Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Legion of Christ "theoretical poverty" slammed by Pope Francis


 

“We have no use for theoretical poverty,” Francis said, departing from his prepared text.




Not that he referred to the LC by name but from the context -speaking to religious orders- what he says can be applied easily to the Legion of Christ and the Regnum Christi Movement who, following the spirituality of Fr. Marcial Maciel bequeathed to them, have always opted for "a spirit of poverty" over and above effective poverty. The question is, could the Pope be alluding to the Legion and does he have some clean up in store from them?




Francis urges priests to live simple lives among the poor

   
Pope Francis said today that clergy who were “careerists” or “social climbers” were doing serious damage to the Catholic Church, his latest utterance aimed at instilling a sense of frugality and service in the Vatican and beyond.
Francis (76), the former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, made the comments while addressing a gathering of superiors general of orders of nuns from around the world.
“Men and women of the Church who are careerists, social climbers, who use the people, the Church, brothers and sisters - those they should serve - as a springboard for their own ambitions and personal interests do great damage to the Church,” he said.
“We learn poverty from the humble, the poor, the sick,” he added, urging clergy to work with those on the margins of society and shun the “idols of materialism” that cloud the true meaning of life.
“We have no use for theoretical poverty,” Francis said, departing from his prepared text.
Since his election on March 13th, Francis has made it clear through his words and example that he wants clergy to live simpler lives, to serve the poor and shun temptations of power.
He has decided not to live in the spacious, luxurious papal apartments in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace used by his predecessors, opting instead for a small suite in a guest house, where he shares meals with other residents.
In his address, the pope appeared to be sending a message not only to priests, nuns and bishops around the world who serve the 1.2 billion-member church, but also to bureaucrats in the Vatican itself.
Francis has inherited a Vatican rocked by a scandal in which documents leaked to the media spoke of alleged corruption in its administration and depicted prelates as fighting among themselves to advance their careers.
Last month he set up an advisory board of eight cardinals from around the world to help him reform the Vatican administration.
They will help him put into place changes in an administration which has been held responsible for some of the mishaps and scandals that plagued the eight-year reign ofPope Benedict before he resigned in February.
Benedict left a secret report for Francis on the problems in the administration, which came to light when sensitive documents were stolen from the pope’s desk and leaked by his butler in what became know as the “Vatileaks” scandal.
Before the conclave that elected Francis, cardinals called for changes to the Curia to make it a model of good governance, including introducing term limits on Vatican bureaucrats.
Anger at the mostly Italian prelates who run the Curia was one of the reasons that cardinals chose the first non-European pope for 1,300 years and quashed the chances of one of the front-runners, Milan Archbishop Angelo Scola.

Friday, April 26, 2013

Fr. Peter Bryne, LC, Decries "the Same old Legion of Christ"



Legion superiors refuse one of their own Priests permission to visit Mexico for his doctoral thesis;
He has become "persona non grata" for speaking out selectively.

Google translation reviewed by blogger


Dear Superiors, Fathers, and Mexico Brothers in Christ
.
      Some time ago I asked permission to go to Mexico to instruct parents on the formation of children, greet friends and collect data for my doctorate. A few days ago I received the denial of that permission. When asking for reasons, the regional director explained that the territorial directorate of Mexico with its council does not want me to visit Mexican communities as a result of the letter on the sale of the UNID education centers which I sent [to some members] and that the superiors have a higher duty to protect communities from the discomfort I could cause.

      This exclusion from the Legionary community cut to the bone. Over recent years I have asked publicly and privately for
1. Justice and reconciliation with victims of Fr. Maciel.
2. The Gospel to be lived according to the criteria and the true service of souls.
3. Transparency in government and finances of the congregation.
4. Co-responsibility.
5. The research and drafting of the authentic history and the Legion  and Maciel.
6. The identification and exclusion of perfidious Macielist elements found in our Legionary culture (class discrimination, lying, cheating, using people as a means to an end, the numerical results mentality, racism, childishness, lack of critical debate ...)

Which of these elements can cause them concern? Which of these elements justifies me being excluded from their communities?

Is this the new Legion? Is new legion that which excludes those who think differently, a legion that has no room for the awkward brother, the brother who was 34 years at their side? Is not this the same old Legion which ignored the victims of P. Maciel, who will not listen when we are accused of being a cult? Is not it the same old Legion which just wants to read its own materials, congratulate itself on its successes and achievements wallowing in ignoring the damage it has done to the Church and the urgent need for radical change?
Personally I was worried after the fact many of Maciel's accomplices keep visiting communities, preaching exercises and retreats,  are appointed superiors and spiritual directors, but at no time did I believe they did not have the right to be in a legionary house or eat at the table or sleep in a room. For all intents and purposes they are brothers .. or I was a brother.


FYI,  brothers, I  never sent a note to the press. The letter on the sale of the EDID was sent some superiors, advisers and to a few Legionary priests. I've never given an interview. From the beginning I signed all the letters with my name and never hit low. 

Brothers, it was the silence of the good which allowed the Fr. Maciel to do so much damage to our brothers. I will not be a silent accomplice.

In Christ, P. Peter F. Byrne L.C




====
Estimado en Cristo Superiores , Padres y Hermanos  en México.
      Hace tiempo pedí permiso para ir a México para dar unas conferencias a papas de familia sobre la formación de los hijos, saludar amigos y recabar datos para el doctorado.  Unos  días ha me llegó la denegación de aquel permiso. Al pedir razones, el director territorial me explicó  que la dirección territorial de México con su consejo no quiere que vaya a las comunidades mexicanas pues a raíz de la carta sobre la venta de la UNID tienen los superiores el deber de proteger a las comunidades de la inquietud que yo pudiese causar.
      Me ha dolido en el alma esta exclusión de la comunidad Legionaria. A lo largo de estos últimos años he pedido  públicamente y en privado:
1.       Justicia para y reconciliación con las víctimas del P.Maciel.
2.       La conformidad con los criterios evangélicos y el verdadero servicio de las almas.
3.       La transparencia en el gobierno y las  finanzas de la congregación.
4.       La corresponsabilidad.
5.       La investigación y redacción de la autentica historia del P.Maciel y de la Legión.
6.       La identificación y exclusión de los elementos pérfidos del macielismo que se encuentran en nuestra cultura legionaria (la aceptación de personas, la mentira, el engaño, el utilizar a las personas como medios a un fin,  la mentalidad de resultados numéricos, el racismo, el infantilismo, la falta de debate y espíritu crítico…)

¿Cuál de estos elementos les puede causar inquietud? ¿Cuál de estos elementos justifica que yo sea excluido de sus comunidades?

¿ Es esta la nueva Legión? ¿Es nueva una  legión que excluye a los que pensamos diferente, una legión que no tiene espacio para el hermano incomodo, el hermano que estuvo 34 años  a su lado? ¿Acaso no es esta la misma vieja Legión que no oyó a las víctimas del P,Maciel, que no quiso escuchar cuando se nos acusaba de ser una secta? ¿Acaso no es la misma vieja Legión que solo quiere leer la RED, felicitarse por sus éxitos y revolcarse en sus logros ignorando el daño que ha hecho a la Iglesia y la urgente necesidad de un cambio radical?
Personalmente me ha inquietado mucho que los encubridores del P.Maciel sigan visitando comunidades, predicando ejercicios y retiros, que sean nombrados superiores y directores espirituales;  pero en ningún momento he considerado que no tengan el derecho de estar en una casa legionaria, comer a la mesa o dormir en un cuarto. Pues al fin son hermanos.. o fuimos hermanos. 
Para su información hermanos nunca he mandado una nota a la prensa. La carta sobre la venta de la UNID  la mandé a algunos superiores, consejeros y pocos sacerdotes legionarios. Nunca he dado una entrevista.  Desde el inicio firmé todas las cartas con mi nombre y nunca escribí bajo . Hermanos, fue el silencio de los buenos lo que permitió que el P.Maciel hiciera tanto daño a hermanos nuestros. No seré cómplice silencioso.
En Cristo, P. Peter F. Byrne L.C



“All it takes for evil to advance is for good men to do nothing”- Burke
---

Another translation, from Facebook, Legion and Regnum

Superiors, Fathers and Brothers,

Some months ago I asked for permission to go to Mexico to give conferences to parents about the formation of children, say hello to friends and pick up some information for the doctorate. Last Wednesday (19th of Abril) I was told that the permission had been denied by the superiors in Mexico because of the letter I had sent about the sale of the UNID universities and that my presence would perturb the communities. The exclusion from the legionary community has been deeply distressing. 


Over the last three years I have asked publically and privately for six things:

1. Justice for and reconciliation with the victims of Fr. Maciel.

2. Conformity with the Gospel and true service of souls.

3. Transparency in the government and finances of the congregation.

4. Co-responsibility and accountability

5. The investigation and publication of the true story of Fr. Maciel and the Legion

6. The exclusion of the perverse elements that maciel and his clique had introduced into the Legionary culture (racism, lies, deceit, using people as means to an end, the exclusion of debate and critical thinking, prohibition of free speech etc..)

Which of these could perturb you? Which of these could justify that I be excluded from your communities?
Is this the new Legion? Is this the reformed Legion? Is it a new Legion that excludes those of us who think differently? Is it a new Legion one that doesn't have place for the awkward brother, for the brother that was 34 years at your side?
No, this is the same old Legion that did not listen to the Fr. Marciel’s victims. This is the same old Legion that did not want to listen when it was being accused of becoming a cult and quashed any signs of independent thought. This is the same old Legion that only reads its internal propaganda and lolls in its own fake numbers and victories while ignoring the terrible damage it has done to the Church and the urgent need for radical reform.

It has been a source of hurting when those who covered up for Fr. Maciel continue to visit communities and preach retreats; when they are named superiors and spiritual directors: however I have never thought that they should be excluded from a legionary house. They have the same right to be in a legionary house, sit at table, pray and sleep in a community. That is what has been denied to me because I think differently and speak openly. I thought we were a band of brothers … but obviously I was wrong.

For your information: I have never sent a letter to the press. The letter about the sale of the UNID was sent to legionary superiors and a few legionary priests. I have never given an interview. I have always signed the letters in my own name and never used a pseudonym.

Legionaries, it was cowardly silence that permitted that Fr. Maciel could do so much damage to our legionary brothers and wound the church so deeply. I will not be a silent accomplice again.

In Christ,

P.Peter F. Byrne L.C

Monday, April 22, 2013

"More Catholic than the Pope!" Legion of Christ is less...




The title is a Spanish expression which I have translated. I hope you understand the meaning. It refers to people "to the right of the Pope", "more Orthodox than the Pope"

The blogger applies it to the Pius X Society as it appears in the article below.

Could it be applied to the Legion of Christ? Maybe not, because the Legion has been careful to strike a pretty good balance as regards doctrine, thus distancing itself from "Catholic weirdos," while never espousing anything approaching "Liberation Theology".

The Legion, however, is not on the same page with the Pope as regards the apostolate. Pope Francis had some of his diocesan priests living in the barrios of Buenos Aires with the poor and marginalized. The Legion's specific apostolate starts at the top of society and pretends to 'trickle down' to the masses.

In this sense, the Legion is "less Catholic than the Pope"!
--


Catholic rebel group begins criticising new pope
By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor
PARIS | Thu Apr 18, 2013

(Reporting By Tom Heneghan; Editing by Michael Roddy)

A rebel Catholic group at the heart of major controversies that plagued former Pope Benedict has begun criticising his successor Pope Francis for the popular approach he has taken since his election last month.

In a letter to supporters this week, the head of the ultra- traditionalist Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) asked whether the new pontiff's focus on serving people could be only "man-centred philanthropy" rather than true religious leadership.

Bishop Bernard Fellay's sharp criticisms of the Vatican attracted attention during Benedict's papacy because the now retired head of the Roman Catholic Church wanted to reintegrate the once-excommunicated group fully into the Roman fold.

Francis, the former Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, has upset many Catholic traditionalists by eschewing Vatican pomp, presenting himself as a humble servant of the poor and showing little interest in returning to centuries-old traditions.

In his letter, Fellay urged Francis "not to allow souls to perish because they no longer learn sound doctrine", by which he meant the ultra-traditionalist views the SSPX advocates.

"What good is it to devote oneself to serving people if it hides from them what is essential?" asked Fellay, whose group claims 500 priests and a million followers around the world.

Aiding the poor has always been a concern for the Church, he said, "but if it becomes merely man-centred philanthropy, then the Church is no longer carrying out its mission".

Fellay, who had long hoped that Benedict would give in and reintegrate his group without conditions, had avoided public comment on his successor until now.

Soon after his election, the SSPX head for South America, Rev Christian Bouchacourt, denounced Francis's simple style as humiliating and undignified for the Church.

"NOT A CATHOLIC"

While Benedict criticised some reforms of the 1962-1965 Second Vatican Council, Francis praised it on Tuesday as "a beautiful work of the Holy Spirit" that remained to be fully implemented although some wanted to turn back the clock.

Benedict's wooing of the SSPX, part of a his wider plan to bring back many Catholic traditions sidelined after Vatican II, triggered several controversies during his eight-year papacy.

His 2007 decision to allow wider use of the old Latin Mass met with a mixed reaction among Catholics and Jewish groups said it revived an old Latin prayer they considered anti-Semitic.

Two years later, Benedict set off a firestorm of criticism from Catholics, Jews and German politicians when he lifted the excommunications on the four SSPX bishops, including the notorious Holocaust-denier Bishop Richard Williamson.

Lifting the excommunications meant the four bishops were once again full members of the 1.2-billion member Church, but they and the SSPX had no official position or role within it.

In 2010, the Vatican launched theological discussions with the rebels aimed at an agreement that would make the SSPX a "personal prelature" or autonomous institution in the Church.

They ended in deadlock last year and Benedict made clear he would not give in on central Vatican II reforms such as its opening to dialogue with other faiths, especially Judaism.

Archbishop Gerhard Mueller, the top doctrinal official in Rome, told Germany's Catholic news agency KNA last month that all priests accept the Council's reforms as valid.

"Whoever does not recognise this is not a Catholic," he declared.

Friday, April 19, 2013

Is the Legion and Regnum Christ a Sect...Fr. Longenecker



APPLY CRITERIA FROM "CULTS AND COMMON SENSE" TO THE LEGION/REGNUM

See article by Fr. Longenecker from his blog, Standing on my Head"


One of the creepiest things about religion is the tendency for those involved to drift into cult-like behaviors. How can you tell if a religious group is operating like a cult? It’s difficult because the people in a religious group can behave like a cult without them becoming a full blown, identifiable religious cult.
What groups am I thinking of? It could be a small local group or a large international group. It could be a parish or a school. It could be a study group or an ecclesial community. The difficulty is that cult like behavior is often very similar to authentic and Spirit filled Christian communities. A cult will often look like a good, authentic and dynamic Christian community. In fact, the cult will often out do the authentic Christian community in certain respects. Sometimes the cult will feel more authentic, more dynamic, more spiritual and more “filled with the Spirit.”
How can you tell if a parish, a school, a community or a religious group are becoming cult like? Again, it is very difficult because some groups that have cult-like behaviors remain at a low level of these behaviors.
So what are the danger signs? First of all, if a religious community or a religious leader seem too good to be true–guess what? They’re usually too good to be true. That’s because group cult behavior conspires to cover up and hide away anything that tarnishes the glossy image of that “wonderful community” that all the members want so much to believe in. This is the first sign of a cult: everything is too wonderful and everyone is ready to tell you how wonderful it all it. The cult will invariably have an amazingly good public relations operation. They will present a good and glossy front with 100% participation of all involved. This being the case, if your priest is a man who’s faults are obvious. Maybe you should be grateful. He’s real. He’s not trying to con you.
The second thing to watch out for is the leadership. The leadership of a cult will invariably be selective and exclusive. There will be a public face of the leadership, and that person will unfailingly present the nice, glossy and polished face of the organization. The public face will be squeaky clean and wonderful. If it is a personality based cult there may be no other leadership. However, if there is a board of directors or trustees, they will remain in the background. You may not know who they are. Their meetings will not be public. They may even have a vow of secrecy about their meetings. They will call this something nice like “a confidentiality agreement.” This means they cannot discuss what goes on behind those closed doors. There may not be a formal leadership group at all. Instead the leader may simply have an inside circle of friends and confidantes who nobody really knows because they never have any meetings as such. The decisions are all taken in private. The leadership will be tightly controlled and it will be by invitation only. If you encounter non-transparent leadership in this way. Don’t be surprised and be suspicious.
A third trait of a cult is that complete loyalty is demanded of the followers. Dissent and criticism is not permitted. Those who dissent will be marginalized, excluded from decision making and demonized. If the leaders cannot get rid of the dissenters they will be isolated and given a name. They will be “the troublemakers” or “the grumblers”. The dissenters from within will be considered the most dangerous ones and you will find that there are divisions–those who are loyal followers and those who are suspected of being “disloyal” or “rebellious”. The disloyal and rebellious ones will be deemed “unspiritual” or “difficult”. In extreme cases the dissenters will become scapegoats and all the negativities of the group will be projected on to them.
A fourth characteristic of a group that has become a cult or is behaving in a cult like manner is that there will be a persecution complex. A group of outside forces will be identified who are “the enemy”. A little fortress will be built in which all those on the inside are the “faithful ones” while all those on the outside will increasingly be demonized and feared. There will be no real effort to build bridges or get to know those on the outside. There will be no real effort to treat the outsiders as real people. Instead they are the enemy to be kept at arms’ length and against whom the faithful will usually project their fears and suspicions. At worst the enemy will have all the sins and fears and dark negativities projected on them.
The problem is that when a group is becoming cult like it does so innocently. Nobody sets out to establish a cult. Instead, unconsciously certain individuals start to behave in this manner and they support one another. The leadership starts to create an unrealistically wonderful religious atmosphere and those who want and need that sort of religious group will support it and feed the flames. The faithful will set the leader up on a pedestal and declare him to be wonderful and the leader (who needs and likes the adulation) will encourage their hero worship. Those who object or suspect what is happening will be automatically excluded or marginalized by those who wish to perpetuate the super wonderful world they are setting up for themselves.
It all stinks to high heaven, and I know how it works because in over fifty years of working in a range of religious groups I have seen these behaviors develop within parishes, within home prayer and praise groups, within schools, in colleges and in independent churches.
What’s the antidote? One of the antidotes is actually the Catholic parish system. If we all went to our local parish and put up with the priest we didn’t happen to like and the people who were just there because, like us, they lived there–we would be more realistic and we wouldn’t fall into personality cult problems.
Another antidote is common sense. If something or someone seems to be too good to be true. They are. Common sense pops pomposity’s balloon and brings things down to earth. A third antidote is open-ness to criticism and dissent. A real servant leader and a truly service based group will value all members and be strong enough to listen to dissenting voices. They will treat criticism as positive feedback and be open not only to dissent but to outsiders. A fourth antidote is confession. Cult members and cult leaders never admit their mistakes and will never be able to make a true, honest and open confession or apology. If your leader or community members cannot say “sorry” you’ve got problems.
Finally, real religion is just that. It’s real. It’s humble. Remember the word “humility” comes from the word “humus” which means “earth”. Real religion is down to earth. It’s humble and oh yes, “Humus” is also the root for “humor”. Real religion always knows how to have a laugh. If a group or a person can’t laugh at themselves–be suspicious. If they take themselves or their movement or their spirituality with utmost seriousness–beware.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Cardinal Rode staunch Ally of Fr. Maciel and Defender of Legion/Regnum Christi Charism


Maciel-rode

From prestigious Regnum Christi expert, Giselle.

In 2004, Rodé became prefect of the congregation that governs religious orders. His predecessor, Cardinal Eduardo Martínez Somalo, took a $90,000 gift from Maciel, according to the priest who carried the envelope. Martínez Somalo refused interview requests.
Rodé said he took no cash gifts from the Legion.
"I esteem the charism of the Legionaries," Rodé told NCR in a Nov. 29 interview at his apartment at the Vatican. He saw young men of rock-solid orthodoxy, their numbers rising in Latin America as vocations sank in Europe and North America. Rodé gave celebratory speeches for the Legion in Brazil and Chile and praised the founder after Maciel's ouster.
Asked whether that was a mistake, he couched his answer in the context of papal loyalty. "It is difficult to say it was a mistake by the pope," he said, referencing John Paul's praise of Maciel long after the 1998 case filed in the doctrinal congregation. "I don't know. I wasn't there" to know what John Paul knew, or would not consider, about Maciel.
Rodé defends the Legionaries as a phenomenon apart from Maciel, a position Benedict took in the Vatican takeover to reform the order.
A former Legion priest, speaking on background, said he met with Rodé after Maciel's death and the cardinal told him of a VHS he had seen when Maciel was superior general of Maciel and his young daughter.
Asked about this, Rodé gave a somber nod, saying it was "late 2004, or early 2005." The Legionary who showed it wanted him to have the information before the order's election for superior general, the position Maciel held for decades. Rodé says he persuaded the 84-year-old Maciel, by then under investigation, to step down. Maciel was re-elected and then retired.
What did Rodé do about the videotape showing Maciel's daughter?
"I told Msgr. Scicluna all about the problem," the cardinal said.
Scicluna reported directly to Ratzinger.
As the prefect over religious orders, why did Rodé not punish Maciel?
"It was not for me to pronounce the penalty," he said. "But he was, in the end, corrected" -- by Benedict's 2006 Vatican order sending Maciel to a "life of prayer and penitence."
Did the cardinal confront Maciel about his child?
"It was not my obligation."
Why not?
"I was not his confessor." Rodé paused. "It was my obligation as prefect for religious to get him to step down, and I did."
One must look at the date here [11Dec08], as well as the content, since Cardinal Rode was an enthusiastic supporter of the group. He spoke glowingly of both Maciel and the Movement after 2006, giving lectures at Legion venues in Rome and Atlanta. His words are curious, given his understanding of foundersand their relationship to their foundations:
“Religious life, being a gift of the Holy Spirit for each religious and the Church, depends especially on fidelity to its origins, fidelity to the founder and to the particular charism. Fidelity to this charism is essential, because God blesses faithfulness, while he ‘resists the proud.’ The complete rupture of some with the past, therefore, goes against the nature of a religious congregation and in essence, leads to the rejection of God,” he said.
In light of that teaching, consider these glowing remarks he made at the 2007 YFE, knowing already that the Founder of LC/RC was not what he appeared to be:
Your charism is a gift that the Holy Spirit has delivered personally to each one of you in order to serve the Church. This gift is part of God's will with the intention of making each of you a source of radiating it thereby. So the charism is both a gift and a responsibility.
I know how your founder insists that outside the Church, Regnum Christi is meaningless, and how you, as faithful children, take care and nourish the relationship to the Pope and the Church. It identifies you like your DNA. Where there is a member of Regnum Christi, there is profound communion with the Vicar of Christ and with the Mystical Body of Christ. Communion with the Pope and with the Church is your guarantee of apostolic fruitfulness.
It is true, as I have repeated many times your founder, that to follow Christ is to deny yourself. In this effort, keep in mind the leitmotif of Pope Benedict XVI's speech of the beginning of his pontificate: "Be not afraid: Christ takes nothing and gives everything."
Do not be afraid to grow, but rather fear not to grow. How much good will accrue if you grow! And, how well, sadly, it will cease if you do not grow! The Church needs you, and you need to become even stronger and larger. To carry out your apostolic charism, you are to grow.

If there are any records that you must carry from this meeting, it is this: Grow. Grow in depth and grow in extension. Growing up means growing in depth knowledge and love of Christ, intellectually and apostolically, and assimilate that knowledge into your charism. Growing by extension means to grow numerically, so that through Regnum Christi there will be more apostles, more work, more initiatives to serve the Church and souls. This is what the Church needs and what the world needs. And I would say, I need every one of you if you are not going to defraud God's plans for your life.
And also, to assimilate and penetrate the charism of your movement, apply what the Church tells her Religious: the Founder's interpretation is the interpretation of an authentic charism. So, read, meditate and assimilate the words of the one whom God chose to convey to this spirit, your Founder, Fr Maciel. It is the preferred means through which God imprints the charism of Regnum Christi in your consciousness, in your heart and in your actions.
Dear friends, members of Regnum Christi, grow always in the love of Christ, the apostolic impetus in living charity, which is your charism. The Church needs these traits.
Stunning words, knowing that he knew by then that MM was a fraud, that Movements depended on the holiness of their Founders, and that the more he encouraged this group to grow (right out of MM's AFIRE manual) the larger the cancer at the heart of the Church--to which MM and Rode encouraged it to cleave.
There is also the problem that 3gf members of RC were living by statutes ostensiblyapproved by Rode's dicastery, but that were later admitted not to have actually been so approved.
The decree is signed by Archbishop Rodé and by Archbishop Piergiorgio Silvano Nesti, secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

The decree continue: "Its specific charism is the same as that of the Legion of Christ and consists in knowing, living and preaching the commandment of love that Jesus Christ the Redeemer came to bring us by his incarnation. Well known, in fact, is the work carried out by the Legionaries of Christ and the members of the Regnum Christi apostolate movement in building the civilization of Christian justice and love."

"The founder of the Legion of Christ and of Regnum Christi presented to the Apostolic See the 'Statutes' of the Regnum Christi apostolate movement requesting their definitive approval. The Supreme Pontiff received this request paternally and with his supreme authority has approved them," it states.
Remember that for years previous to this event, the Movement stressed that everything had already been approved -- but ultimately this approval amounted to roughly 1/10th of the whole body of rules by which 3gf's (and 3gm's) had already been living.
I leave it to you to consider what this means. I find it disturbing and misleading--promoting a known fraud, encouraging his compromised creation to grow, encouraging the members to follow rules that were crafted by a liar; and then standing by as the Founder died--and was praised as a good and faithful servant. Why? Cui bono? And still it continues.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Fr. Maciel's Fancy Cars: the Two Tone Fully Loaded Chrysler circa 1957




not sure which one.....need to get the color right


A note from witness JJBM a propos

 "Although I only saw MM's black Mercedes on videotape, I rode once on his 'special edition' two color
1957 Chrysler, that he had bought CASH in Tangiers that same year.

Around August 15th. 1957 Maciel arrived in that fancy latest model at the
Seminary of Lugo (Galicia, Spain), where we, LC members, were spending the
summer vacation near "Saint Elisabeth's Fields" on the Miño River. Neftalí
Sánchez Tinoco, a Mexican LC theology student at the Gregorian University
was accompanying MM in Spain all through that year as his driver. Neftalí
arrived wearing unusual light blue trousers and a bright jacket. Most of
the LC community group were that afternoon at the Fields . A few of us
had remained at the seminary,  still recovering from having drank 
spoiled powder milk that morning supplied to us in Rome by the American Forces at the
large base in Leghorn, thanks to the intervention of Fr. Rafael Arumí
aided by the Mexican-American student, Santiago Coindreau Farias.

Maciel always said that the 1957 special edition Chrysler had been given to
him as a gift by Mrs. Josefita Pérez Jiménez,  daughter of the
former Venezuelan dictator of the same name. BUT, many years later
(around August 3rd. 1992) in a lengthy conversation at the Posada de la
Soledad in the city of Morelia, Mexico, Neftalí Sanchez Tinoco
told me that the Josefita story was not true, and that he himself had
accompanied Maciel the day he bought the care CASH.  We know that Tangiers
was an international center of drug traffic and prostitution, and some of
the 1950's Legionaries found out also that Maciel himself and Andrés García
Vega (our superior at the LC school in Cobreces, Santander, Spain) sometimes
traveled  to the north of Africa to change US dollars on the
black market.

I must add that the Chrysler acquisition happened in the middle year of
the first Vatican investigation (1956-1959), when Maciel was fobidden from contacting us
 after the Vatican had appointed Fr. Luis Ferreira Correa as the LC vicar general.

PS
Dr. Arturo Jurado (LC 1949-1963) and I have been told that Frs. Neftalí Sanchez
Tinoco and Santiago Coindreau Farías are still formally members of the Legion. 
At this moment Fr. Neftali works as a priest in the City of Morelia, Michoacan state, Mexico, while Fr. Coindreau Farias appears as a retired US Army Coronel Chaplain living in southern USA."

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Legion of Christ's Mrs. Mee Deceptive Fundraising in Context



Fr. Maciel, continued to court Pope John Paul II as evidenced by this 2000 photo; note pope's personal secretary, Mons Dziewiz,  and Fr. Luis Garza -under Maciel's nose-  in the background


Jason Berry, maligned by Fr. Maciel, the Legion of Christ, by the National Catholic Register,. and especially by Richard John Neuhaus in his famous Feathers of Scandal articles in First Things, continues to be the most knowledgeable reporter on Maciel and the Legion of Christ. The following article puts the Mee Fundaising scandal in a broader intelligent and intelligible context.