The late Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, the venerated and vilified founder of the powerful conservative Catholic order, the Legionaries of Christ, may have been a father in the biological as well. At American Papist, Thomas Peters confirms rumors circulating in recent days of scandalous news coming down the pipe about a prominent Catholic.
It's hard to see how Maciel, who died in January 2008 after being disciplined by Pope Benedict in 2006, could become more controversial. Maciel was accused of being an almost cult-like leader of the insular community he founded, and so great was his influence in Rome (he is shown here in a New York Times photo with the late John Paul II, who greatly admired Maciel) that persistent reports of his sexual abuse of seminarians were ignored. But Benedict, to his credit, allowed the victims to have their say, leading to the 2006 disgrace--which some say still amounted to no more than a slap on the wrist.
Now it turns out Maciel may have fathered at least one child, a woman now in her early 20's, and may have illicitly used funds to support his family and a "double life."
Some will shake their heads and say, well, he certainly got around. But if this leads the Legionaries to renounce Maciel as the "spiritual founder" who continues to guide and shape the order post-mortem, then it could be a true catharsis that could lead to an LofC that is more integrated into the Church. That certainly seems to be Benedict's goal with the movements, and the Legionaries--he had already forced them to give up the secret, private vow Maciel had new members take.
And Baltimore Archbishop Edwin O'Brien has also put the LoC on a leash.
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Michelle,
It's precisely because the Legion based itself so heavily upon the personal life and writings of Fr. Maciel that this is a crisis. "Nuestro Padre!! Nuestro Padre!!!" And now we learn Fr. Maciel's life was a shame and his personnal writings are fabrications created by others. Fr. Maciel scandalized the Church with fraud, rape, and pederasty.
Calumny and detraction, yes I studied those in depth with the Legion as well. But there's a clear lesson for today's Catholic, it's clear to anyone who followed the sex abuse cover-up, the only way to keep our Church holy is to expose evil in public. Shine the light of truth on those who wish to hide within the church and do evil.
TKC
I have been a Regnum Christi member for about 15 years now and have worked in houses of formation, have visited Rome and have gotten to personally know at least a dozen or more Legionary priests. I can only say that they call themselves the Legionaries of Christ for a reason. It's Christ who is their focus, their one love. When I see Legionary priests at work, I see them working themselves to the bone for other souls, spending themselves till they have not one ounce of energy left. If that is what makes them a cult, then so be it, let them be a cult! Mother Teresa's order and all the nuns in it grew excited when Mother Teresa came around. Of course members love their founder! And why not? So many lives changed, so many souls helped and all because of one person who was an instrument for good. Do you think many new Christians became disillusioned when they found out that Judas was a thief and eventually hung himself? If so, they may not have had the faith in the first place. I still love the Legionaries. And even more, I love Christ, my Lord and my God who is so merciful and full of kindness. For those of you who cannot see how Christ could be forgiving towards Father Maciel and want to secretly see the downfall of this good order which has been approved by the Church, I invite you to read the diary of Sister Fautina, where you ( as I myself am learning more and more as I am currently reading it ) will learn of the Merciful and Loving Heart of our dear Lord.
My children went to a Legionarios de Cristo here in Mexico. I thought that it was a good choice when they started but began to see how the " consagradas" were totally brainwashed - we were not allowed to speak to the teachers, you needed to only speak with the director and the teacher sat quietly listening. They were after money all the time and did target those children that were high acheiver to recruit them as consagradas in the church. One of the girls in my daughters class was literally held and not allowed to talk to her parents. Her parents went to south america to be able to meet with her and were only allowed to see her for 1 hr. She was 18 years old. It is a verY WIERD cult. They did very little if anything to help in the community we lived in. When I mentioned to the other mothers the news that Padre Maciel had been accused of abusing some young boys in Mexico City they looked at me like I had blasphemied and told me that the devil was inventing those things to test the church....right....the truth will set you free...
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Walker, said.
Jane and other RC members.
It is really sad to see somebody like Maciel in disgrace. Someone who was presented to us as a real holy man. A disgrace like this reveals the enormous amount of cover-up from people like Fr. Arumi, Duenas, A.Torres and so many other legionaries from the first generation; not to mention bishops, cardinals, and... Sad as it sounds, maybe from JPII.
It took me five years -after leaving the Legion- to begin questioning his life and began to read, to ask about him. He deceived the whole world. He made others believe what he wanted them to believe. Master in how to manipulate minds, in how to reach important people; people of money, people of power, and to make all of them believe of him what he wanted. In short he was a master of fraud, a master of deception that some times brings to us the life and image of that man from Russia, the diabolic Rasputin.
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