Back from the conference in Sudbury where I gave a number of lectures on canon law. Great turnout, and excellent questions. I only wish I had not been struggling with a cold and fever, which put me to sleep between lectures. One of the lectures I gave was on the rights and obligations of the Catholic faithful. It had been several years since I gave this lecture. I had forgotten about canon 219, which states: “All Christ’s faithful have the right to immunity from any kind of coercion in choosing a state in life.”.
Light blogging this week as I catch up from the weekend.
Author: Pete Vere
Fior go bas – faithful until death
It’s the story I tell every year on this date. And still the tears come as their faces etch in my mind.
Eight years ago today, I was sitting in my office at the Diocese of Scranton tribunal. I wasn’t suppose to be there. Sonya and I were getting ready to move to Florida that weekend. The Diocese of Venice in Florida had offered me a full-time position with the tribunal, and Scranton tribunal staff had taken me out to lunch the day before, to say our goodbyes.
I arrived home that evening. My in-laws had come down from Canada to help us pack, and everything was boxed and ready to go except for a few necessities. This would be our last week in Northeastern Pennsylvania, and with New York City a mere two-and-a-half hour drive, we had planned on taking the day off to visit the Statue of Liberty and the World Trade Center.
But it didn’t happen. We received a phone call late that night from a hospital back in Canada. Sonya’s grandfather had suffered a stroke. Plans were changed, and by the time we woke up the next morning my in-laws had rushed back to the ICU in Hamilton.
So here I was sitting in my office at the Scranton Tribunal, grumbling over a contentious divorce when I should have been taking in the New York Harbor skyline with my wife and daughter.
“A plane hit the World Trade Center,” Linda shouted.
Everyone came running out of their offices and into the conference room. Someone – I think it was Joe – turned on the television. We watched as the building burned, wondering what had happened. Then the second plane hit. Both towers were burning.
We no longer wondered what was happening. Our thoughts turned to the many tradesmen, firefighters and police officers who lived in the easternmost part of the diocese, along the Pennsylvania/New York border, who commuted to the Big Apple each day. Catholics to whom we ministered to in the diocese.
The the Pentagon was hit. Some of the tribunal staff had family working there. Our thoughts shifted to them. Were they safe? We didn’t know. The phone system was down.
Sonya and I were suppose to make our first stop in Washington, DC that weekend, to visit with David Alexander. David worked across the street from the Pentagon. Was he okay? There was no dial tone to his cell.
And of course our state was hit when United 93 went down. It could have been a lot worse, as we saw next door in New York and about five hours south in D.C. But the passengers rose up, fought back, and sacrificed their own lives to stop the terrorists and protect their fellow Americans. It was a strange moment for me. It still is. My feelings clashed between the horror of what happened, and the pride I felt for those passengers. As Kathy Shaidle and I wrote when dedicating Tyranny of Nice to their memory: “Fated to become victims, they chose to die heroes.”
And so as I do every September 11 since, I dedicate three songs. The first is to the memory of United 93 heroes. Here is Jewel’s performance of Hands on Letterman, which touched many of us and brought us together as we tried to make sense of what happened:
This second video is dedicated to American soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines (especially my blogmate Eric) who have fought and continue to fight for our freedom since then:
Finally, I dedicate this video to the Canadian soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan over the past year. In particular, Warrant Officer Gaetan Roberge and Master Corporal Scott Francis Vernelli, both of whom I knew personally. Please keep them in prayer.
Fior go bas, my friends, you lived up to your motto of faithful until death. You can stand easy, your battle is over.
They shall not grow old as we who are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.
Jesus loves pride
Giselle, RC is not my life and ExLC are all discussing an alleged incident reported by one of Giselle’s readers:
NEWSFLASH: The women in a certain [formerly thriving] section were just visited by their new priest. In addition to the other introductory information he passed along, he praised them for their fidelity, sadly noting that much of the RC leadership had defected out of sheer pride. They were there when everything was good, when the accolades were rolling in, when the limelight was on them. Once the road got a little rocky, they threw in the towel — since they don’t know how to deal with crosses.
Now I haven’t had time to check sources, and I find the reported incident a little strange given Fr. Scott Reilly, LC’s following recent assurance to U.S. RC:
Understandably, in the midst of the present circumstances there have been a few of our members who have felt that they can serve God better by separating themselves from the Legion and Regnum Christi; others have opted temporarily to step aside to see and evaluate, waiting also to see the outcome of the Visitation. The vast majority has opted to continue doing as much good as they can from where they are, knowing that our time here on earth is limited, and trusting that with the guidance of the Church whatever needs to be corrected in time, and whatever is good will be confirmed. Each one has made his or her choice before God, moved by their love for him and their desire to serve him to the best of their ability, and for no other consideration. Let us have great Christian understanding and respect for all. Each of us must presume the best and purest intention in the other, pray for each other, and recognize that each one of us suffers and recovers in different ways and at different times.
But for the sake of making a point, let’s assume there are witnesses to corroborate the alleged incident. Pride can be a good thing. It depends upon the context and how the word is being used.
Growing up in the French Catholic school system, one of the first lessons a young student learns is that romantic-based languages often have two words for one English counterpart. This is because the English word contains both meanings. To understand which meaning is being used, one has to look at the context.
Law is an example I deal with every day. In French the word law can translate into loi (or lex in Latin). Each of the Ten commandments is an example of loi. Or the word law can translate as droit (ius in Latin), meaning a system of jurisprudence or law in the broader sense. The American legal system is an example of droit.
The same is true of pride. Depending upon the context, pride translates into French as either orgueil or fierté. Orgueil is the type of pride that denotes arrogance. For example, refusing to apologize for having slandered victims of sexual abuse is an example of pride that translates into French as orgueil. This type of pride is one of the seven deadly sins warned against in the Bible.
In contrast, fierté is a type of pride through which one identifies with the goodness of something. I suspect it may be related to the French word foi, which means “faith”. A couple examples of fierté come to mind. “Displaying the same pride in his Catholic faith that had been instilled in him during his Marine Corps training, the pro-life priest went on national television and defended Catholic teaching on contraception.” Or “A proud Catholic mother, Mary resigned from her apostolate to devote more time to her children’s needs.”
There is nothing wrong with this type of pride. In fact God loves this type of pride, as we read in Psalm 47:4 (“[The Lord] chose our heritage for us, the pride of Jacob whom he loves.”) Like any good father, Jacob took pride in his descendants, the Jewish people, whom God chose as His own. Far be it for me to accuse Our Lord and this venerated Old Testament Patriarch of a deadly sin. I’m not that proud. I am, however, proud of our Old Testament heritage as Catholics. Hence the difference between orgueil or fierté.
So faced with this type of situation, I would guess that a certain amount of fierté would motivate a person to leave. After all, not apologizing to one’s victims for having unjustly tarnished their reputation is an example of orgueil that few Catholics wish to identify with.
American reaction goes Espanol
Many commentators on the Legion meltdown have noted that the American reaction was the most explosive. Actually, the American reaction was more of a ‘Critics of the Legion from across the world, recognizing the American organizational genius and the potential to reach a wider audience, converged on the American Papist blog where much hearty discussion ensued with Legion apologists’ reaction. But let’s just call it the American reaction for simplicity’s sake.
What made the American reaction so nuclear, besides the worldwide audience, were several factors:
– The seriousness of the revelations concerning Fr. Maciel
– The fact Legion apologists were forced to defend their movement in a setting where they did not outnumber their critics 10-to-1.
– The fact both sides converged on the same battlefield, namely American Papist.
The first point is obvious. As far as the second point, gang-style argument doesn’t work when the other side has equal numbers, which suddenly forces you to think about what you’re saying. (I got the impression during the debate that this was the first time many LC/RC members had given serious thought to their practices and methodology. For example, how many of you reading this blog, when the scandal first broke, thought this was only about Maciel and did not extend to the LC/RC movement as a whole?) Stock answers and conversation stoppers don’t go over as well when several sets of eyes are looking at them. As for the third point, blogging as a medium lends itself to the free exchange of ideas.
What I find interesting since the release of the Spanish letter to RC faithful is that all three conditions appear now in the Spanish-speaking world. Hispanics are not stupid. They’ve noticed the discrepancy between the U.S. letter to RC and the Spanish letter, in which the latter avoids direct mention of minor seminarians who first brought forward allegations of sexual abuse at the hands of Maciel.
Following the Spanish-language blogs today, the intensity and number of responses have gone AmP. And they include commentary from both sides. The main battlefield appears to be Jose Martinez’s El Trastevere, which has covered this story for some time. But check out the number and outrage expressed in the responses to this entry reproducing the Spanish letter.
Also take a good look at this spin-off entry, where Martinez challenges Spain’s RC director over the discrepancy concerning alleged abuse victims between American and Spanish versions of the letter. Reader comments are not as numerous as those of the parent entry (although that could change overnight). However, this second entry confirms that the issue has touched a nerve in the Spanish-speaking world, and that the reaction is not uniquely American.
On a side-note I found interesting, Spanish-speaking Legion apologists are presenting many of the same arguments that their American counterparts have long since jettisoned. In large part because these arguments were refuted convincingly during the AmP debates. So I encourage Spanish-speaking readers to make their way over there and share the knowledge they gained during the English-language debate. The American reaction has the potential to go Espanol.
Will Fr. Garza to be thrown under the bus?
I’m on a short break right now, and I want to be very clear about the following post: I am NOT speaking as a canon lawyer. I’m simply speculating a future possibility based upon the following:
1 – Current observable trends in LC/RC;
2 – Past emails I have received from well-placed sources in the movement describing the parties to this reported controversy;
3 – Observations of other movements within the Church that collapsed or went through a period of internal blood-letting;
4 – A new report in Proceso (click here for a copy mirrored on a blog) alleging that Fr. Alvaro and Fr. Garza are clashing in Rome, and that these disputes are growing louder. According to the report, Fr. Alvaro wants to usher in a series of reforms to the Legion, while Fr. Garza wishes to retain strict control of Integer, which reportedly controls much of the LC/RC’s assets.
To be clear, I don’t know how credible Proceso is as Mexican news outlet. Certainly the blog that cribbed it appears to have some political tendencies. And the report is quoting anonymous sources within the Legion, so I would be cautious going on information in the article alone, unless of Mexican readers can vouch for its credibility as a news source.
However, the allegations are consistent with the Legion’s media focus and spin since the crisis first hit last February. Fr. Alvaro has been all over the place, saying he is reaching out to victims, sharing his regrets, etc. Many Legion superiors have sung his praises, like the territorial directors for the U.S., Germany and Spain. People on the inside report being told that Fr. Alvaro had initiated the investigation in Maciel after he became suspicious about a strange woman hanging around Maciel’s death-bed. So yes, the Legion has moved to defend and build up Fr. Alvaro during this crisis. I suppose this isn’t surprising, given the Legion’s penchant for “rock star” priests and the fact Fr. Alvaro is Director General.
Except…how many of us have heard from Fr. Garza? He is, as Vicar General, the number 2 man in the organization. Moreover, he held this position under Fr. Maciel, and several sources report that he was widely expected to take over from Maciel when the Legion electoral process passed Garza over for the much more affable Alvaro. That we have heard little from him during this scandal is surprising given his position.
Moreover, LC/RC insiders often describe Fr. Garza to me as a financial genius who lacks Fr. Alvaro’s ease and skills with people. Which is interesting because the LC has tried to disassociate itself from Maciel’s ‘double life’, though not the founder himself, but they really haven’t commented much on allegations of a financial nature, other than to say they’re audited annually and are working with Integer. However, the LC hasn’t trotted him out to answer financial allegations as they have Fr. Alvaro to answer allegations of a sexual nature.
Speaking as a political analyst, and not as a canon lawyer, Fr. Garza has all the qualities of a good fall guy should LC leadership decide to throw him under the bus. It’s tempting to predict, but whether it happens is another question. If the Legion leadership has shown itself adept at anything during this crisis, it’s closing ranks.