ExLCBlog has translated Fr. Patrick O’Connell’s reported reaction in the media to the Maciel incest scandal. What strikes me about Fr. O’Connell’s response is the fact it is human. He uses plain words to describe a gut reaction, avoiding careful euphamism and ambiguous grammatical constructs.
Father admits the confusion many LC feel about the founder as more dark accusations become public. Yet he’s candid about Maciel’s actions and their consequences – both potential and real.
Admittedly I don’t know much about Fr. O’Connell. Everything I’m hearing is good, but people will flock to any light when darkness consumes the room. However, I prefer to remain optimistic, believing that Fr. O’Connell is one of the good Legionary priests who has been caught in the crossfire of Maciel’s sins and the leadership’s [alleged] coverup.
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Good catch by exlcblog:
“This meeting with Sketchly only took place at Watty’s insistence. The family had been trying for two years to speak to someone of importance in the Legion, and had first tried by approaching Jesus Quirce of the Anahuac”.
So, the Vistor asks them to find common ground with the victim. Result: they send the victim a letter accusing him of extortion. If the Visitor arranged the meeting, how can they even begin to pretend that there was any silence to sell?
The Visitor knows exactly what the victims told him before they sat down with the Legion. Therefore he can judge the plausibility of the charge that what the Visitor was told freely would be sold to the Legion.
They’s getting stupider and stupider. The Visitor must be livid. Some folks are beyond helping.