What do Catholic Women get out of the Regnum Christi?

borrowing from a life after rc commentary which a former RC leader tells me is spot on:

I think she is spot-on with the observation.
Please share this, if you wish.
Thanks. God bless!

COMMENT

Like I said, I had to get outside the bubble-- in a world where sane Catholics don't BELONG to groups that have had to be taken over by the Vatican.

And all the information is out there for the taking. Anyone who is still associated with RC is not being deceived by other people. If they are deceived, it's self-deception.

Most of the people I know who are still in acknowledge the problems but don't see why that should make them leave?

How can that be? Well, they must derive some benefit from RC membership which they think outweighs the risks and losses.

Here's what I think--

Before the scandal broke out into the international news, a lot of women loved being RC because it gave them a sense of accomplishment and purpose.

Diapers and dishes and laundry and cleaning and disciplining kids and cooking are all exhausting and time consuming, but you never GET anywhere. At the end of the day, you've worn yourself out and all you can say when you look around is "Well, it's not any WORSE than when I got up this morning....."

Meanwhile, if you organize a fashion show, run a girls club, go to a retreat, finish your prayer list, well, you have COMPLETED something. You can point to it and say "hey, I did that!" and unlike scrapbooking or cake decorating or quilting or any other hobby Moms traditionally take up, you can feel EXTRA virtuous, because you saved souls! In fact, it's NOT a hobby, it's a vocation... so you can neglect the kids and laundry for it without guilt--- while your novel just has to wait when the baby has the flu......

Anyway, if we assume that these 'positive strokes' are the main benefit for many in RC (Because if it was about spiritual benefits, you could pray and read the gospel and go to adoration WITHOUT being associated with Maciel), well, then we can see why they stay.

If running a fashion show is a big important job, imagine how much MORE important it is to be one of the people who 'saves' the movement! There will be meetings! Focus groups! Revisions! It's important work, to save the movement and keep it going!

Not like making tuna mac, washing the pots after, and then cleaning up the fecal matter that your not-yet-potty-trained three year old left in the middle of the dining room floor before the not-yet-walking one year old plays in it......

I mean, seriously, who wouldn't rather be working to save the 'Kingdom' so that it can save the Church?

Because, last time I checked, that's a LOT more glamorous than what most of us (i.e. me, with the 'Little-Mr.-poops-on-the-floor-instead-of-in-the-potty) are doing all day.......

Anyway, the point is that these people aren't stupid. And at this point, thanks to all the work Giselle, Vere, et. al. did bringing the cult to light, they're not ignorant.

They're weighing the costs and benefits and making a rational economic decision.

And, in these cases, mammon tends to win....

Pope and De Paolis Try to Salvage Legion

By now we have all heard about the Pope on condoms, and those of us who are interested in the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi Lay Institute -or whatever it is exactly- have been parsing the phrases that have appeared in the new book of Interviews with Pope Theologican Ratzinger re Fr Maciel and his Work; personally I have only read snippets and so I cannot form a full opinion.

But we have the gist of the Pope's idea, phrase, that although Maciel was a false prophet, the Legion and Regnum Christi are basically wholesome.

With all due respect -and with the audacity that comes from knowing that the Pope is not talking ex cathedra and therefore could be mistaken- some are questioning Joseph Ratzinger's logic:

"A false prophet can do the work of God". This appears to fly in the face of elementary Biblical Theology

According to my limited knowledge, false prophets were those who tried to find an easy way to Salvation, a short cut, one might say, a magic formula...."Just do this and God is pleased, you are saved"...

Another aspect of false prophets was appearances,  falsehoods, 'glittering images'...and that definitely sounds like the Legion of Christ

Could the Pope and his envoy -Apostolic Delegate- continue to be deceived by the glitter of holiness...As the Iranian jeweller said to me the other day: "That is not real gold; that is just dipped in gold. If it were real gold it would cost a lot more!"
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Vatican Could Botch Legion Reform Again 50 years Later!

Reviewing an old article on REGAIN focusing on Maciel's multiple vices we find testimony from Original Vatican Investigators from the 1950s. This evidence flies in the face of the Placatory Remarks by Apostolic Delegate, De Paolis, in his 2nd letter to the Legion.

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[quote]

In the mid-1950s the Vatican suspended Maciel as superior general while it sent visitators to investigate charges against him. One of the visitators, a Carmelite friar named Anastasio Ballestrero of the Most Holy Rosary, sent a report recommending serious restructuring of the Legion as well as the removal of Maciel. Fr. Anastasio writes:

"[Pg. 15] Fr. Maciel, with whom I had hardly met, began to defend himself in an animated manner, without my even mentioning the accusations, indicating that he was well informed about everything while at the same time accusing Fr. Ferreira and especially [Brother] Domínguez of falsehoods and ambition. . . (Translators’ Note: Ferreira and Domínguez had submitted scathing written affidavits to ecclesiastical authorities which were highly critical of Maciel.)

"[Pg. 16] In response to the specific accusations regarding violations of the sixth [commandment], I have not received confirmation of anything. But it is worth mentioning the fact that, as has been already noted, the founder has complete control over [spiritual] direction in matters of purity and that he made a declaration, unsolicited, assuring me that none of his religious had ever committed a single sin of this nature [against purity].

"[Pg. 18] Conclusions:
"1. The Institute in question, in spite of the appearance of splendor and grandiosity, is in reality very fragile in its legal and spiritual structure. Additionally, it lacks mature and experienced personnel who can guarantee the level of development expected.
"2. The group of young novices and students, who make up nine tenths of the institute, have become fanaticized by the founder and his enterprise. However, this group is substantially healthy and shows good will. There is some hope of its being able to free itself of this fanaticism, although this appears doubtful."
His suggestions and remedies were as follows:

"1. In order to reduce appearances to the limits of reality:
"a) [Install] the seat of administration in Mexico

"b) The Apostolic School and the Novitiate exclusively limited to Mexico

"c) A prohibition ad nutum S. Sedis [under the direction of the Holy See] from admitting new students into the Apostolic School and the Novitiate

"d) A prohibition . . . against new foundations

"2. In order to guarantee more effective control over the Institute:

"a) Appointing someone from the Mexican episcopate with a special mandate to conduct oversight and provide assistance

"b) Naming a Superior General from outside the institution, but who belongs to a modern institution with an affinity for structure and spirituality. . .

"3. Fr. Maciel should be removed from his office on the basis of his exclusive and sole responsibility for the multiple serious legal irregularities and for the abuses committed in his administrative capacity. Keeping silence on the other matters seems prudent for reasons both internal and external, at least for the time being. The irregularities and abuses by themselves provide sufficient legal reasons for proceeding. [page 19]

"4. After a penance of a month of [spiritual] exercises, the priest in question should be obliged to live in a house in Mexico under the supervision of a bishop appointed by the Holy See. The Superior General should prohibit him from making trips of any sort and from interfering in the affairs of the Institute.

"5. The current constitutions should be radically modified with particular attention to the goals of the Institute and to the abolition of three vows.

"6. Finally, it would be desirable to discreetly notify, at the appropriate time, the Mexican episcopate and the Spanish ordinaries [bishops], as well as other interested prelates. Even more delicate is decision regarding how best to inform the Spanish Government.

"7. In the matter of granting secularization [Ed., i.e. return to diocesan priesthood out of religious life in the Legion] to the current vicar, Fr. Ferreira, I believe it would be opportune to do so, especially considering that there is absolutely no possibility of his being able to govern or to be of further use to the Institute.

"Rome, February 11, 1957

Vatican Cannot Reject Sociopath's Charisma (Path to Holiness)

From the Original Catholic Encyclopedia*:

"Charismata. — The Greek term charisma denotes any good gift that flows from God's benevolent love (charis) unto man; any Divine grace or favor, ranging from redemption and life eternal to comfort in communing with brethren in the Faith (Rom., v, 15, 16; vi, 23; xi, 29).
The term has, however, a narrower meaning: the spiritual graces and qualifications granted to every Christian to perform his task in the Church: "Every one hath his proper gift [charisma] from God; one after this manner, and another after that" (I Cor., vii, 7 etc.).
Lastly, in its narrowest sense, charisma is the theological term for denoting extraordinary graces given to individual Christians for the good of others. These, or most of these, are enumerated by St. Paul (I Cor., xii, 4, 9, 28, 30, 31), and form the subject-matter of the present article. They are: "The word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, faith, the grace of healing, the working of miracles, prophecy, the discerning of spirits, diverse kinds of tongues, interpretation of speeches" (I Cor., xii, 8-10). To these are added the charismata of apostles, prophets, doctors, helps, governments (ibid., 28)."
In the case in question, does the Legion/Regnum founded by Father Maciel possess a special God-given gift to bring souls to holiness, build the Church/Kingdom of Christ in the world?

Does the Legion of Christ and its affiliated Regnum Christi Lay Movement possess a Charism, a special gift from God to lead people to holiness/Jesus/God?

Could the degenerate founder have possessed such a gift and passed it on to his creation?

Could God have given this gift to the Order and the Movement despite the sinful life of the Founder?

The debate has raged over the past decade and became exacerbated after Maciel's double life was revealed by the Legion of Christ in 2009; the previous allegations of pedophilia, misuse of funds, a luxury life style of jets and hotels, plus tyrannical leadership had not been enough to have Catholics and his followers question the Founder's Holiness. Breaking his vow of celibacy by having heterosexual relations and engendering children seems to have finally convinced Orthodox and/or Conservative Catholics of the Legion Founder's Depravity.

Everyone then accepted that Maciel was a scoundrel. Narcissist and Sociopath [specifically, Anti-social Personality Disorder] diagnoses were introduced to explain his decades of double, triple, and quadruple lives.

Could a Sociopath have a religious charism and could he transmit this to a religious order that he founded?

According to Cardinal designate Velasio de Paolis he could, he can, he did. With all due respect, this interpretation seems to be justified by passages from the Apostolic Delegate's 2nd Letter to the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi Movement.

3. The charism of the Legion


Another very delicate question is that of the charism of the Legion. The absence of a distinction between constitutional norms and norms of law has perhaps hurt efforts to specify the charism. But it seems undeniable that it is sufficiently clear and precise; and it is also more than ever for this time. There is the need to reflect and study this in depth.

I would like to mention just one aspect. Our current culture is secularized, infected with immanentism and relativism. Such a mindset is the hallmark of the culture of our times and of those who today shape opinion or are considered the drivers of culture. It is a matter of culture and therefore a matter of leadership, i.e.: of those who hold the reins of society in their hands. We have before us a society that no longer evinces personalities of Christian and markedly Catholic cultural depth. At the same time, we know that the faith cannot be pushed back merely to the private level.


If today’s society is to be Christianized, it needs people capable of assuming responsibility for the society of tomorrow, and who are formed in schools and universities. It needs priests, consecrated people, and committed lay people, all well formed. It needs apostles for the new evangelization.


The past must guide us in taking our place in the present. The Church shaped the past and contributed to a Christian vision of life, through monasteries, universities, studies and culture. The Church reaffirms this when she speaks of the new evangelization and launches a new Dicastery for the new evangelization. I believe that the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ finds its place to serve the Church precisely in this area. And this brings good hope for the future.
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* Charismata in Original Catholic Encyclopedia

Brief Intro/Comment on De Paolis Recent Letter

the blogger did not post the letter of  Arch -to be Cardinal- De Paolis believing it was already available on other sources, including the official Regnum Christi page, etc.
He wanted to read it carefully and attempt an informed commentary

For now let me refer you to a brief intro/commentary on the REGAIN page

Spero News has the following [with video of De Paolis] on Legion of Christ Reconstruction
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Fr. Evaristo Sada [Monterrey] still General Secretary of the Legion of Christ

Jim Fair says:

18.10.10 at 10:14

Let me clarify this. Fr. Sada is the general secretary of the Legionaries of Christ. He holds this office since 1992 to the present. From 2007 onwards he also was the "assistant of the general director for the apostolate", but some months ago Fr. Jose García Sentandreu was named for this post. So the position of Fr. Sada as general secretary has not changed, he just handed over an additional responsibility he used to have before.

Evaristo Sada Out of Leadership at Legion of Christ ?

Not Resigning Superiors of Legion of Christ..but Changing the Guard



this is the latest from the official blog of the Regnum Christi, one of the new and ever evolving web pages of Fr. Maciel's order.

So, that's the way it is on Saturday, October 16, 2010

Ah, but you have to read all the article to the end. The writer mentions that some

changes have occured [note euphemism/spin]


as in a few Territorial Directors have been removed and


Fr. Evaristo Sada is no longer the Secretary General....


correct me if I am wrong. Maybe he continues as Secretary General or General Secretary....the article said:

"the new assistant to the general director for the apostolate recently arrived. This responsibility used to fall to Fr Evaristo Sada"