Author: Pete Vere

March 10 – Prayers for James’s brother

I hope you will join Giselle and me today in praying and fasting for Maciel’s victims. Today is particularly significant as Maciel’s birthday, since in previous years the movement went all out in celebrating the founder’s birthday movement-wide.
Reader James Bremmer pipes in with some good information in the comments section of a previous blog entry:

March 18, is the anniversary of Maciel’s baptism. Traditionally, in the Legion, this day was also celebrated as a first class feastday. I just spoke with my brother in the Legion’s house of formation in Connecticut, he has been doing a Eucharistic hour everyday since the apostolic visitation began, praying for the success of the visitation. Not all Legionaries are bad and should not be painted with that brush, some are there to serve the church.

You are not the first concerned friend of family member to whom I have spoken. Over the last couple weeks I have heard several stories of people on the inside who “get it,” and who are praying that Rome successfully sorts everything out. I am told that the incest allegations have shocked even many who had remained serene up until now.
As the old cliche goes, I have some good news and I have bad news if the the Holy See refounds the Legion. FIrst the bad news: It will be priests like your brother who have the toughest road ahead. While those priests who played a major role in Maciel’s coverup will likely find themselves sidelined, while other priests in the rank-and-file leave for dioceses or other orders, priests like your brother are left to pick up the pieces.
It’s a demanding task as they will be required to simultaneously bring justice to Maciel’s victims, restore trust among the laity, reassure their own concerned and disappointed laity, show obedience in letter and spirit to legitimate Church authority, and win over hard-core and old guard Maciel loyalists among their priestly ranks. Not an easy task.
However, the good news – according to Pope Paul VI in Mysterium Fidei – comes from the fruits of daily Eucharistic hour. Christ will be with your brother to strengthen him, and the Church present to guide him along. However, if I may be so bold as to make a recommendation, your brother will likely need his hour of daily Eucharistic adoration even more after the AV than during it.
So let’s add James’s brother to the list of people we pray and fast for today. Let us also agree to March 18 as another day of prayer and fasting for Maciel’s victims and members currently caught in the system. Let us pray that God gives current members the opportunity to see this scandal through the eyes of the victims, as well as the humility to sincerely apologize and offer these victims restitution. And let us pray He grants the victims the grace to heal and forgive.

Q&A on refoundation

In the comments’ section on another thread, Eric asks me some important questions:

Pete, some have said the Legion might be refounded. How would that work?

Only the Holy Father would know for sure, since he is the one who would have to approve it. That being said, here are some possibilities, in no particular order:
1 – A name change
2 – A new set of constitutions
3 – New leadership, likely a combination of overseers imposed from outside the movement and new leadership inside.
4 – A particular apostolate and specific devotions.
5 – Some sort of renunciation of Maciel.
Of course one would also expect an apology to Maciel’s victims, however, this is not directly tied to a refoundation.

If the Legion were to actually repudiate Fr. Maciel, wouldn’t that be admitting that Fr. Maciel didn’t impart a genuine charism of the Holy Spirit?

It would become a moot point at the time, given that a new movement would be founded and Maciel would no longer be recognized as founder.

And if that’s so, what would the refoundation be based on?

A need in the Church identified by the Holy See.

Can you start a congregation without a charism?

The Holy Spirit can provide a charism through the founder, or He can provide a charism through the Holy See, or through the Bishops if the Holy See decides to break up the order into several smaller orders.
As for the charism of the movement, I see three possibilities, depending upon the AV recommendations and how the LC reacts to them.
1 – The movement decides to cling to Maciel or their way of life, paying the Holy See lip service only. In this case the spirit of the movement remains Maciel’s. The Holy See would likely continue to tighten the noose until the movement collapses or goes into schism.
2 – The movement accepts the reforms half-heartedly and/or the bulk of the membership bolts. In this scenario the LC becomes a sort of “half-way house” to contain current LC members until they can find another order or diocese to go to. In this scenario, the charism is that of the half-way house, to provide pastoral support for and reintegrate former members back into the Church mainstream.
3 – The members decide to embrace the reforms whole-heartedly, in both letter and spirit, give it an honest attempt to make things work, and in the process discover a particular need within the Church that they are capable and willing to fill. In this case the fulfillment of the need becomes the charism.

An order of secrets, strict haircuts and a charism of Charity

In one of the earlier threads, Rosemarie asks as good question:

Aren’t there some “secrets” among Catholics? The ceremonies of the Knights of Columbus are pretty much kept secret, except from the Church heirarchy, I guess. But women and non-members aren’t let in on the ceremonies of the Knights and similar Catholic fraternal organizations.

Speaking as a Knight for 17 years, and the advocate for my council, the Knights of Columbus ceremonies are kinda secret…sorta… You can actually find them in the U.S. Library of Congress. Additionally, it’s made clear to every knight in our constitutions and bylaws that the “secret” does not bind if to maintain the secret would violate one’s duty toward Church or State.
The same is true of the “secrets” and ceremonies of the International Order of Alhambra, a Catholic fraternal organization of which I’m a former member of the international executive. I would imagine the same is true of the Knights of St. Peter Claver and any Catholic fraternal organization. Similarly, I have several friends who are Opus Dei, have invited me to their events and retreats, and I have never encountered any secrets other than when confessing my sins to a priest affiliated with the movement. But the secrecy of the confessional binds all priests – not only those affiliated with Opus Dei.
That being said, there is an order that is often considered the most secretive in the Church. They have strict haircuts, follow a strict rule when it comes to food, each minute of the day is regimented, and fraternal charity and the spirit of their founder is something you will come across in correspondence with them. In fact, the order has never deviated from the spirit of the founder, and has proven highly resistant to any attempt at reform. The order also has its own internal jargon that few outsiders, when they’re permitted inside, seem able to grasp. Which is another thing… not a lot of outsiders within the Church, either among the laity or Church hierarchy, can articulate exactly what members of this order do.
Sound familiar? Well, there’s a couple key difference. The first is that their founder is a saint. The second is that all the aforementioned practices work for members of the order. Has for the last 900 years. Which is why they are considered the only major order within the Church never to have been reformed. Additionally, it is said that the devil feared their founder as his holiness drove away even the most obstinate of demons. Here’s a link to the order’s website.
Here’s a peek at life in their monastery:

Be sure to check out Part II, Part III and Part IV.

March 10 – Day of prayer and fasting for Maciel’s victims

Several sources tell me that tomorrow, March 10, is traditionally a day of first class celebration within the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi. At least during previous years. For those unfamiliar with the significance of this date, March 10 is the day Mama Maurita gave birth to Maciel.
In recent days there has been much talk about the division this scandal has caused between Catholics. Perhaps we can make tomorrow a day of prayer and fasting for Maciel’s victims, in reparation for the evil they suffered at Maciel’s hands. Given that tomorrow is Wednesday, not to mention during Lent, it is already a day of fast and abstinence.
I’m assuming that during Lent most readers already recognize the need to pray the Rosary and attend Mass. However, here are further suggestions of prayers and sacrifices we can offer tomorrow for Maciel’s victims:
– a Holy Hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament.
– A thorough examination of conscience followed by confession.
– The Chaplet of St. Michael the Archangel
– Apologize to someone you have hurt or wronged over the past year.
– If you are an integrated parent whose evenings (and those of your children) are normally consumed by apostolates, take the night off and spend it together as a family.
– An hour’s volunteer at an apostolate or mission that serves the poor – soup kitchen, food bank, St. Vincent de Paul Society, etc.
I’m sure there are many more ideas you can think of. So let’s make tomorrow a day of prayer and fasting for Maciel’s victims.

TIME Magazine: Is the Legion possessed?

Time Magazine has weighed in on last week’s scandal involving the Legion of Christ and allegations Maciel molested his eight-year-old son. Particularly pointed in the concluding paragraph:

While the Legion’s website message last week was sympathetic to Lara and her sons, the order made a point of exposing José Raúl González’s private demand earlier this year that the Legion pay him $26 million to keep quiet about his father’s sexual abuse. The order insists it did not pay, suggesting that as the motive for the tell-all radio interview. Masferrer says the Legion has also circulated reports that Maciel was surrounded by exorcists in his final days, suggesting that his immoral acts were the work of demons and not the priest. That’s a Hail Mary ploy at best. And it does little to obscure the fact that it’s up to Benedict now to decide whether Padre Maciel’s Legion is itself possessed of enough demons to warrant more severe penance.

To read the entire article, please click here.