Thursday, October 17, 2013

Dissident Legionaries "Hung out to Dry" in Psychiatric Facilities by Superiors


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.
En la misma casa ha sido recluido el padre Benito Aguilar Mendivil, de sobra conocido en Mérida (Yucatán, México) por haber sido el genio pastoral que levantó las escuelas y universidades u obras de apostolado en esa ciudad. Su gran labor entró en conflicto con la centralización administrativa que operó el entonces Vicario General, padre Luis Garza Medina. Ante la resistencia del padre Benito Aguilar, se procedió al nombramiento de directores laicos en las escuelas, la problemática induce una depresión al padre Benito Aguilar que es medicado con psicofármacos. Bajo los efectos del dopage lo trasladan a Cancún, al tiempo que Xacur, el dueño del complejo hotelero Palace, intercede ante el obispo legionario Pedro Pablo Elizondo Cárdenas para que el padre Benito sea capellán en sus hoteles. Con ello mejora la salud del padre Benito y restablece contacto con personas de Mérida que pasan por el complejo hotelero. De forma repentina se anuncia una recaídaa en la salud del padre Benito, su traslado a la ciudad de Puebla donde no conoce a nadie y el clima le es adverso. El deterioro de su salud hace que la familia se interese, el punto es que en octubre 2013 está Guadalajara internado en la casa para sacerdotes enfermos mentales y/o físicos que dirigen unas religiosas.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Legion of Christ -like Scientology Convicted of Defrauding Members


preying financially on several followers in the 1990s.






Interesting article appeared today

Paris (AFP) - France's top appeals court on Wednesday upheld a fraud conviction and hundreds of thousands of euros in fines against the Church of Scientology for taking advantage of vulnerable followers.
The Cour de Cassation rejected the organisation's request that a 2009 conviction for "organised fraud" be overturned on the grounds it violated religious freedoms.
The group has previously indicated it will appeal the conviction to the European Court of Human Rights.
The conviction saw Scientology's Celebrity Centre and its bookshop in Paris, the two branches of its French operations, ordered to pay 600,000 euros ($812,000) in fines for preying financially on several followers in the 1990s.
The original ruling, while stopping short of banning the group from operating in France, dealt a blow to the secretive movement best known for its Hollywood followers such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta.
France regards Scientology as a cult, not a religion, and had prosecuted individual Scientologists before, but the 2009 trial marked the first time the organisation as a whole had been convicted.
The head of a parliamentary group on religious cults in France, lawmaker Georges Fenech, hailed the ruling.
"Far from being a violation of freedom of religion, as this American organisation contends, this decision lifts the veil on the illegal and highly detrimental practices" of the group, said Fenech.
The court case followed a complaint by two women, one of whom said she was manipulated into handing over 20,000 euros in 1998 for Scientology products including an "electrometer" to measure mental energy.
A second claimed she was forced by her Scientologist employer to undergo testing and enrol in courses, also in 1998. When she refused she was fired.
Founded in 1954 by US science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, the Church of Scientology is recognised as a religion in the United States. It claims a worldwide membership of