Dear Friends,
my heart is breaking when I read this information regarding Legionary priests in the Cancun/Merida Area of Mexico who after sub-standard mental health treatment have been sent to psychiatric residential facilities in Guadalajara and Puebla. The information is supplied by Fr. Pablo Perez who has returned to that area after taking a leave in is home diocese, Saltillo, Mexico.
I believe that any person, a Christian, a Catholic must feel great indignation when he hears of this mistreatment of priests.
As we approach November
14, 2013 , first anniversary of the death of Erin B caused by panic after leaving the consecrated women of Regnum Christi and
Legionaries of Christ, new information appears about neglect of Legionaries’
Mental Health Needs.
Father Adolfo Acosta
Flores ( 57 years old) who was pastor in recent days on the island of Cozumel
and Puerto Carrillo ( Prelature of Cancun) voiced his intention to move to the diocesan
clergy of his native city of Torreon (northern Mexico ) . The priest is one of
Maciel 's sexual victims; only after learning that the founder of the
Legionaries had sired "at least one daughter " did he dare to comment
on the abuses suffered the night before his religious profession in the
novitiate in Salamanca ( Spain ) the night before professing vows in the hands
of the founder. Over nearly 30 years he kept quiet certain that no one would
believe . He continued to be one of those who continued in contact with Maciel
. When he was away in Brazil he tried to pass to the diocesan clergy . He
returned to the bosom of the Legion and was assigned to the Legionary Prelature
of Cancún. He experienced memory problems, one wonders whether the effort of
decades to repress the memory of the suffering did not degenerate into general
deterioration of his mind . The fact is that as of October 2013 the father
Adolfo Flores Acosta , is not in the Torreón diocesan clergy but in Guadalajara
( Mexico ) admitted to a home for mentally/physically ill priests .
In the same house Father Benito Aguilar was held , a Legionary priest well known in Merida ( Yucatan , Mexico) as the pastoral genius for creating schools and universities and apostolic
works in that city. His great work conflicted with the administrative centralization which
operated under the then Vicar General ,
Father Luis Garza Medina . Against Father Benito Aguilar’s better judgment , lay
directors were appointed to the schools. The situation leads Father Benito
Aguilar into depression and he is
medicated with psychotropic drugs. Under the influence of this medication he is
moved to Cancun ; there Mr. Xacur , the Palace
Resort owner , intercedes with Legionary Bishop Pedro Pablo Elizondo
Cardenas for Father Benito to be chaplain in his hotels. This improves the
health of Father Benito and he renews contact with people from Merida passing
through the resort . Later this is a sudden relapse of Fr. Benito health , he is
transferred to the city of Puebla where he knows nobody and the weather doesn’t suit him. His
deteriorating health draws his family’s attention. The point is that as of October 2013, he is at a Guadalajara residence for mentally
or physically ill priest run by a group of nuns.
Conforme nos acercamos al 14 de noviembre 2013, primer aniversario de la muerte por pánico de Erin tras su salida de las consagradas del Regnum Cristi o Legionarios de Cristo aparecen nuevos datos.
El padre Adolfo Flores Acosta (57 años de edad) que en últimas fechas fue párroco en la isla de Cozumel y en Carrillo Puerto (Prelatura de Cancún) me externó su intención de pasar al clero diocesano de su natal ciudad de Torreón (norte de México). El padre es una de las vícitmas sexuales de Maciel, sólo tras saberse que el fundador de los Legionarios había engendrado "por lo menos una hija" se atrevió a comentar los abusos sufridos la noche anterior a su profesión religiosa en el noviciado de Salamanca (España) la noche anterior a pronunciar sus votos en manos del Fundador. A lo largo de casi 30 años guardó silencio cierto de que nadie le creería. Siguió siendo uno de los que atendían a Maciel. Fue alejado a Brasil y ahí intentó pasar al clero diocesano. Regresó al seno de la Legión y fue destinado al a prelatura legionaria de Cancún. Experimentó problemas de memoria, es legítimo preguntarse si el esfuerzo de decenios por reprimir la memoria de los sufrido no degeneró en la ruina global de la misma facultad. El hecho es que en octubre del 2013 el padre Adolfo Flores Acosta, no está en el clero diocesano de Torreón, está en Guadalajara (México ) internado en una casa para sacerdotes enfermos mentales y /o físicos.
¡Qué tristeza! Yo conocí bastante bien al P. Adolfo, porque él residía en el mismo centro que yo cuando yo estaba en prácticas en Brasil. Es un buen hombre. De hecho yo estaba buscándolo el otro día en el internet para saber dónde está. Encontré ahora esta entrada en el blog por casualidad. Lo voy a encomendar en mis oraciones a él y al P. Benito.
ReplyDeleteDear Fr. Matthew, thanks for your heartfelt prayers for Fr. Adolfo Acosta Flores; let us pray for dissident Legionaries and members of Regnum Christi and let us reach out to them any way we can.
Delete