Phase Two of the Post-Maciel Legion of Christ Saga Begins
July 9, 2010 by Patrick Madrid
Filed under Patrick's Blog
It was announced today that an Italian archbishop, Msgr. Velasio De Paolis, a member of the congregation of the Missionaries of St Charles Borromeo, is the prelate whom Pope Benedict XVI has appointed to take charge of the reform of the Legionaries of Christ. He was briefly in the cross-hairs of the international mainstream press two years ago for being the Vatican official who denied permission to Ron Howard and company to use any Catholic churches in Rome for filming the blasphemous, “Angels and Demons,” the sequel to “The Da Vinci Code.”
The Vatican said the visitation highlighted three primary requirements: The need to “redefine the charism” of the Legionaries of Christ, the need to revise the exercise of authority in the order and the need to preserve the enthusiasm and missionary zeal of younger members through adequate formation.
Anonymous said…
"Why do catholics always say that its up to the CC to interpret the bible? The bible can be taken at face value. The new testament says that the scriptures are of no private interpretation. If these wise old men in the vatican have the interpretations, why dont they hand them out to all people? Why keep the catholic man and woman in the dark?The CC used to kill people for owning a bible.Now that everyone has one, telling people that only the CC can understand the bible is the new way of discoraging catholics from reading it."
I hope you realize that the Catholic Church is the ONE and only Christian "organization", also known as The Way, Holy Mother Church, etc., that gave us the bible. Oh, sure, some other heretical Christian communities have removed sections of the bible or have reinterpreted or misinterpreted many passages, but the Church is what gave us the Bible in it's form based on years of discernment, study and prayer, based on what was true and accurate and did not contradict oral tradition, etc, etc.
Although, I did have my local parish priest threaten my little children with a gun the other day for having a picture bible and took it away, so you're right on that one. Yeah, that's the ticket.
Why do catholics always say that its up to the CC to interpret the bible? The bible can be taken at face value. The new testament says that the scriptures are of no private interpretation. If these wise old men in the vatican have the interpretations, why dont they hand them out to all people? Why keep the catholic man and woman in the dark?The CC used to kill people for owning a bible.Now that everyone has one, telling people that only the CC can understand the bible is the new way of discoraging catholics from reading it.
My niece spent 5 years on regnum christi made a promise of abstinence and poverty .Served in MExico at a rich girls private school in the discipline department.She questioned her status and was pressured to stay in,she left.She still says it helped her most in her life and in her relationship with Jesus Christ.Even though the Legionaires was severely flawed. It helped her in her faith.That is what is important.
As for the Neocatechumante way I have walked for 14 years .It has helped me in my life. I read the bible and understand some of the passages but only in how it applies to my life .The church does the interpretation. We tithe 10% of our income. Jesus Christ saved my marriage, My oldest son is in the seminary. Not anything that I did.It was the grace of God.
I work full time and have problems every single day of my life just like everyone else.I have 2 sons with children out of wedlock.( they didn't have an abortion, not to justify the sin ).We are all sinners and if a way helps us pray ,fast know that Jesus Christ is real in the Eucharist and gives us reconciliation . IF we look to him in our problems and not listen to what the world says, which is my struggle So be it. I may get to heaven with the grace of God ,when I die
AT least I have found Jesus Christ and the trinity and the Church as my mother which I didn't for 43 years of my life.
God have mercy on me!
Youre darn right that the end product of these endeavors is the loss of souls. Thats the sole purpose of these organizations
This guy needs lots of prayers.
Anon@11:41,
I don't know much about the Neocats, but I do hope that this Legion debacle will cause the Church to give pause to the great harm that can be perpetrated by the new ecclesiastical movements.
Perhaps this will be the end of uncritical enthusiasm. I'm not saying there isn't a place for movements within the Church, but if it turns out it wasn't just the Legion heaping abuse on Catholics through movements, hopefully this will be addressed.
If nothing else, the sordid saga of the Legionaries of Christ is a massive cautionary tale when it comes to these movements. In the wrong hands, untold spiritual damage—and perhaps even the loss of many souls–can be effected through these organizations.
That thought ought to give any Catholic great pause.
Time to do something about the Neocats. They represent a real problem and will only become more so as time passes and their "seminaries" pump out cult members spreading their cult like views and liturgical and doctrinal abuses!
Parking our brains at the door and allowing evil and injustice to be perpetrated by our silence is what is sin.
I do not believe the Catechism mentions the word "gossip". But it does address conversation:
"Respect for the reputation of persons forbids every attitude and word likely to cause them unjust injury. He becomes guilty:
* of rash judgment who, even tacitly, assumes as true, without sufficient foundation, the moral fault of a neighbor;
* of detraction who, without objectively valid reason, discloses another's faults and failings to persons who did not know them;
* of calumny who, by remarks contrary to the truth, harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them
(CCC 2477)."
The Legion's defenders co-opted this section of the Catechism, twisted it, and used it to silence those who would criticize their beloved Founder for decades. All who tried to get the ugly truth, the abomination, out to the public were publicly accused of these serious sins.
Yet the Pope thanked all these people in the Communique!! How can that be?! These "gossipers", "detractors", "enemies" trying to bring down Holy Man Maciel and His Beautiful Movement were PRAISED by the Holy Father!
Obviously it means that the Legion's understanding of the words detraction, calumny, gossip, are not at all what the Catholic Church teaches them to be.
Just like "charity", "unity", "docility", etc, etc, etc, the Legion has twisted the meaning the Church has for centuries given to these words and co-opts them to deform the consciences of its followers.
Hmm, wonder if that is perhaps part of what Visitator Watty was referring to when he mentioned how this organization's structure is so very damaged and deformed?
Accusations of "gossip" and "calumny" mean absolutely nothing to me when spewed by LC/RC supporters. They have no idea what these words actually mean, what the Church has always taught about them.
This is just one way in which the Legion has robbed the patrimony of the Church, twisted it and malformed it, in order to deform the consciences of its followers.
They say the right words, but their words don't mean what the Church has always taught them to mean. It's like they speak a whole different language, and that language is one major aspect of the deceit that allowed this system of abuse to go unchecked for so long. Unsuspecting Catholics heard the words and assumed Legion meant them as the Church has always meant them. But they don't. To Legion, they mean whatever the Legion needs them to mean in order to control their followers.
As a former RC member, I am deeply saddened by all this. I immediately left when it became undeniable that Maciel was indeed guilty of the crimes he had been accused of for many years. We had all accepted the advice from our superiors that these were trumped up charges from disgruntled former Legionary priests and seminarians.
But someone within the inner circle had to know that the charges were true, and this is what sickened me and caused me to rid myself of all the baggage. I am still having a hard time dealing with it. I continue to ask myself, "Can a bad tree produce good fruit?" As a co-founder of one of their schools, I am especially haunted by that question, because I feel that much good was done in forming strong Catholics in the school.
I truly believe that the priests who served in our city and around the country were holy and dedicated to the Church, and that they had no idea what was going on at the top. I grieve for them and pray for them daily, as I do for all my many friends in RC. I have no idea what will happen to the movement, but I am convinced that it is in God's hands, and I pray for His will to be done.
But what I can't understand is why so many continue to stay and blindly believe in so much of the same methodology and the "mystique and charism" of the movement. It's interesting that most of them are the members from Mexico, and there is still that overwhelming sentiment for Maciel, despite his fall from grace.
I just didn't want any part of that any longer.
Okay, Anonymous 10:59, then do me the kindness of quoting the specific sentence(s) from my post which could be reasonably construed as "gossip."
And please note that if you believe that my posting the news about the new administrator of the Legion of Christ to be in itself "gossip," then I trust that, in your obvious commitment to virtue and justice, you will also denounce the Legion of Christ itself, as well as the Vatican and assorted Catholic news services, for indulging in gossip, for they, too announced this same information today.
No, you are just all gossiping which is a sin
"When is the Phase Two of the Post-Patrick Madrid Saga going to begin? Nobody cares about your guesses, you have no authority, so stop acting like you do! You represent the gossipers of the Catholic vine, all of which spreads scandal and confusion among the faithful."
If this is what you think, why are you exposing yourself to such an occasion of sin, Anonymous @ 10:35AM?
I fail to understand those who greedily eat all of this "gossip" up, and yet hastily upbraid any others reading and participating in this "gossip".
Those who take meaningful discussion of this massive crisis in our Church to be "gossip" obviously must have a pony in the race. Silence is always the word of the day for these types. After all, the "silence of the entourage" worked so very well for Maciel's Legion for six decades! It's the silence that allowed this abusive Movement to keep growing like an ever-fattening beast, while children were being sodomized, concubines supported with the donations of the well-intentioned ignorant, and lie after lie being told by Legion and believed by the Catholic world at large.
Silence is golden when it comes to perpetrating deceit. No wonder all discussion and opinions are viciously denounced as "gossip" and "calumny".
Patrick, I suppose the comment by "annonymous" is just showing how charitable those RC folks really are when something is said that they don't like.
The fact that the Archbishop doesn't really seem to care much for blasphemy, poisoning of the faith, and using Jesus Christ to fatten wallets (see his upbraiding of the city of Turin when they wanted to tax pilgrims to fill the city's coffers), I'd have to say that if anybody in the hierarchy is going to be able to smell the foul stench of the Legion's abuse and blasphemy over the decades, it will be De Paolis.
What is probably the most frightening of all to the Legion powers-that-be is the fact this cleric has financial acuity. The paper trail at Legion HQ is likely disappearing faster than the speed of light right about now.
"Legionaries" does seem to make many astute Catholics cringe these days. The hijacking of our faith, the twisting of authority to deform the consciences of the young, to blind the followers of the Legion, so that abuses can be heaped on unsuspecting, well-meaning Catholics, does have a way of outraging faithful Catholics.
Yesterday's meditation at the Must-Keep-Building-Kingdom website (aka Regnum Christi website) was all about the urgency of Building the Kingdom (I thought Christ already built the Kingdom, but what do I know? I guess I we are co-creators of the Kingdom right along with Him!):
"1. Go Out The command is “Go.” The Kingdom cannot be spread while sitting in an easy chair. We cannot wait for the world that needs Christ to come to our door. Letting opportunities where we can serve pass by, hoping someone else will take the initiative, is simply a “no” to Christ’s command. “Go” means sensitizing our heart and eyes to those who are hungry for Christ, seeing in the faces of our family members and co-workers a hunger for his power and grace. In this culture that is sick and waning, “go” means reaching out to those who need to know Christ, so that his Kingdom will expand. We cannot take the easy route of preaching to the choir; we must reach out to those professions and fields of study that have lost all sense of the dignity of the human person – especially medicine, law, politics and education. This is what the King is asking. What is the response I am giving to my King?"
I noticed that the people they want to reach out to are generally people making significant amounts of cash. Surprised?
And lest anybody think they can actually take a moment out of their day to just enjoy life, we are reminded:
"Jesus, I wish to ignite my own zeal for your Kingdom from the furnace of divine love which burns in your heart. I offer you the promise of a soldier in combat: to be courageous, honorable, persevering, and worthy of the name I bear – “Apostle of the Kingdom of Christ.” I work aware of the fact that I have only one life to live on this earth. Not one minute must be wasted in comfort-seeking and selfishness. My heart is ready for the mission, Lord; please sustain it today with the strength of your own.
Resolution: Today I will review my daily and weekly time commitments before Christ, and I will ensure that I am using my time as fruitfully as I can to expand his Kingdom in the world."
No time to actually sit and absorb what is happening right around us, must keep busy, busy, busy! Must keep expanding Kingdom. Heaven knows God can't do this wonderful thing without ME spending every moment of my day scratching off my commitments on the card and trying to bring in those cash-producers who have lost all sense of the dignity of the human person. Relieving them of some of that cold hard cash will likely go a long way in redeeming their souls.
I guess the poor living in the gutters who actually experience that loss of dignity of the person are on their own. With no cash and influence in society, they are of no use when it comes to expanding the Kingdom. Totally unworthy of our precious time. Must remain efficient (at all cost, apparently)!
Dear God, please help Archbishop De Paolis rescue all the good Catholics caught up in this web of deceit and abuse!
Oh hush your mouth, you silly person. Buzz off.
When is the Phase Two of the Post-Patrick Madrid Saga going to begin? Nobody cares about your guesses, you have no authority, so stop acting like you do! You represent the gossipers of the Catholic vine, all of which spreads scandal and confusion among the faithful.
My guess is that they will change the name of the order. Another possible move might be to disband and abolish the men's and women's consecrated branches, as well as the Regnum Christi lay association. If the Legion — or whatever its new name may be — is to really be integrated into the life of the local and universal Church, it seems to me that focusing more or less exclusively on its own in-house coterie would impede that integration. Who knows? Maybe Archbishop De Paolis will determine that they can continue as an extension of the LC, but I can see a convincing case being made to the contrary.
I hope they consider renaming the group. I cringe when I hear the word Legionaries, reminds me of Legion, which usually reminds me of the devil. Go figure.