Garza, Legion Vicar General, Shafted by Vatican

Nice Catholic News Agency tells us nicely that Fr. Garza - who is anything but nice- apparently became a liability, and  is now shafted. You can read all the holy blarney below to learn how nicely that was done in the voice of nice Fr. Alvaro Corcuera -who should be next!- as the Legion continues to massage the information to make it as palatable as possible to its fawning multitudes.

It is encouraging to learn that De Paolis has the necessary testicular fortitude to do this.

It also seems that De Paolis has one velvet glove and another of steel. He had just complained about the dissidents who were hindering his reform and then out of the blue puts Garza  -a person who had seemed to be so on board with the Reforms - to the sword
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“America and Canada are countries that I have always admired and I am humbled to serve as territorial director of the united territory,” said Fr. Garza in a statement issued to media July 15.

Only last month Fr. Garza told CNA that he had no intention of stepping down from his post as vicar general – essentially second-in-command of the Legion. Instead, he hinted that there may be a general turnover of the organization’s leadership after their next General Chapter meeting.

Today’s news comes as the Vatican is reviewing both the purpose and constitution of the Legion. That process is being headed up by Italian cleric, Cardinal Velasio De Paolis.

The cardinal was appointed as ‘Papal Delegate’ last year after a Vatican investigation condemned the late founder of the congregation, Fr. Marcial Maciel, as a being guilty of “serious and objectively immoral behavior” as well as “real crimes.”

Fr. Maciel had sexually abused seminarians over many years and fathered several children with different women. He died in 2008, aged 87. The Vatican report summed up his life as “devoid of scruples and of genuine religious feeling.”

“We are working together to face the challenges for our communities and our apostolates around the world, and with particular intensity in the United States and Canada,” said Fr. Alvaro Corcuera, the general director of the Legion.

“We must lay more solid foundations on which to build and re-launch our service to the Church in those countries.”

And so the Legion’s activities in North America that were previously split into two territories – New York and Atlanta – will now merge into one with Fr. Garza at the helm.

“In the consultation, various candidates were considered for the new position. Although both of the current territorial directors have done an extraordinary job, there was broad consensus in favor of Fr. Luis Garza,” said Fr. Corcuera.

Fr. Garza is originally from Monterrey in Mexico. He joined the Legion of Christ in 1978 and was ordained a priest in 1985. He’s been vicar general of the Legion since 1992. His critics have suggested he must have been aware of Fr. Maciel’s misdeeds, a charge Fr. Garza has always denied.

He will take up his new post on August 1.>
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The blogger has boldened typical Legion blarney, misinformation, and downright lies from Corcuera. He tells the barefaced lies with such a sweet and innocent look on his face. But for people who love appearances of holiness, that should do the trick.

When was any decision been taken democratically or consensually in the Legion of Christ or when has any thoughtful screening of candidates ever take place! The newly elected is imposed enceremoniously on the present territorial directors in the usual dictatorial way.

Could it be that De Paolis is bowing to pressures from some Legionaries inside to get rid of Garza who has been so disliked for so long?

Leger and Lennon deliver papers at Cultic Studies Conference in Barcelona, Spain, July 8, 2011

Today, as part of series of studies around the Issue, "Do Cultic Groups Exist Inside the Catholic Church", Paul Lennon presented an update on the Vatican Intervention of the Legion of Christ, and Xavier Leger, a Parisian former Legionary, presented When Guilt and Ideology prevail in a Catholic Group.
Both presentations were well received by an audience of priests, religious, sociologists, psychologists, concerned parents and friends of people in High Demand Groups.

Articles will either by published by the International Cultic Studies Association or by REGAIN

Scion of Spanish Aristocracy leaves Legion of Christ ranks

Charismatic preacher, recruiter, founder, and fundraiser Fr. Juan Pedro Oriol


Juan Pedre Oriol, that is Father...has just left the Legion -after 31 years. He the Legion a headache by critiquing it while still in and while going out the door.
See info on life.after.rc and on http://www.regainnetwork.org/ which will soon carry a full translation of Fr. Juan Pedro's swan song. He has joined the diocese of Guadalajara, Mexico, where he had been working as a Legionary.
Padre Oriol's testimony, full of love and nostalgia for the Legion, for his companions, and respectful towards the current General Director, Fr. Alvaro Corcuera, must make other Catholics reflect and rethink their adhesion to the Legion of Christ and the Regnum Christ which are presently being probed, reformed and propped up [?] by Apostolic Delegate, Cardinal De Paolis.
Padre Oriol's testimony is riveting and heartrending

Legionaries of Christ spy on this page!

                                                   The author, previously sued by the Legion


Done some checking with a computer whiz and I find that certain Legionaries secretly monitor this page and report to their superior and thence to lawyers to see if they can sue the blogger.

All in the name of the Christ of the Legion and while supposedly being under Vatican supervision!

Cardinal De Paolis please wake up!

Vatican Continues to Fawn on the Legion of Maciel

"The Legionaries of Christ together with the Vatican launched an International Econonmic Summit which will not only have important businessmen but  also the Order's Vicar General, Luis Garza Medina, among the presenters."

Los Legionarios de Cristo convocaron junto con El Vaticano a una cumbre económica internacional que tendrá entre sus relatores no sólo a empresarios de alto nivel sino también al vicario general de la congregación, Luis Garza Medina


Full Spanish text below; bloger has enlarged some important data and names which can be

understood by English speakers to get the gist:



Noticias Internacionales del 9 de Junio de 2011


Organizan Legionarios de Cristo cumbre económica en El Vaticano.10:16h. Fuente: NOTIMEX


Los Legionarios de Cristo convocaron junto con El Vaticano a una cumbre económica internacional que tendrá entre sus relatores no sólo a empresarios de alto nivel sino también al vicario general de la congregación, Luis Garza Medina. El “Encuentro sobre la Etica para el Mundo de los Negocios” es promovido oficialmente por el Pontificio Consejo de la Justicia y de la Paz junto con dos instituciones vinculadas a la Legión: el Ateneo Pontificio Regina Apostolorum y el Fidelis International Institute. La reunión tendrá lugar los próximos 16 y 17 de junio en la Casina Pio IV, la exclusiva sede de la Pontificia Academia para las Ciencias Sociales ubicada en el corazón de los Jardines Vaticanos. Aunque la cumbre será presentada oficialmente este 10 de junio en una conferencia de prensa, Notimex pudo acceder al programa detallado que incluye la participación de personalidades de primer nivel tanto de la Sede Apostólica como del mundo de las finanzas. Los trabajos iniciarán el día 16 por la mañana con una misa en la Basílica de San Pedro presidida por el cardenal Peter Turkson, presidente del Pontificio Consejo de la Justicia y de la Paz. En la sesión inaugural pronunciarán discursos el “número dos” del Vaticano, el secretario de Estado, Tarcisio Bertone, el presidente de la Pontificia Academia para las Ciencias, Marcelo Sánchez-Sorondo y el mismo cardenal Turkson. En los dos días de trabajo los participantes escucharán algunas conferencias magistrales y paneles que abordarán temas como “negocios sociales y crecimiento económico”, “caridad y verdad en el mundo de los negocios” o “ética e integridad para un nuevo liderazgo”.

Entre los conferencistas destacan Andy Zelleke de la Universidad de Harvard, Stefano Zamagni de la Universidad de Boloña en Italia y Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, presidente del Instituto para las Obras de Religión (IOR), mejor conocido como el “banco del Vaticano”. La misa matutina del 17 de junio será celebrada por el cardenal Velasio De Paolis, presidente de la Prefectura para los Asuntos Económicos de la Santa Sede y delegado pontificio para la reforma de los Legionarios de Cristo. Entre los panelistas del encuentro se cuentan representantes de la Banca Central Europea, del Boston Consulting Group, del Strauss Group, del Club de Roma, del HSBC de Francia, del Grupo Acerero del Norte y del Goldman Sachs and Company.


"Legionary Fathers Michael Ryan and Luis Garza Medina will head the "technical conclusions"

La sesión dedicada a las “conclusiones técnicas” estará a cargo de los sacerdotes Michael Ryan y Luis Garza Medina, el polémico vicario general de la Legión quien ha sido señalado como uno de los encubridores de los delitos del fundador, Marcial Maciel Degollado. Garza ha sido también indicado como el “cerebro financiero” de la congregación, responsable del manejo de las finanzas de esa obra religiosa las cuales siempre se han mantenido bajo el más estricto hermetismo. El Pontificio Consejo de la Justicia y de la Paz calificó al congreso, en una nota de prensa, como “una cita única en su género” en la cual la comunidad internacional de los negocios podrá compartir las “buenas prácticas” éticas aplicadas en las empresas. “Por desgracia es aún actual preguntarse: por qué la economía, la política, la tecnología y la ciencia no están en condiciones de ofrecer perspectivas prácticas y compartidas para un desarrollo integral del hombre”, indicó el comunicado. “Para responder a esta pregunta –agregó- es que los organizadores del congreso proponen una perspectiva de estudio y de análisis que sea capaz de inspirar a los grandes empresarios el ideal de un crecimiento económico en armonía con la dignidad de la persona”.

Fr. Maciel's Daughter to Marry in Madrid [not a joke]

in this secret photo Norma Hilda may be the young lady standing beside Fr Maciel

[he in lay attire hands to door post; mother and Maciel's "wife" closest to camera]

Just caught this news item in Spanish:

beginning with a phrase from Don Quixote "You will see some [extraordinary] things, Sancho!" it continues with

"How many religious orders can see their founder's daughter get married?"

the news item informs us that Fr. Maciel's daughter, Mexican born Dª Norma Hilda Rivas Baños, -Fr Maciel used the pseudonym Senor Rivas in this particular incarnation- will marry a former Legionary of Christ religious, Don Juan María Piñero from Barcelona. They met at the Legion's Francisco de Vitoria University in Madrid. Perhaps Fr. Gabriel Sotres, LC, who for years was the messanger who took money from Fr. Maciel to his daughter, will perform the ceremony.

The blogger, naturally, considers both mother and daughter victims of Maciel's exploitation of people. We should pray for Norma Hilda and her mother -and hope the Legion continues to indemnify them.
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Below original Spanish text:

"Cosas veredes, Sancho!"


Dios y... Maciel los hicieron y ellos se juntan.



Hola amigos, para manterlos informados al día aquí les va la útlima noticia...
¿Cuántas congregaciones ven casarse a la hija de su sacerdote-fundador? Un

éxito más para la LC.
¿Quién la entregará en el altar? ¿Quien bendecirá la unión? Dicen que el P.

Gabriel Sotres iba a Madrid todos los meses a llevarle un regalito metálico a Norma. Se hospedaba en la Dirección Territorial y salía vestido de seglar para cumplir su misión especial... tal vez sea él quien bendiga la unión.

El próximo viernes día 10 de Junio, D.m., a las 18 horas, en la Iglesia
de las Salesas Reales de Madrid (Plaza de Santa Barbará), contraerán matrimonio canónico,
D. Juan María Piñero de Miguel y Dª Norma Hilda Rivas Baños.

Dª Norma Hilda es hija del que fuera fundador de los Legionarios de Cristo, Padre Marcial Maciel Degollado. D. Juan María Piñero, realizó el noviciado y los estudios de Humanidades Clásicas en la Legión de Cristo, y tras dejar la vida religiosa, prosiguió sus estudios en el Centro Universitario Francisco
de Vitoria de Madrid, perteneciente a la citada congregación. En dicho centro, se conocieron los contrayentes. D. Juan María es natural de Barcelona (España). Dª Norma Hilda nació en México.

Legionaries Despair of Vatican Intervention?

After reading of the "defection" of three more prominent Legionaries in the Atlanta area in the USA on the heels of the departure of the last [?] of the influential Spanish Oriol brothers in Spain and Mexico [Guadalajara] my feelings are mixed. I have fought for years to bring truth to the Legion and Regnum Christi phenomenon but instead of the "gloating" that some might maliciously attribute to me and other critics a strange melancholy prevails.

Legion members will always be our brothers, no matter their attitude to Maciel, Legion and Regnum; leaving the Legion was the hardest thing I ever did in my life, and it must be for them too: so much has been invested for so long. They are brave to leave. They are courageous to carry on with a priesthood which is -though they try to hide it- damaged by the flaunted "Legionary formation" where conscience is often replaced by guilt, and honesty often substituted by lies & deceit for the cause of the kingdom.

These men seem very fine, and they well may be. Blessings to them, their families and friends.

Do I detect in their farewell messages a [an unexpressed]  dissatisfaction with the results of the Vatian Intervention. These men are giving up on the Legion and on the Vatican Reform. They are not sticking around any longer. Reform is too slow and too whimpy and half-hearted. The Vatican appears to not want to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs =money and vocations. But as more naive members enter the sack, there is a big hole in the bottom where the sad and wise fall through...