Thanks for everyone’s prayers. They’re much appreciated!
I’ve managed to sneak away and find a location where I can access the Internet unrestricted a couple times a week. Usually my wife and I message back and forth, but tonight I wish to respond to Michelle’s recent comment to this old thread. The reason being, she brings up a couple of points I have heard from other apologists of LC/RC, including a few high-profile ones.
Michelle writes:
[God] led me to RC. I joined because I fell in love with FAMILIA training.
Here’s the thing. FAMILIA wasn’t invented by the RC. Rather, it was taken over by the RC – the programme’s founders given the boot – as reported here.
So what if the founder Maciel fell from grace? He won’t be the first or last.
If it was just a matter of the founder falling from grace, this controversy would be over by now. As we have seen over the past nine months, there’s some deeper issues troubling orthodox Catholics:
1 – It’s become more-and-more clear that the LC/RC is an embodiement of the mindset that allowed Maciel to live his “double life”. Thus the movement’s charism and methodology are suspect.
2 – The lack of adequate apology or recognition of Maciel’s earlier victims by the movement’s leadership is very troubling, especially since the victims were for years made out to be liars by members of the movement. So orthodox Catholics recognize that the movement still owes a dept of justice to Maciel’s victims.
Until these two issues are resolved, orthodox Catholics will continue to hold the entire movement as suspect. So will the world. Hence any good the LC/RC tries to accomplish will be overshadowed by the great evil perpetuated by Maciel and those who covered up for him and defended him.
Thus to answer LC/RC apologists asking: “Why can’t we just focus on the movement’s good works?” Good works alone won’t cut it. We’re Catholic, not Pelagians. As long as grave evils remain unaccounted for, the good is poisoned.