Category: Legion of Christ/ Regnum Christi

How could I forget Catherine de Hueck Doherty and her Madonna House community in my earlier posting about authentically Catholic resources? The reminder came as I glimpsed through Giselle’s thread discussing how to be a better Catholic parent after leaving LC/RC (click here). I cannot speak within the context of the LC/RC, but I know several Catholic parents who found Catherine’s books most helpful after their families left one of several schismatic manifestations of Catholic tridentinism. As a Russian Orthodox baroness who converted to Catholicism after fleeing the communist persecution in Russia, and who subsequently dedicated her life to serving Christ and the poor, she brings some deep spiritual insights when explaining the connection between Catholic Tradition, Catholic spirituality, and our daily lives as Catholics.
Unfortunately, it appears that Catherine’s Dear Parents book is out-of-print. However, here are several other excellent selections for parents seeking to rediscover their Catholic spirituality in family life:
– Living the Gospel Without Compromise
– Welcome, Pilgrim (scroll down to backlist, must be ordered by phone)
– Poustinia
– Sobornost
– On the Cross of Rejection
And written by other affiliates of her apostolate:
– Mothering
– The Power of Love
One of the things that distinguished Catherine early on among new religious movements is that she always preached submission not only to the Holy Father, but to the diocesan bishop as well. You can read about her cause for canonization here.

Legion apologist Richard Sutcliff asks the following questions in the comments to this thread: “So what are the non-negotiables for some of you ‘jousters’? What are the points about LC/RC that you will say, ‘even if the Pope says this’ my conscience still says it’s wrong and therefore I will oppose it?”

To which Jane, our resident meanie, replies:

My non-negotiable is an apology to Father Maciel’s abuse victims, who went public in 1997 to reveal Maciel as an abuser. The Legion lauched a campaign to defend Maciel, and maligned the reputations and character of the victims.
In early February of this year, individual LCs or LC employees either conceded that the abuse allegations are likely true or even apologized to the victims for failing to believe them. The Legion has yet to offer an official apology. We have heard from Father Bannon (in April?) that they are trying to locate the victims. Ah, so you admit, there ARE victims, and they are owed an apology! We heard (from LC priests in our section) that the LC is going to apologize, but “privately”, and that after receiving an apology, the victims can choose to go public with the facts of the apology, if THEY so choose. Pretty self-serving, no?
I know RCs who refuse to so much as buy a cup of coffee from Starbucks because the company supports Planned Parenthood. Yet they don’t bat an eye at seeking spiritual nourishment for themselves and their children from a congregation of priests which cannot summon the humility and courage to apologize to a group of victims who have been so clearly wronged.
Richard S, I would like to turn this around. What are your thoughts on the lack of apology?

I don’t know who all Jane speaks for, but certainly she can include me. A full and public apology to Maciel’s victims is a non-negotiable requirement to re-establishing trust. No apology, no trust. As stated repeatedly since this scandal broke, an apology to Maciel’s victims is a requirement of natural justice. The need to apologize for one’s wrongdoing is also a teaching found in every reputable Catholic children’s catechism.
Moreover, as I have opined elsewhere: No apology, no charism. Thus a public apology to Maciel’s victims is a non-negotiable requirement, in my opinion.

One last note before I get back to my family duties (It’s been a rough night – our three youngest are down with the flu). Having initially been attracted to the LC/RC through what they saw was a fervent expression of orthodox Catholicism, many readers are wondering where they can meet their spiritual needs outside of the LC/RC movement. I assume you already pray the rosary and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Here are some other suggestions:

1. Check out your local parish. A lot has changed, for the better, in the last 20 years,
2. Spend more time with your family, caring for the spiritual needs of one’s spouse and children.
3. For guys, the Knights of Columbus are always recruiting.
4. Many graces are attributed to those who pray this prayer to St. Joseph daily.
5. Read the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
6. Take five or ten minutes each day to meditate upon one of St. Ignatius of Loyola’s rules for spiritual discernment, starting with the first and working your way down.
7. Read St. Thomas Aquinas’s Catena Aurea, which is the Angelic Doctor’s compilation of hundreds of quotations from Church Fathers, ordered as verse-by-verse commentary on the Four Gospels.
8. For daily spiritual meditation according to the readings at Mass, check out Francis Fernadez’s In Conversation with God. Originally written for Opus Dei, the series has since been adopted by several Catholics and Catholic movements with little or no connection St. Escriva or the movement he founded.
9. Spend some time in Eucharistic adoration.

And before I forget, what I have listed here is a spiritual buffet offered by the Church. Don’t feel guilty if you cannot digest all of it. Rather, try a little bit of everything and then come back for what works for you.

Several readers have asked where I see Legion of Christ/ Regnum Christi members going if the Holy See reconstitutes the Legion under new leadership, as growing rumors suggest. The answer is long and complicated. Which is why we should all be grateful to Eric Sammons for tackling it.
Observing the experience of another movement that went through something similar, Monsieur Sammons sees four possible paths for former members:

1. They remained in the reconstituted organization.
2. They formed a new organization under the ousted leadership and outside of Church oversight.
3. They left the group and returned to their parishes.
4. They left the group and the Church.

This is my experience as well. Thus I highly recommend you read Eric’s post, which you can access here.