Day 4 - A response from the Legionaries? My conclusions.

Almost four days after AmP carried the story that Legionaries founder Marcial Maciel fathered a child with his mistress and led a double life, the Legionaries of Christ and its lay component Regnum Christ have updated their websites with this letter from the new Legion superior, Fr. Alvaro, entitled "In the Wake of Painful News." They have also linked to this Zenit article: "Legion Regrets Founder's Conduct - Congregation Apologizes for Scandal".

The picture at left (taken from the Legionaries news page) illustrates the awkward juxtaposition the Legion finds itself in - on the one hand they have barely finished extolling their late founder in days previous, on the other hand they must explain to their members that Maciel was, for lack of a more descriptive term, a scoundrel.

What they have done so far in response, however, is not adequate to the gravity of the situation, regardless of their apparent desire to see it resolved quickly.

I think significant problems remain when it comes to Maciel, the LC Leadership, and the RC Membership.

Maciel: First, the discovery that Maciel fathered a child with a mistress is the tip of the iceberg. It's very credible from the New York Times story that he also misappropriated Legion money to fund his double life. There may be at least one other child. There have been tenable reports that Maciel abused drugs. And I'm not even mentioning the long-standing allegations of his sexual abuse of minors, which have been surfacing for years.

In fact, there cannot be a sense at this point that we know the full breadth of Maciel's crimes. And because we still don't have the facts on Maciel (for a moment, can you imagine what the canonical process for his canonization would have been like?!) it's premature to think we have even begun the healing process.

LC Leadership: Second, we don't know who (if anyone) in the Legion abetted his immoral activities. I don't see how Maciel could have done these things without anyone covering for him. If he did manage to pull this off solo, this means those around him had no idea what he was doing for significant segments of time. They should have known something was up, especially if he was asking for unmarked bills before taking trips.

Therefore it is evident that a thorough investigation of the Legion leadership is necessary, and yet I see no hints that this is on the Legion's radar, and frankly, I have serious doubts that the Legion is capable of self-diagnosis and treatment on this matter. And needless to say, it is disturbing that outside sources have to be the ones bringing up the question of how Maciel got away with it. The question of how to institutionally fix the patterns of activity that allowed this to happen in the first place should have been raised internally, immediately, and then become part of the Legion's public response. An institution that claims to be surprised that Maciel did these things cannot also claim to be on top of its own affairs.

RC Membership. Third and finally, there is a pastoral crisis facing the Regnum Christi and Legionary memberships, involving how they relate to Maciel, and especially how they absorb these discoveries about his moral depravity. In this task, I don't think they are being helped by their Legionary pastors. And while this is a complicated phenomenon, it boils down to a simple point: the Legion do not have objectivity about Maciel. Their commitment to spreading Maciel's spirituality has become unhealthy because this task now has an insurmountable contradiction to overcome - Maciel's own life.

Let me explain. It is one thing to say [A] "this man was a good person, let us follow his positive example." It is quite another to say [B] "this man was not a good person, let us learn from his example negatively." It's a third thing altogether to instantly switch from [A] to [B], without even admitting that is what is being done. Consequently, until I see some admission from the Legion that this changeover from [A] to [B] must happen (whether it should happen at all is a separate issue), or until Legionary leadership can admit publicly that Maciel did evil things and is not an example of virtue, I must remain seriously doubtful that they can meaningfully be trusted with the flock given over to them.

These are my private opinions. In my reporting, I aim to present an accurate picture - giving equal weight to all sides. I will stay true to this style of coverage in the coming days. Thank you, and I welcome comments.