My heart is broken as I contemplate recent media reports surfacing from the Spanish-speaking world over Fr. Maciel’s children. It is broken for his children, their mothers, his victims, and members of the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi now digesting this new information. It is heartbroken for Pope Benedict XVI who bears the burden of sorting out this mess within a divided orthodox Catholic movement.
One thing we call all do right now, from the Legion’s most ardent apologists to it’s most vociferous critics – and everyone in between – is pray for Pope Benedict XVI and the apostolic visitators. Pray that God gives them the grace to discern a solution equitable to all parties, and one that will heal current divisions without compromising truth.
St. Joseph presents the perfect intercessor for this intention. He is foster father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, whose name the Legion claim. He is also the protector of the universal Church, the universal protector of family and the virtue of chastity, and a perfect example of manly virtue.
Toward this intention, I’ve started another novena to St. Joseph facebook group, where all sides to this debate can gather to pray that God’s will be done in the months ahead. To join, please click here.
Category: Legion of Christ/ Regnum Christi
A legion of inheritors
A discussion is brewing on Life After RC about Fr. Maciel’s child(ren) possibly inheriting the Legion’s property. Unfortunately, in death, as in life, Maciel’s legacy remains a tortured mess to navigate.
The issue would be simple if Maciel had owned and run a business like any other during his life. His child(ren) would inherit his property as well as his share in the business.
However, an institute of consecrated life is not a business. It’s a highly-public spiritual work of the Church. Its property does not belong to the individual who founded it, but to the Church. So from a strict canonical perspective, Maciel’s mistress and daughter would have rights against the Legion as victims, but not as inheritors.
Secondly, as Church property, all spending on the part of the Legion must conform to the intention of the donors.
In canon law, the “intention of the donors” when it comes to managing ecclesiastical goods is almost as sacrosanct as the inviolability of the sacrament of confession. Donations are to be used according to the intentions expressed by the donors in making the donation.
The reason this issue is treated so seriously is because the Church lives and dies by the donations of the faithful. No donations, no apostolate. Clergy and religious take vows or promises of poverty, but they still need to eat, sleep and have access to the basic necessities of life. If the donation process is called into question, or falls into disrepute, then everyone is hurt as the faithful become wary about donating to the Church.
So….the Church does not mess around with the intention of donors.
Having said that, it is doubtful that the majority of faithful donated to Fr. Maciel and the Legion with the intention of contributing to a luxurious upkeep of his mistress(es) and child(ren). Rather, although I have no statistic or empirical evidence to back me up on this point, I would imagine most probably donated to Fr. Maciel with the intention of “furthering the apostolate” of the Legion’s spiritual undertakings. Thus it was probably donated with assumption that the money was not going to Maciel personally, but to the Legion.
Therefore, from the perspective of the Church, the money and property belongs to the Legion (and not Fr. Maciel) to be administered according to the intentions of the donors. This is why the Church cannot simply turn a chunk over to Maciel’s mistress(es) and child(ren) as an inheritance.
That being said, what about the natural rights and inheritance of Maciel’s daughter as his daughter? Keep in mind she is not suppose to exist as siring children contravenes the promise of chastity Fr. Maciel made prior to his ordination. Hence the great mess as her rights as inheritor clash with the rights of the Catholic faithful as donors.
I don’t know the answer, except to pray for Pope Benedict who has a real mess on his hands to sort out.
The mother of Fr. Maciel’s daughter speaks
ExLC has blogged the Spanish article here, and is translating it into English as we speak. Head on over to his blog. She appear to claim that her relationship with Fr. Maciel began when she was still a minor. Here’s the first paragraph as translated by ExLC:
“I would have never chosen this path for my life…When I met this man, I was under aged. Neither my daughter nor I knew who this man really was until the very end.” It is the first time that Norma Hilda Baños puts her story in words, and with these words, the long guarded secret, the sin which pursues her, finally takes shape. Thinking about it brings tears to her eyes. The Cronica found her in her sanctuary, in a luxurious residential area of Madrid, Spain. She seems to be taken aback. Dialogue is not easy. Beyond the opening, which stretches out from the doorway, there is a space of 3,500 square feet. She has live here for years with her daughter. The home has no husband or father. It has never had one. Her daughter is the fruit of a prohibited relationship. Who knows what kind of stories this woman had to invent when asked about the father of her child? Anything but telling the feared truth: he was the founder of the Legion of Christ, Fr. Marcial Maciel, who left her pregnant when she was 26 years old.
If true – and at this point, I believe the balance of probabilities leans greatly toward the accuser – the only way forward for LC/RC leadership is to finally admit that Fr. Maciel was an abuser (and not simply that he gave in during a moment of weakness), renounce his influence as founder, and publicly apologize and offer reparation to his victims.
Join the perpetual novena to St. Joseph
For some time I’ve been meaning to start a group for people interested in praying a perpetual novena to St. Joseph. Thanks to Facebook, the group is now up and running. You can join by clicking here or by simply praying the following traditional prayer to St. Joseph each morning:
O St. Joseph whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the Throne of God, I place in you all my interests and desires. O St. Joseph do assist me by your powerful intercession and obtain for me from your Divine Son all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, Our Lord; so that having engaged here below your Heavenly power I may offer my Thanksgiving and Homage to the most Loving of Fathers. O St. Joseph, I never weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms. I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart. Press him in my name and kiss His fine Head for me, and ask Him to return the Kiss when I draw my dying breath. St. Joseph, Patron of departing souls, pray for us. Amen
How schism becomes an option
A friend of mine belongs to a ecclesiastical movement going through a rough patch at the moment. Like many laity affiliated with this movement, he is troubled by the information that has come to light about the founder’s secret life, how it may have affected the movement’s methodology and practices, and the response of the movement’s superiors thus far. Mostly, though, he is horrified for the victims of the founder. (Okay, I’m sure most of you can guess which movement he belongs to.)
While expressing his disappointment in what has happened, coupled with hope the movement will accept reform from the Holy See, he said: “At least we don’t have to worry about schism. That’s the one thing this movement has always prided itself on: obedience to the Holy Father. They would lose all credibility with rank-and-file if they went into schism.”
I’m not so sure. I pray schism doesn’t become an option, that the movement accepts and cooperates with the Holy See’s apostolic visitation, but the Church has seen stranger throughout its 2000-year history. Many of these smaller schisms began as movements that prided themselves on fidelity and obedience to the Rome. And many opted for schism when Rome eventually stepped in to suppress the movement, or fundamentally reform it.
Here, in a nutshell, is how the process often plays out. Please note that a movement may skip a step or two on its way to schism, or a couple steps may vary:
1 – A charismatic churchman begins a new movement that pledges complete obedience to the Holy Father.
2 – In pursuing its so-called complete obedience to the Holy Father, the leader and/or the movement downplays the role of the diocesan bishop.
3 – The movement begins to quietly work around the authority of the local bishop.
4 – Bishops who raise concerns or criticism of the movement are portrayed by the movement’s leadership, either openly or quietly, as not supportive of the Holy Father and Catholic orthodoxy.
5 – Criticism from bishops and Church experts is dismissed by the movement’s leadership, which to the movement’s follows will trump up photo ops with the Pope or a papal blessing as proof the movement enjoys the Holy Father’s support.
6 – After numerous complaints from bishops, Church experts and other Catholic faithful, the Roman Curia gets involved.
7 – The movement is initially supportive of curial intervention and investigation, sure that the curia will vindicate the movement and/or founder.
8 – The curial dicastery or apostolic visitator, more or less, finds that the complaints of bishops, experts and concerned laity have merit.
9 – In pursuing its so-called complete obedience to the Holy Father, the leader and/or movement begins to downplay the role of the curia or churchmen appointed by the Holy See to look into the issue.
10 – The movement begins to quietly work around the authority of the Roman curia or curial delegates.
11 – Concerns expressed by curial officials or apostolic visitators or apostolic delegates are portrayed by the movement’s leadership, either openly or quietly, as not supportive of the Holy Father and Catholic orthodoxy.
12 – The standard papal blessings and photo ops come out for a second round as the movement says to its followers: “We have the support of the Pope. But he’s under a lot of pressure from enemies in the Curia. Please pray for him.”
13 – The Holy Father intervenes, either directly or indirectly, to disband the movement, pronounce it schismatic, etc.
14 – The movement refuses to abide by the action, claiming the Pope has been misled or fed false information or otherwise had his hand forced by the movement’s enemies in the Church, many who live in Rome and work at the highest levels of the Church.
15 – Talk about how many saints have been persecuted by high-ranking Churchmen throughout the Church’s history, how this is only a temporary misunderstanding, distinctions between the papal office and the person holding it, and how a future Pope will vindicate the movement.
What you will notice is that nowhere throughout the pattern is the movement prepared to admit its substantial faults, as identified by those outside of the movement. Additionally, when serious criticism pops up against the movement, they will often quibble the minor points while missing the deeper the issue (i.e. “Fr. Founder didn’t fly to Venice every year and vacation for six weeks on the community dime. Rather he made an annual trip to NAPLES, for FIVE WEEKS AND FOURC DAYS, to rest his delicate health so that he could carry out apostolate the rest of the year, which is the only reason he stayed in four-star hotels and ate at expensive restaurants. Get your facts straight!)
I pray this won’t happen in my friend’s case. However, I shared with him this pattern, so that he will at least be aware of some of the signs of potential schism.