30): I've received some recommendations on improving the translation, to fix a couple of mistakes I made, and to add a couple of changes on the basis of the original text in Croatian, so I've updated this post accordingly.]

Here is a new background article on the Medjugorje phenomenon, published in March of this year in the diocesan bulletin of Mostar.

This piece discusses the history of the Medjugorje visionaries in regard to seeking vocations as friars or religious sisters. Over the 30-year course of the phenomenon four of the six expressed some interest in consecrated life, three are known to have made contacts or more extensive efforts toward such vocations, but none succeeded. All eventually settled the question by marrying.

The lack of religious or priestly vocations among the six has been a cause of puzzlement to observers, and Jose Cardinal Saraiva Martins mentioned it in his January interview as one of several points that make the Medjugorje case unlike Fatima.

In addition to what the article tells about the visionaries' vocational decisions, it includes some interesting material about the personal relationships among them, and their relations with the priests who advised them over the years.

This translation, based on the Italian edition on the diocesan website, is my own work, and any suggestions for improving it are welcome.

Spero News has just posted a report, which begins as follows:

Responding to allegations made in an interview published yesterday (April 12) by the Spanish newspaper, El Mundo, the regional director of the Legionaries of Christ in Spain, Father María Jesús Delgado, has sent a letter to the paper's editor, calling for a correction to be published. The interview, which was printed in a supplement entitled, "Chronicle of the Legionaries of Christ," was incorrect in more than one respect, claims the Legionary.

To read the full report, please click here. (Hat tip Monk) I'm kinda surprised that a LC superior would reportedly raise the specter of lawsuits at a time when the secular media is in a feeding frenzy over clerical sexual misconduct. This simply widens the opportunities for the media to investigate and report the Legion's sex scandals. However, if the record needs to be corrected, may truth prevail.

Part two of Jason Berry's piece exposing Maciel's financial empire has now been posted (click here). All I can say is thank God for Pope Benedict. Not only is he fending off wolves in sheep's clothing, but he's facing down werewolves dressed as shepherds.

Jo Flemings, who I read somewhere is a convert from protestantism and the Catholic mother of a large family - including one Legion apostolic and a Legion brother (seminarian), I believe - responded in the comments section of Bonum's blog. She asked why the alleged victims don't come forward and alert authorities. I believe her question is sincere, given that two of her sons are with the Legion if I have understood correctly. She is obviously a mother concerned about her children. This discussion cannot be easy on her. Especially since Bonum is now part of a profession where human lives literally depend upon one's honesty and integrity. Thus one can presume his trustworthiness.

For the past month or so, it seems that two new questions have arisen among LC/RC supporters who remain committed the cause: Why are Catholics tearing each other apart over LC/RC? Why can't we be more charitable toward each other?

Over the past year I have heard the stories of several good, orthodox Catholics stuck in LC/RC. Some were related to me by friends and family. Others by the individuals themselves. With the Feast of Divine Mercy past us for another year, I will be starting a novena on Monday, April 12 for those individuals who feel stuck in Maciel's methodology. This novena will be to Our Lady of Good Remedy.

Bonum invited ex-Legionary Mortalitor to guest blog (click here). Here is one of the insights Mortalitor shared concerning his experience with the Legion:

Now if we remove all vestiges of Fr. MM, his works and writings, then you in essence have removed the spirituality of the Legion, that which makes the Legion the Legion, the identity which separates it from all the other orders and the diocese. This is true because the legion only uses its founder's writings and the bible as their only source for spirituality. The legion would lose its identity and would have to find a new one. This finding of a new spiritual identity, as an order could be an exciting and wonderful experience, one that I wouldn't mind being a part of. However, who is to lead this new spiritual journey? Certainly not the Legion's current leadership.

To which an anonymous commentator responds:

Father Maciel claimed his innocence. Please note he never was tried in a civil or ecclesiatical court. The campaign against Father Maciel and the Legion of Christ is a smear campaign which roots are in pride and envy.

Hopefully this commentator is simply a troll on a drive-by, or represents an extreme minority within LC/RC. If he represents the majority of insiders, we may well have a schism on our hands. 'Cause Pope Benedict shows no sign of relenting in his campaign to rid the Church of filth.

A reader asked me what I make of Danielle Bean's commentary on the Legion of Christ over at the Faith & Family blog (click here). Erin Manning has posted an excellent response here, while Giselle breaks down Danielle's argument as follows:

1. MM did some very bad things;
2. MM's congregation gives us lots of money;
3. We do good things with that money;
4. We don't account for his bad deeds, only our good works;
5. Therefore, don't worry about the connexion; the pope will figure it out.

My own thoughts? I don't doubt Danielle's sincerity in pointing to - in her words - "the good things we do at Faith & Family, the dedicated men I know who are Legionary priests, and the many good men and women I know who are members of Regnum Christi." However, in reflecting upon this argument, I am reminded of Our Lord's encounter with the demoniac of Ger'asenes:

And Jesus asked him, "What is your name?"

He replied, "My name is Legion; for we are many." (Mark 5:9)

Notice two things about this encounter:

1. Although the Bible provides several names for Lucifer and his fallen angels, "Legion" is the only name in Holy Scripture that these evil spirits give themselves.
2. The evil spirits boast of their great numbers.

As Christians we stand not upon great numbers. We stand upon Christ. We stand upon the truths of His teaching. This is clear from chapter 6 of John's Gospel. Driven by personal need, a multitude witnessed and partook in the miracle of loaves and fishes. Only twelve remained after Jesus preached difficult truths. And one of the remainder was a devil, the evangelist reminds us.

But to quote Simon Peter in verse 68: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

Christ is risen! Alleluia! Truly He is risen!

Today is Easter Saturday, the ninth day of the Divine Mercy Novena. I would invite you to join me in praying this powerful novena for Aaron, Jose Barba, Juan Vaca, Bonum's buddy in the hospital, and all other victims of LC/RC sexual abuse. If you did not make the first day, don't worry about it. Join in anyway. God will honor your prayers for this intention.

Barely a week into the month, and already April is turning into a horrible month for Regnum Christi (RC) members. First, Jason Berry reports that Maciel and LC allegedly made several questionable donations to high-ranking Vatican officials. The silver lining is that Pope Benedict - at the time Cardinal Ratzinger - reportedly refused such donations. He did so firmly. Thus RC members can feel reassured that the Holy Father will get to the bottom of the Legion scandal, that the Holy Father's integrity in doing so is beyond question, and that any medicine he prescribes - while potentially bitter - will be for the spiritual welfare of his flock.

Other bad news includes the closure, mid-semester, of Southern Catholic College - which had been taken over by the Legion last year shortly after the Holy See announced its apostolic visitation of the order. And then an anonymous reader on Damien Thompson's blog, claiming to be a former LC/RC associate, alleges that Maciel was not alone in his travels to Thailand. As commonly known to anyone involved in investigating or prosecuting pedophiles, Thailand is a euphemism for child prostitution - particularly, young pre-pubescent boys. Granted, this last allegation is only unconfirmed rumor by an anonymous blog reader. But given everything else we have learned about Maciel and the Legion over the past year...

That being said, I have some good news for shell-shocked Regnum Christi members struggling with this Tsunami of spiritual sewage. It's the words of Our Lord to St. Faustina, which those of us who are praying the Divine Mercy Novena reflect upon today (Day 7):

"Today bring to Me the Souls who especially venerate and glorify My Mercy, and immerse them in My mercy. These souls sorrowed most over my Passion and entered most deeply into My spirit. They are living images of My Compassionate Heart. These souls will shine with a special brightness in the next life. Not one of them will go into the fire of hell. I shall particularly defend each one of them at the hour of death."

You are sickened and horrified, but you are not alone. If you cast yourselves - sincerely - upon Christ's mercy, if you show mercy and compassion to victims of Maciel and the Legion, Christ will comfort you in this life and in the next. The devil may yet claim the Legion and Regnum Christi, but you need not allow him to claim the souls of individual members - including you and your loved ones.

So cast yourself on Christ's mercy. Show mercy and compassion to those who were victimized by Maciel and the movement. Take a few minutes today to pray a Rosary or Divine Mercy chaplet for all who suffered sexual, physical, mental, emotional or spiritual abuse at the hands of Maciel and other accomplices within the movement he founded.

Many of these victims were hurt so deeply by the abuse that they no longer practice their Christian faith. They have ceased to pray, and there is nobody else to pray for them. Take up their cause in prayer. Pray for victims who have ceased praying because of the scandal and hurt caused by your founder and your movement.

Beg God to grace these victims with His divine mercy, to not judge them harshly for the anger they feel toward Him and toward the Church, but to soften their hearts and to heal them. Pray specifically for those who you, personally, have hurt or scandalized as a member of the movement, even if it was done in good faith. For this is the good news of Christ's resurrection, which we now celebrate: God is merciful to those who reflect His mercy.

On March 30, I posted a comment about the Murphy abuse case and the NYT's article accusing Pope Benedict of having stopped the priest's trial. The trial judge, Fr. Thomas Brundage, has now issued a correction of an erroneous statement he made last week, so I have updated my commentary with the additional information. His defense of the Pope's reputation remains unchanged.

UPDATE: Currently reading Berry's piece. Was heartened by Berry's following admission, given his past criticism of Cardinal Ratzinger's handling of the Maciel case (prior to Cardinal Ratzinger being elected Pope):

One cardinal who rebuffed a Legion financial gift was Joseph Ratzinger.

In 1997 he gave a lecture on theology to Legionaries. When a Legionary handed him an envelope, saying it was for his charitable use, Ratzinger refused. "He was tough as nails in a very cordial way," a witness said.

Good for His Holiness. And good for Jason Berry for showing journalistic integrity in pointing this out.

*******
Jason Berry's first installment of a two-part series investigating Legion of Christ finances was published today. You can read the article by clicking here. For those new to this whole controversy, Jason Berry is one of two Hartford Courant journalists who in 1997 broke the story of Maciel's sex abuse of minor seminarians. This afternoon has been pretty busy so I have not yet had time to read his latest expose. But Giselle has posted some comments here.

Patrick Madrid has blogged an excellent post discussing Medjugorje, Marcial Maciel and Pope John Paul II's (alleged in the case of Medjugorje) support of these two ecclesiastical movements. To read it, please click here.

"The Logos destroys the tyranny of the evil one, who dominates us through deceit, by triumphantly using as a weapon against him the flesh defeated in Adam. In this way he shows that what was once captured and made subject to death now captures the captor: by a natural death it destroys the captor's life and becomes a poison to him, making him vomit up all those he was able to swallow because he had the power of death. But to humankind it becomes life, like leaven in the dough impelling the whole of nature to rise like dough in the resurrection of life (cf. 1 Cor 5:6-7). It was to confer this life that the Logos who was God became man - a truly unheard of thing - and willingly accepted the death of the flesh." - St. Maximos the Confessor.

Here's what our parish will be singing at sunrise:

Reader AG at The Risk of Truth blog has posted a new monk and cow story! It concerns a naughty abbot who, under the guise of holiness, secretly pushed peasants' cows over cliffs. He got away with it for several years, having convinced the archbishop of his sanctity. However, his plan goes awry when the Vicar General clues into the Abbot's bovine fetish. You can read the whole story by clicking here.

To read other monk and cow stories, please click here.

Among Eastern Christians (both Catholic and Orthodox), there's a compendium of spiritual texts known as the Philokalia. It's a sort of spiritual reader, collecting stories from early saints and other monastic spiritual guides throughout the centuries. What follows is one of my favorite stories from the collection:

Two monks were praying on the mountain when the first monk turned to the second and said: "I cannot understand why you enjoy such renown among the people for holiness."

Anonymous raises an interesting question in the Was Maciel's 'medical condition' contagious? blog discussion:

In reading the followup comments on the linked blog entry, and seeing more than one claim of abuse at the apostolic school, what in these days would make anyone fear exposing abuse in a court of law: I mean we know for better or ill, there are personal injury lawyers that would mop the floor with the LC's with these kinds of cases, and that would not take into account criminal prosecution of any act still within the statute of limitations.

I think the issue is that Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi, until very recently, were considered 'untouchable' within the Church. Victims were often sued, threatened with lawsuits and ostracized for speaking out. Maciel was, to a certain extent, protected by Pope John Paul II and several powerful curial Cardinals in Rome.

"Do not let my heart turn toward words of evil, to cover sins with smooth names."

As we celebrate Christ's institution of the Mass and priesthood tonight, I should probably be praying and meditating upon sacred texts. However, it seems like many Catholics and evangelicals (yes, I've also heard from Benedict's fans among our evangelical protestant brethren) are concerned about the latest media attacks against the Holy Father.

Don't be.

Pray for Pope Benedict. Defend him when you come across unfair attacks against him. But leave the worrying to the Holy Spirit who chose Benedict as successor to St. Peter. Simply put, God is not going to abandon such a faithful servant in this time of hardship. And if it be God's will that the Church's enemies drive the Holy Father out of Rome, there is little we can do to stop it.