Discernment Process #36 in the series How To....

Dear Reader,
copying post on Catholic Answers, Legionaries of Christ, Vocation thread, Troubled Legionary's Sister
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Leaving the Legionaries of Christ

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Quote:

Originally Posted by JReducation  in response to exLegionary

All of your points are well made. I just want to echo the one that I find to be criticial. When you are thinking of leaving the religious life or the priesthood or both, as in this case, you can't just jump ship. You have to begin the discernment process again. That's why the Church gives you the time to take a leave of absence or to test yourself in another setting, be it a diocese or a religious community. You don't just leave and are now free. The Church won't allow that. They will demand at least a leave of absence for at least a year and they can extend it up to five. During that time the person can return to the congregation or explore a diocese or another religious family. In the meantime, he has a year to live as a lay person. But his is bound to the vows and the constitutions of the congregation. He has to pray the Liturgy of the Hours under pain of sin. He has to remain celibate. He has to obey. He has to live poverty.

Fraternally,


Br. JR, OSF
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exLegionary to Br. JR

We are getting some consensus here. I would venture the say the priest is "in crisis", =not a good time to make life altering decisions. But it is very difficult for the priest. Because he is so uncomfortable now, he may just feel like running away from the source of so much hurt, deceit, and hypocrisy.

We have to help him slow down and not "despair"; he needs our support as family and friends. It is quite normal to feel overwhelmed sometimes, and it is wise to seek help. I am suggesting that he get help from someone outside the Legion, who is more "neutral", to help "stabilize" his crisis and begin his new discernment process. Perhaps he can gradually overcome his narrow-minded training and realize that there is much more to the Catholic Church than the Legion of Christ. And that God is Our Loving Father who can give us a special calling and wants us to find peace in our true "calling". He may realize that the Legionary spirituality was too Maciel-centered...But I empathize. It is not easy when you see your idols -even "holy" ones- crumble. We are talking about a change in World View, in Religous View and in Church View

The good news is that I believe Legion formation is Christ-centered. Christ has not changed and will not.

He may find a more "stripped down" spirituality, that relies less on human intermediaries, including charismatic saints A scary thought!

Gateway Fr Maher walks out Gate of Legion.....#35 in the series How to...

Read brief, laconic notice below. Letter contains a typo "pray" for "prayer"
He is leaving without leaving, moving to a diocese but remaining a religious but not not living in his religious community...is there a clearer way to say this?

Dear Gateway families,

I've been in the Legion for 23 years. It's been a very fulfilling time in my life, particularly the time spent at Gateway Academy.
Through pray and discernment, I've asked for the opportunity to work in a parish and have been assigned in the Diocese of New Jersey. I remain a member of the congregation of the Legion of Christ, and am grateful for the years I have worked in the many apostolates of the Legion.
I am thankful to all of you for allowing me to be a part of your life. I ask that you keep me in your prayers and know that you will always be in mine.
God bless,
Fr. Thomas Maher, LC

LEAVING THE LEGION: THE HORNS OF THE DILEMMA - #14 "How to get a Loved one Out of the Legion & Regnum

In "Parsing Fr. Berg", @ Life After RC, Giselle has some very strong comments on his Adieu to Regnum Christi members, to the Legion, and to Catholics interested in the Legion and Regnum

LINK

As a Former Legionary Priest, now laicized, I can empathize with Fr. Berg and even admire him while at the same time agreeing with Giselle's trenchant reasoning regarding how Father is still under the spell of Legion sirens.

Harkening back to my own departure from the Legion I admire Fr Berg's presence of mind and his attempt to think through his leaving and to do it the best possible way. This is an admirable effort on his part. For some reason he has been able to preserve some sense of self as a separate entity from the Legion, the superiors, and the "mystique". He has some separate moral conscience. With his limited autonomy and self individuation he has been able to extricate himself from the Legion thicket.

The departing Legionary and Regnum Christ member faces a terrible dilemma: to leave or to stay BUT in reality

S/HE MUST LEAVE, OR AT LEAST STEP OUTSIDE, the institition in order to

- gain the objectivity that will help him/her see more clearly WHY s/he left; to

- understand the HOLD the institution still has on him/her; and to

- be able to see that same institution in a more OBJECTIVE light.
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"Our Father", who art in bed

LINK

to Amazon.com to buy

Second Journey

The Second Journey
by O'Collins, Gerald, a book
given to me by Dec in December 1984 helped me through the crisis of leaving Fr. Maciel and the Legion of Christ, leaving that second -oppressive- womb, and transitioning out of my prolonged youth into manhood. It was a bumpy trip. But no regrets. I did it my way!